Notre Dame Wins!

In the Daily Onions universe, this headline is true. Notre Dame did indeed win last night, on the basketball court. Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron, Amari Cooper, Nick Saban, Ha Ha Clinton-Dixon (who doesn't love a Ha Ha) and AJ McCarron's girlfriend made sure that Notre Dame wasn't even close to winning on the football field last night.
Now that we've mentioned Katherine Webb, like every other blog out there, we can move on to the real reason we are here.
The Big East conference season is underway. It is time to figure out who is for real, who looked really good out of conference but has stumbled out of the conference schedule gates and who deserves some more attention from the conference.
Here are two teams that haven't had the conference starts they were really hoping for...
-Pitt Happens: The Panthers, coming off a disappointing season (College Basketball Invitational, anyone?), got off to a good start this year. With 12 wins in their first 13 games (one loss to Michigan), Pitt was ranked in the Top 25 as Big East play started. They lost at home to Cincinnati and then went to the RAC and fell to Rutgers. Things don't get any easier as tonight they'll be on the road again at Georgetown. Panthers staring at an 0-3 start in conference play. 
-Bearcats Down: The 'Nati was ranked #8 in the country just two weeks ago. Lots of chatter about how good they were and everyone was very high on Sean Kilpatrick (as they should be). They won their first 12 games, lost a tough one at home to New Mexico State by 1, and then kicked off conference play with a victory at Pitt. Last Saturday, St. John's came to town and downed the Bearcats, and then last night Notre Dame beat them on their home court. For those of your scoring at home, they've lost 3 of last 4 games, all at home. Not a good recipe for success in conference.

Fun Fact Friday: The Madness

October 12, 2012. The official start of the basketball season. Today marks the first day that college teams can hold practice, most choosing for a "Midnight" Madness type of event. Up in Central New York, the 'Cuse figured if its not at midnight, why call it Midnight Madness? They opted for Orange Madness, which brings us to our first installment of #FunFactFriday.

Jasmine and Scoop prior to Madness (Post Standard)

This year's Orange Madness will be hosted by none other than, the Human Momentum Killer himself (nickname given by reader JaLil), Scoop Jardine. The fun fact comes here. Scoop's co-host is his girlfriend, Jasmine Jordan. Jasmine is a sophomore at Syracuse, and the daughter of some guy named Michael Jordan. And this is probably the only time Scoop's name will be used in the same sentence as MJ's (Although there were rumors back in August that Scoop was getting an invite to the Bobcats preseason camp - but a longer than expected recovery from a foot injury puts Scoop back at the Dome, instead of in Charlotte). Jasmine said she was asked to co-host the event by The First Lady of SU Basketball, Juli Boeheim. If Juli called you, you'd do whatever she asked as well.

Onto some other Midnight madness notes:

-Jimmy B is 10 wins away from 900, and 13 wins away from passing Bob Knight on the all-time wins list.

-Seth Greenberg thinks Syracuse's weakness this year is not having a "city" guard like Pearl Washington, Adrian Autry, or Dion Waiters. Brandon Triche, Jamesville-Dewitt (NY) and Michael Carter-Williams, Hamilton (MA) are all offended. Seth also thinks he should still be coaching at Virgnia Tech, though.

-Indiana opted for the televised day time practice with drills and Tom Crean pacing around the court chirping compliments and instructions faster than he chews his gum. No crowds, no smoke machines, no freshmen doing ballet numbers (UNC did this). The Hoosiers are ranked as high as #1 in some preseason polls and return ALL of their starters. They also have a guy named Maurice Creek on their team. Mo Creek, anyone?

-ESPN has placed their talent all over the map to report live from Midnight Madnesses. Syracuse got the short end of the stick with Dino Gaudio, while UNC and Pitt were the big winners with Doris Burke and Bill Raftery, respectively. Since Syracuse beat Pitt in football last week, they should have won the rights to have Raftery in town for the Madness.

-Kentucky's madness started with them raising their 2012 National Championship banner to the rafters. Reports out of Rupp Arena is that they are leaving the ladder out, since they will have to vacate that win within the next year or two. #tooeasy  Kentucky also has two players with Kid 'N Play type boxes, stud recruit, questionably eligible Nerlens Noel and transfer PG from NC State, Ryan Harrow.

-Andy Katz has Louisville ranked #1 in his preseason poll. Whatever that means.

-This is the final Midnight Madness for Pitt and Syracuse in the Big East. Next season the 'Cuse will be in the ACC House. Oh my god, oh my god. #RIPBigEast

Big E Hoops Weekend - One year later, Syracuse Prevails

Exactly one year ago this morning, Daily Onions sat groggy-eyed in the Pittsburgh Airport having just completed Big E Hoops Weekend. In a span of 72 hours, we saw Robert Morris defeat Monmouth in Moon Township, West Virginia knock off Purdue in Morgantown, and Pitt take down Syracuse on Big Monday. Three days, three basketball games, and three alma maters (Monmouth, WVU and Syracuse). Not sure the basketball gods will ever line up a schedule like that for us again, but glad we took advantage of the opportunity (relive the whole weekend here).

One year later, Syracuse once again matched up with Pitt on MLK Day. Like last year's game, Syracuse entered the game undefeated (18-0 last year, 19-0 this year). Unlike last year, Pitt, who is used to being at the top of the conference, entered the Carrier Dome winless (0-5) in the Big East.

Waiters and Cuse looking back at rest of Big East (Syracuse.com)

Syracuse scored the first 13 points of last night's game (if you remember, Pitt opened last year's game on a 19-0 run, then Cuse answered with a 17-0 run of their own), and eventually pushed the lead to 14 at one point in the game. Pitt made a push in the 2nd half, and got as close as 4. After a Syracuse timeout, the lead was back up to 10 in no time. Syracuse improved to 20-0, their best start in school history.

The Orange have been known to get off to hot starts in the past several seasons, leading to an overrated top 5 ranking.

Well this year is different. This Syracuse team is good. Really good. As I write this, Duke Vitale is saying that Syracuse won't lose a game this regular season. I might agree with him. If you look at the Big East, the perennial frontrunners like Louisville and UConn have proven to be inconsistent. Cuse will face both of those teams on the road this year. Other road games left on the schedule include Notre Dame (Orange usually play well in South Bend), Cincinnati (potentially a little nervous for this one), St. John's at MSG (actually a Cuse home game), Louisville (when was the last time Syracuse played well here), Rutgers (Rice and Co. knocked off Florida and UConn at the RAC), and UConn (Saturday night Gameday game in Storrs).

My prediction...Syracuse finishes the regular season with 2 losses (at UConn, at Louisville). Yes, you can read between the lines and I do not think Syracuse will lose a game at home this year. Before we make any predictions about the Big East tournament, we'll see how things shake out elsewhere.

One time, at Big East Media Day....

If Midnight Madness is the official kickoff of college basketball season, then the conference Media Days are the....end of the first quarter? Hold on, what? Screw the football analogy (we'll get to an interesting analogy in a little bit though), let's just say, Media Day is awesome. We get to see who the coaches pick as the best teams and players in the conference, and you get to see a bunch of college kids look uncomfortable in a shirt and tie.

Scoop, in a Suit. (Syracuse.com)

Today was Big East Basketball Media Day in NYC, which is the home of one of the homes of Syracuse University basketball. The coaches selected Syracuse and UConn as the co-favorites for the league title this year. Next was Louisville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, Notre Dame and Georgetown rounding out the top 10. Jeez, this conference is tough.

On an individual basis, Pitt's Ashton Gibbs (and his undershirt) was selected as the Player of Year, while UConn's Andre Drummond was voted Freshman of the Year. Syracuse has Kris Joseph on the 1st team and Scoop Jardine on the 2nd team. West Virginia's Kevin Jones and Tim Abromitis of Notre Dame, both return for their 8th year of college, and were both voted as preseason 1st Teamers as well.

Daily Onions had the opportunity to attend Big East Media Day back before the 2002-03 season, when we were more Orange than Onion. We thought it'd be fun to reminisce about some of the names we chatted with that day at Madison Square Garden.

Let's check out the preseason 1st All-Big East honors that were handed out that day:

Probably taken before 1 of Bell's 6 NBA Games

• Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh - Selected as the preseason conference player of the year in '02-03, you can still find Knight in the Steel City, now as an assistant coach.
• Troy Bell (left), Boston College - This guy could absolutely light it up in college, is BC's all-time leading scorer, and had half a cup of coffee in the NBA.
• Emeka Okafor, Connecticut- Almost 10 years later, its crazy to think there was a debate over who should go #1 in the NBA Draft, Okafor or Dwight Howard. With that said, Okafor did win a National Championship, and has had a serviceable NBA career.
• Mike Sweetney, Georgetown - Undersized, big man for the Hoyas. Didn't have the body for an NBA career.
• Darius Rice, Miami, Jr.- Remember this guy? Freakishly athletic, McDonald's All-American, nephew of Jerry Rice. He ended up staying all 4 years of college, went undrafted and bounced around overseas and the D-League.
• Marcus Hatten, St. John's - Kind of like Bell, a pure scorer. Best memory of Hatten has to be playing for Uncle Phil at St. John's.

The 2nd team featured guys like: James Jones - yep, the same James Jones that is hitting 3s for the Heatles. He got his start in Miami as Hurricane; Chris Thomas - In a recent survey we just made up, this Notre Dame PG was voted most annoying player by opposing fans teams. Good to know he got an acting gig playing the PG in the movie Finding Forrester; Jerome Coleman - this Rutgers shooting guard led the Scarlet Knights to an upset over the eventual National Champions (Syracuse) that year in...New Jerrrrsey, and allowed me to exclaim "Send it in Jerome" (a Raftery fan even at a young age!) over the Syracuse radio airwaves. Shout out to Herve Lamizana as well.

Always a good time to look back at some of the players who came through the Big East. Carmelo Anthony was a freshman in 2002-03, and was picked to be the best Freshman of the Year in the conference, but was left off the 1st and 2nd team. Looks like Melo got the last laugh there.

Slick Rick: Why Don't You Sit the Next Few Plays Out

Speaking of laughs, today at Big East Media Day, Rick Pitino had some choice words about Syracuse and Pitt leaving the conference. Rick, who has been known to compare a tough start to a seasons to... 9/11, added this analogy to his resume:

"My problem is not them leaving," he said. "My problem is you did it in 48 hours. Don't run away with a girl after one date when you've been dating someone else for three or four years. You've been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect."

In case you forgot, Pitino, who has been married to his wife for more than 30 years, once met a woman in a restaurant, had a few drinks, and then proceeded to have sex with her in the bathroom. This occurred in 2003, and in 2009 Pitino admitted to not only having consensual sex, but also paying for an abortion. 

Pot, meet kettle. Hope you enjoyed media day.

Day 3 of the Madness: Party Foul

There were eight games on the schedule yesterday and the majority of them did not disappoint. We'll start with the games that weren't as close, and work our way to one of the most bizarre finishes in college basketball tournament history.

Teach Me How To Jimmer: We are betting that there are going to be a lot of babies named Jimmer popping up in about 9 months. The Cougs are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1981 after having no problems with Gonzaga, winning 89-67. Jimmer dropped 34, which means he is averaging a healthy 33 ppg so far this tournament. Now the Cougs will face Florida (who took out UCLA 73-65), in New Orleans. Make sure you brush up on that Honor Code boys.

Kentucky Split: The young Wildcats were able to avenge the school's loss to West Virginia in last year's tournament, beating the Mountaineers 71-63. The problem that hurt the 'Eers all year long was true once again on Saturday - no go-to, crunch time scorer. We miss you Da'Sean Butler. The other Kentucky squad still playing wasn't as lucky, as Morehead St.'s season came to an end at the hands of Richmond. The Spiders, the #12 seed in the Southwest, now await the winner of Kansas-Illinois.

Aztecs, Huskies and Badgers, Oh my: The Fighting Dunphies gave #2 San Diego State all they could handle yesterday, as the Aztecs eeked out a 7 point win in double overtime over Temple. SDSU now faces Kemba and the Huskies in the Sweet 16. UConn disposed of fellow Big East member, Cincinnati. SDSU has a slight advantage, as the game will be played in Anaheim. Meanwhile, Bo Ryan isn't quite ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet. His Wisconsin Badgers ended Jacob Pullen's college career, despite the Beard putting up 38 points. Coach Frank Martin's scowl took over the final few seconds of the game, as he didn't look too pleased with a few of his player's non-execution of a final play - that seemed to be NOT drawn up for Pullen.

Doin' the But: On Thursday, Butler won their game with a put back basket by Matt Howard as time expired. On Saturday, as the Bulldogs took on #1 Pitt, it was the final seconds that once again dictated who won the game. In what was one of the most bizarre endings ever, Butler took the lead with 2 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Gilbert Brown was fouled by Shelvin Mack (it was the right call). Brown at the free throw line, shooting 2, down 1, with .9 seconds left. He makes the first. Tie game. The second, clanks off the iron and Howard pulls down the board. For some reason, Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouls (it was the right call) Howard with .2 seconds left. Howard makes the first, misses the second on purpose, Butler is back in the Sweet 16 and Pitt is back to the Steel City early, once again.

Daily Onions, who normally is in the camp of "let them play" when it comes to officiating, completely agrees with both of the calls made at the end of the game. Officials you are off the hook. The way Pitt handled the late game situation is a teachable moment for basketball players and coaches of all ages. With .9 seconds left, and a tie game, why even risk the possibility for a foul on the rebound. I don't have a problem with Jamie Dixon keeping players on the lane, as this gives Brown a more "normal" look at the foul line (if normal exists at this situation in the game). But you need to be 100% clear with your players to not commit a foul on the potential miss (as Gilbert Brown said after the game - all I needed to do was make the 2nd shot and we wouldn't be having this conversation). Robinson also admitted that is was an awful mistake and that he's been playing basketball for way too long to know better than that. Robinson's foul didn't even look accidental, as he clearly grabbed and hung on to Howard's arm. A bizzare mental lapse by Robinson. It's unfortunate that the game had to end under these circumstances. Mack is lucky he is off the hook for his last second mistake. Unfortunately for Brown and Robinson, this one is going to sting for a while.

Day 1 of The Madness: Best Afternoon Ever?

As long as you weren't stuck in a hole yesterday for the first four hours of the tournament, you know it was arguably one of, if not the, best start to the tournament ever. Of the first five games, four of them were decided in the final 5 seconds, and had a score differential of two points or less.

First, it was the Butler doing it, making sure they weren't going home after Round 1, with their right place, right time put back by Matt Howard as time expired. Bulldogs 60 - ODU 58. Then it was Morehead taking down Rick Pitino (low blow? whoops, nevermind), with a 3 pointer in the final seconds to win 62-61. Best part of this game....we had our first "ONIONS" call from Raftery, and boy was it a good one.This was also the first game where people started ripping up their brackets.

In the battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights, Temple nails a step through jumper with .4 seconds left, to make sure that Penn State remains only a football school. Then, we all hoped that the Princeton Fundamentals would take down Kentucky. With the game tied and 3 seconds left, freshman Brandon Knight made his first bucket of the game, giving the Wildcats a win. Definition survive and advance. One more close game in the afternoon session saw the Spiders of Richmond taking down Vanderbilt. 12 - 5 upset anyone?

To the night games we go, Florida, UConn and BYU take care of business as expected. Jimmer goes off for 32 points, as expected. Belmont hung around with Wisconsin for half of the game, but the Badgers eventually pulled away to win by 14.

In the 6-11 games with Big East teams, it was a split. Cincy sent Mizzou home with a convincing win, and as predicted in this space, the experience of Gonzaga was too much for the upstart Johnnies. We did whiff on the Utah State-K-State game, as well as the UCLA-Michigan State game, although the Bruins did everything possible to try and blow a 23-point lead.

A couple of games we are looking forward to on Saturday: Huggins vs. Calipari and the youth/athleticism of Kentucky against the grind it out physicality of WVU. We'll have a Big East match up of UConn and Cincy, and an upset special with #13 Morehead St. and #12 Richmond. Last but not least, we have Butler taking on Pitt. Bulldogs find ways to win games in March, but will they be able to continue that streak against the physical Panthers.

Show Us Your Onions Update: Thanks to the 30+ entries that we received for the first annual competition. At first glance, we have a few folks that lost some of their onions with the Michigan State and Louisville losses. A complete breakdown of all the Onions will come later in the weekend, so you can see who you are matched up against.

Daily Onions is headed to watch some hoops live and in person today in Chicago. This will mark the first time we've been to an NCAA Tournament game since 2003, when....you know, a certain team cut down the nets in New Orleans. Onions!

The Big Easy: Southeast Region

Daily Onions gets a double word score for today's title, since the Southeast Regional final will be held in New Orleans, and it seems to be the simplest road to the Final Four for the top seeds. Here's our in-depth analysis of this region, with who we think will be headed to Houston in two and half weeks. 

Toughest First Round Match up: #8 Butler vs. #9 Old Dominion. If these two teams were playing anyone else, I'd bet that most people would have them both advancing. A battle of two of the best mid-majors in the country, Butler struggled for most of the season but put things together down the stretch and ended up winning the Horizon League. Old Dominion has won 14 of their last 15 games, and has stacked up SIX wins against this year's tournament field. As much as we hate to say it, Daily Onions is leaning ODU here.

Most Historical Matchup: #7 UCLA vs. #10 Michigan State. We've discussed Michigan State's problems all year long. It is March though, do you pick against them? Regardless of who wins this game, we think they'll be sent home by #2 Florida in Round 2. If it ends up being Florida and Michigan State, it will be a rematch of the 2000 Finals, in which the Spartans won.

Upset Special x 3: #11 Gonzaga (vs. #6 St. John's), #12 Utah State (vs. #5 Kansas State) and #13 Belmont (vs. #4 Wisconsin) are all higher seeds that could be trendy upset picks in this bracket. St. John's will be short-handed after losing DJ Kennedy in the Big East tournament, while Gonzaga is tournament tough, making their 87th straight Big Dance (13th, actually). Utah State has been ranked in the top 25 this year, won 30 games and has an RPI of 15. When they were announced as a 12 seed, they did not look happy about that. Might be leaning that way, instead of going with a hot and cold K-State team. We think Wisconsin, who is coming off a loss to Penn State in which they scored 33 points, will bounce back and take care of Belmont. Bo Ryan isn't ready to vacation in South Jersey just yet.

What Happens? We are going to go with Pittsburgh meeting Florida (who will end Jimmer Mania in the Sweet 16) in the Regional Final. Yes, we know that's very chalk-y, but get used to it. Game being played in New Orleans, Florida has the advantage and Pitt goes home w/o a trip to the Final Four once again.

Now that you've seen our picks for region, show us YOUR onions. Send us an email (jrsacks22@gmail.com) with your Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship game (winner) picks, or post them in the comments section!

The Weekend That Was

Same ole Song and Dance: The majority of the weekend could have been easily predicted because it seems like it was the same ole story in a lot of instances. For example:
-Kentucky loses a close conference game on the road, 81-77 to Vanderbilt. The Wildcats have lost five of their six conference road games. Luckily they only have two more.
-Syracuse proves to be one of the most inconsistent teams in the country. In their four point loss at Louisville, the Orange went from being up 7 with five minutes left in the half, to being down 10 at the half, to being down 20 just five minutes into the second half, to fighting all the way back to draw within three points with 1:30 to play.
-Pitt proves itself once again as the team to beat in the Big East. Without one of their best players (Ashton Gibbs), the Panthers went on the road and beat Villanova, 57-54. Pitt now has a two game lead in the conference, ahead of Notre Dame (the only team that's beat Pitt in conference).
-Jimmer shoots, scores and BYU wins. This time it was the Cougs over Utah 72-59. Jimmer had 23 points, including a stretch of 12 straight in the second half.
-Random fact from the Big East that probably doesn't mean much: UConn, Syracuse and Villanova are a combined 2-7 in their last 9 games.

Bo Knows South Jersey; the beach is that way

NBD: No Big Deal for the acronym challenged. That's what Daily Onions is saying about THE Ohio State University's first loss of the season at Wisconsin. Yes, the Buckeyes did have a 15-point melt away at the Kohl Center, which might cause some concern. But let's be real. No college team has run the table in 35 years. A few losses in the regular season will probably do more good than harm. Also, the Badgers play VERY well at home and Ohio State won't play in a hostile environment like that come mid-March.

Best Quote of the Weekend: After knocking off number one OSU, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was asked where this win ranked in his career. Ryan answered by saying that he'd evaluate the win in 20 years when he is retired and vacationing on the shores of Southern New Jersey. For those of you that don't know, that is the birthplace of Daily Onions. So yeah, we live where Bo Ryan vacations.  I wonder if he watches Jersey Shore?

The Association: A few thoughts from the pro game.
-Its safe to say the Celtics > Heat. With Paul Pierce scoring 1 point....yes, like one free throw (he went 0-10 from the field), Boston was still able to beat the Heat for the third time this season. No matter who earns the top seed in the East, a trip to the NBA Finals still goes through Bean Town.

DC coaching up the Young-sters on the Sixers

-It's a Dougie Revolution in Philadelphia. I'll admit that I was not high on the Doug Collins hire for the Sixers this off season. But DC is coaching the boys up. Many coaches and other sources around the league are saying that the Sixers are playing as hard as anyone every night they step on the floor. Its starting to show on the scoreboard, as the Sixers took down the Spurs, who own the best record in the league, on Friday night. They followed that up with a "Taking Care of Business" 20 point win at Minnesota the next night. Those noises you hear in New York are not only "We Want Melo" chants, but also groans that the Sixers are just a game and a half back of the Knicks for the 6 seed.
-If you had February 12th in the "DeMarcus Cousins will get in an altercation with a teammate" pool, you win! The ticking time bomb finally went off over the weekend and got into things with teammate Donte Greene (Cuse alum), because Greene didn't pass him the ball on the final play of a 2 point loss on Saturday night. Waaaah, Waaaah. Grow up, DeMarcus (Without Cousins, the Kings snapped a 5-game losing streak on the road in Phoenix).
-Bo Ryan isn't the only coach with a soft spot for Jersey. Pacers interim coach, Frank Vogel, a South Jersey native, is now 7-1 since taking over the team two weeks ago. They are also currently the 8th seed in the East.
-Random fact from the NBA that probably doesn't mean much: Indiana fired Jim O'Brien two weeks ago after a loss to the Chicago Bulls. Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz stepped down on Thursday, after a loss to...the Chicago Bulls. This week the Bulls have the Bobcats (already replaced a coach this season) and the Spurs (Pop ain't goin' nowhere), so the coaches are safe.

Survive and Advance - Big E Hoops Weekend Recap

That title is normally saved for post season tournament play in college basketball, where all that matters is that you survive the game and move on to the next one. Well, I think the same can be said for Big E Hoops Weekend. In a long, run-on sentence, here is a recap of the weekend: We came, we saw, we conquered, we watched hoops, we watched football, we danced, we ate, we drank, we dougied, we won, we lost, we played some hoops of our own, we stimulated the mind at a museum, we acted as if we were in college again, we laughed, we cried, and we dominated. In the words of the late Jim Valvano, "If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." Well we did that for 4 straight days, and it was really something special.

Now a quick look back at the three college basketball games we caught live.

Brandi with Bob Morris

Bob Morris 60, The Mouth 57 - Due to (thanks to?) the Steelers playoff victory win against the Ravens, we arrived for the second half of this NEC matchup. Cost of admission was free, and approximately 150 people were placed throughout the stands. Highlights of this game included sitting two rows behind the Monmouth bench, catching some flack from the "Colonial Crazies," seeing the looks of shock on the Monmouth coaches and players when they realized they had a 9-person cheering section (as well as two signs - "The Mouth is in the House" and "Take it to the Mouth"), a successful alley-oop completed by Monmouth, and the purchase of 4 soft pretzels and 3 boxes of popcorn for only $10.50. Despite the Mouth falling by 3, it was an exciting start to the hoops start of the weekend.

Welcome to WVU - good luck finding your seats

West Virginia 68, Purdue 64 - In a semi-gold rush filled concrete jungle, aka The Coliseum (where it takes you 20 minutes to figure out their seating sections), the Mountaineers outlasted the 8th ranked Boilermakers from Purdue. When John Flowers and Kevin Jones are each knocking down a couple of threes in the final ten minutes of the game, you know things are going  WVU's way (not to mention the Turkish Hook from Deniz Kilicli). Purdue's JaJuan Johnson was fun to watch, as he put up 26 points and 7 rebounds. One downfall to the game included the fact that Gus Johnson was broadcasting the game for CBS, and we were not able to hear his calls first hand. The West Virginia home crowd was great down the stretch of the game, which was close the whole way. Purdue had a great look at a 3, which would have tied it with about 5 seconds left. We were a little disappointed to see the WVU student section "storm" the court after the victory. If you are 9 months removed from the Final Four, I don't think you should storm, especially when you are actually favored (ya know, that whole gambling/lines thing) by 3.5 points. Granted Purdue was ranked #8, but they had lost their previous game on the road in Minnesota. Bottom line, act like you've won games like that before. Overall, our trip to Morgantown was a success, as we even toured the campus, watched the Pats get dismantled by the Jets at a local bar after the game, and ended the night with a DP Dough.

The Peterson Events Center is a pretty damn tough place to play.

Pitt 74, Cuse 66 - I've seen a lot of basketball games in my life, whether it be as a player, coach, broadcaster, fan, spectator, whatever it might be, BUT I have never seen a half of basketball like what we saw at the sold-out Peterson Events Center Monday night. (12,995 was a record sell-out for them, aka the lower bowl of the Carrier Dome). Saying 4th ranked Pitt jumped on 3rd ranked Cuse early is an understatement. They opened the game 19-0, and Jim Boeheim had to burn two timeouts within the first five minutes.  I didn't think Cuse was going to score. With every missed Syracuse shot and Pitt make, the Oakland Zoo and Co. (including Pitt alum Larry Fitzgerald) got louder and louder. Without their leading scorer Kris Joseph (concussion), Syracuse looked scared from the start. Finally, Scoop Jardine hit a three pointer eight minutes into the game.  Cuse was on the board, and they didn't stop there. The Orange countered the Pitt 19-0 run, with a 17-0 run of their own. Then Pitt went on a 7-0 run to answer....then Cuse went on a 7-0 run. So with 1 minute left in the half, the score was 26 - 24, all scored in runs. Trading baskets didn't start happening until the final minute of the half, as Pitt grabbed the 31-27 lead.

Syracuse came out much better in the second half, and finally tied the game with about 13 minutes to play in the game. That tie only lasted a few seconds as Pitt answered right back with a 3. Syracuse would cut it to 1 point again a few seconds later, but from there it never got closer than 4 points down the stretch.  A little run by the Panthers (which included a few questionable calls against the Cuse) would push the lead up to 10. No more runs left for the Orange. With that said, if you are a college basketball fan, the Peterson Events Center is a great place to see a game, especially a Big East matchup of top-ranked teams. The Oakland Zoo student section is very good, despite their uneducated, "Overrated" chant in the final few minutes (the worst chant in sports).

On the positive side of things, Syracuse got great games from two of their freshman CJ Fair and Dion Waiters - probably their toughest game as a college player thus far. That will definitely help Cuse as the season progresses, but they clearly missed Joseph.  His status for this weekend's game with Villanova is still unknown.

And with that, Big E Hoops weekend came to a close. All the "local" home teams won, and Daily Onions was 2 for 3 on our predictions. We are hoping the basketball scheduling gods help us out again next year, as it looks like this is a weekend we'd definitely like to repeat.

Big E Hoops Weekend Preview: Game 3 - Syracuse University vs. University of Pittsburgh

We've finally reached previewing the final game of Big E Hoops Weekend. Not sure if we'll still be standing, but if you can't get excited for this match up, you don't deserve to be a college hoops fan. Added bonus, Bill Raftery, the inspiration for this blog might be in the house calling the game on Monday. I'll take that lingerie on the deck anytime.

'Cuse is In the House, Oh My God

Official Name: Syracuse University

Daily Onions Name: 'Cuse

Location: The CNY

Conference: Big East

Mascot: Orange (Orangemen)

Famous non-sports alumni: Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States (Law School); Bob Costas, Sean McDonough, Mike Tirico, Dick Stockton - sports broadcasters; Dick Clark, TV personality; Actor/Model Taye Diggs; former Miss America and Actress Vanessa Williams; Aaron Sorkin, TV writer.

Famous sports alumni: Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets (?); Donovan McNabb, Washington Redskins (?); Jim Brown, Greatest Athlete Ever; Ernie Davis, first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

You might know them because….they have a fluffy orange guy named Otto running around on the sideline as their mascot, or because they play their basketball games in the Carrier Dome, which seats 34,000 plus, or because they are a pretty damn good basketball team year in and year out.  Head Coach Jim Boeheim has been there since the Declaration of Independence was signed and has close to 850 victories all-time. He also completely out-kicked his coverage with his wife, Juli.

This year’s team: After losing 3 of the starters from last year's Sweet 16 season, "experts" said the Orange would be a top 5 team in the Big East and ranked in the teens of the top 25. Well, the Orange are currently ranked #4 in the country and are one of four remaining undefeated teams in the country. They are led by "I'm Sorry" Rick Jackson, who rolls out of bed into a double-double. Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph carry a lot of the load on offense for the Cuse, as well as sophomore guard Brandon Triche.

Roster Check:Triche's uncle, Howard, played for Boeheim in the 80s. Howard was the guy that Keith Smart was shooting over to give Indiana the national title in 1987. Freshman center Fab Melo is from Brazil, and despite a lot of hype coming into the season, he's been less than Fab thus far.

Best Player: Rick Jackson has been a beast so far this season and does a lot down low for the Orange. However, if the Cuse wants to make a deep run in March, Kris Joseph (last year's 6th man of the year) needs to be the go to guy and make big shots.

Pitt Happens

Official Name: University of Pittsburgh

Daily Onions Name:Eat Sh*t Pitt

Location: Steel City, USA

Conference: Big East

Mascot: Panthers

Famous non-sports alumni: Actor Gene Kelly; Orrin Hatch, US Senator; Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Famous sports alumni: Da Coach, Mike Ditka; Dan Marino, NFL Quarterback; Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

You might know them because….they've battled for the Big East championship over the past several years....they are known for their physical play and well-respected coach, Jamie Dixon....their home court, The Petereson Events Center has been sold out since it opening during the 2002-03 season, and features the Oakland Zoo student section.

This year’s team: Ranked #5 in the country, the Panthers are 16-1, with their lone loss coming to Tennessee (ya know, when Tennessee was "good" earlier this season). The Panthers are led by the three-headed monster of Ashton Gibbs (17ppg), Brad Wanamaker (13ppg), and Gilbert Brown (12 ppg). Pitt likes to put 'em on the glass, as they are 6th in the nation in team rebounding (back to the playing physical point), and they also like to share, as they lead the nation in assists per game.

Roster Check:The Panthers have two J.J's on their team, and 60% of the roster comes from the NY/NJ/PA area.

Best Player: While Gibbs might be the Panthers leading scorer, Wanamaker has a better all around game. With that said, these two as well as Brown can all shoot from outside, and will look to find holes in the Cuse's 2-3 zone, with the big men cleaning up the mess inside.

Daily Onions Prediction:Syracuse won in NYC on Wednesday, then traveled back to Syracuse to play Cincy tomorrow, before then heading to Pittsburgh for the Big Monday matchup. Pitt won at G'town on Wednesday, and hosts Seton Hall on Saturday. Pitt should be better rested, and have a definite home court advantage. Another thing they have though, is Ramy Nammour in attendance. Ramy, the Monmouth Man (its like a "Michigan Man") on this trip, is a Pitt killer. He's seen three Pitt games live, and Pitt has lost all three of them (Pitt at WVU in Football in 2003, Pitt at Cuse in basketball in 2003, and Tennessee vs. Pitt in basketball earlier this year). With that in mind, we are going Syracuse 65 - Pittsburgh 62 in a good one.

Back to the WVU-Purdue game prediction. WVU dropped a bomb on Providence last night and Purdue lost at Minnesota.  We are riding the momentum here, WVU 61 - Purdue 56.

Be sure to check back over the weekend as we chronicle all the highs and lows of Big E Hoops Weekend!

You Can Get With This...

Or you can get with that. Not sure what's up with the song-themed titles this week, but hopefully this one is more enjoyable to have stuck in your head today. A few random thoughts from the sports world to get you through this hump day.

-For those of you that saw the movie The Fighter (which we highly recommend), it looks like Tony Allen opted for "head, face, head, face" instead of "head, body, head, body" in an altercation with OJ Mayo. Really? You both make a crap load of money playing basketball for a living, but you feel it necessary to get in a fight over a card game on a team flight. You guys are teammates, remember? Really? Grow up.

Sidney, left, looks like he's done this before (AP Photos)

-In other teammates fighting news, Renardo Sidney of Mississippi State was reinstated to the team after a altercation in the stands with team captain Elgin Bailey last month at the Diamond Head Classic tournament in Hawaii (Seriously, who fights in Hawaii?). Sidney is the same kid that was a high school All-American, but then had to sit out all of last season due to NCAA eligibility issues. He had played in just two games this season prior to the fight, scoring 31 points total. So the high school All-American is back with the team, and the junior captain who averaged 5 ppg, 4 rrpg so far this season is.....transferring. Oh, ok. Makes sense.

-I'm not sold on Kemba Walker. I said it when UConn lost to Pitt last week, and now I will say it again after they lost to Notre Dame last night. Not sure exactly why, just a gut feeling. In his first two years on campus, he was an erratic point guard/2-guard that was an atrocious shooter from the outside. He's improved that part of his game and has been great this year. Its pretty tough to find flaws in his game, especially when looking at his stats this season (26.7 ppg, 5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2 spg, 2 topg, 48% FG, 84% FT). The fact the Huskies next leading scorer only averages 10 ppg, worries me a bit (or makes me smile, as a Syracuse fan). Maybe its my anti-UConn bias that can't give Kemba the credit he deserves, but I don't think the shoot-first PG will bring the Huskies a Big East title, or a deep run in the tournament. He was unstoppable early on when UConn beat Kentucky and Michigan State.  Now as the season progresses and the tough get going in Big East play, UConn has dropped its last two.

-Pittsburgh finally played its first "true road game" last night and squeaked out a 4 point win at Providence. The Panthers could be 17-1, when Syracuse comes to town for the finale of Big E Hoops weekend.

-It was awesome seeing Andrew Luck dominate on Monday night in the Orange Bowl - kid is the real deal. Then last night, another exciting BCS Bowl game as Ohio State held off Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. Let's keep the momentum going and watch the National Championship game between Auburn and Oregon tonight, or even tomorrow night. But no, we'll wait another 5 days until that game (Monday, January 10th). Come on BCS, if you aren't giving us a playoff, at least give us a favorable viewing schedule.