K-Geo Sports Talk

March Madness Predictions....Sleepers....Who's overrated?

2011-03-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Blown Calls - Big East DRAMA

2011-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

THE BIG EAST - My Votes/Picks

2011-03-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

I just want to start this out by saying this has been one of the most enjoyable years to watch the Big East. There is no doubt this is the best and deepest conference in the NCAA, and I agree that setting a record of possibly having 11 teams as locks to get into the NCAA Tournament has been earned at this point. Marquette is most likely the 11th team to get that spot in the tournament, but they deserve it with huge wins against SU, West Virginia, Notre Dame, and a monster win against UConn on the road last week. Marquette plays everybody tough and even the best of teams in the Big East know they're in for a battle every time they match up with Darius Johnson-Odom and my favorite, Jimmy Butler. Even West Virginia with their total lack of scoring, has been able to get solid conference W's with their hard nosed tough team defense. How can you keep Bobby Huggins out of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Georgetown, Purdue, Cincy, and Notre Dame by 14.

It's been said a lot this year, but it's true, as the Big East has gotten stronger and impossible to predict each night, the rest of the conferences have gotten weaker. The PAC10, ACC, and SEC are typically solid major conferences, however, this year these 3 all don't have much to show for themselves.....here's a question for you to think about....how would DUKE do if they were in the Big East this year??? One game doesn't provide any guarantees, but they did get blown out by 15 against an unranked St. Johns team.
Syracuse has been a roller coaster this year, but sitting at 12th in the AP and winners of 6 of their last 8 you can't complain. Brandon Triche should get the award for Most Improved Player in the conference this year, as he's gone from a quiet role player to a flat out scorer in crunch time, almost 90% from the free throw line as well. With opposing defenses focusing on Joseph and Jackson, Scoop and Triche have recently kept me from pulling my hair out....it's definitely a love-hate relationship with Scoop...I love ya right now pards.

My Big East Picks:

Player of the Year: Kemba Walker (Besides a small stretch that he struggled, he's put up big numbers throughout the year, sorry Hardy fans)

Most Improved: Brandon Triche

Coach of the Year: Steve Lavin no doubt (The Johnnies simply haven't been an important piece of the Big East in almost a decade, so Coaches do matter)

Sleeper in the Big East Tournament: Cincinnati (athletic, well coached, hit 3's, and rebound with

Who will win the Big East Tournament: St. Johns (they're ripping it up their last 10 games and flat out blowing people off the court...solid teams too. Playing at home doesn't hurt either in the tournament)

Biggest Collapse since midseason: What has happened to NOVA...wow, blown out last night vs. Notre Dame.

The double-double award: BIG RICK JACKSON (One of SU's most improved players over the course of his career, right there with Demetrius Nichols and Kris Joseph)

Cockiest player who didn't do ANYTHING until this year: Ben Hansbrough.....do you shave yet son?

Big East High Game Scorer in Big East play *Record: Marshon Brooks with 52 points....I would say pass the ball, your team blows, but I don't know any other player on your team....keep shooting.

Don't let me shoot 3's in your face award: Tie between Tim Abromaitis (he must use Proactive) and Ashton Gibbs (I love my set shots)

Your Season Could Be In Serious Jeopardy Award: Georgetown (Losing Chris Wright for a couple weeks and the uncertainty of his play once he returns should scare any G-Town fan, he's their floor general and 2nd leading scorer)

Current Big East Standings:

BIG EAST	Pct	Overall	Pct
^Pittsburgh	13 - 3	.813	25 - 4	.862
^Notre Dame	13 - 4	.765	24 - 5	.828
Louisville	11 - 5	.688	22 - 7	.759
St. John's	11 - 5	.688	19 - 9	.679
Syracuse	11 - 6	.647	24 - 6	.800
Georgetown	10 - 7	.588	21 - 8	.724
Cincinnati	9 - 7	.563	22 - 7	.759
Connecticut	9 - 7	.563	21 - 7	.750
West Virginia	9 - 7	.563	18 - 10	.643
Marquette	9 - 7	.563	18 - 11	.621
Villanova	9 - 8	.529	21 - 9	.700
Seton Hall	5 - 11	.313	11 - 17	.393
Rutgers	4 - 12	.250	13 - 15	.464
Providence	3 - 13	.188	14 - 15	.483
USF	3 - 13	.188	9 - 21	.300
DePaul	1 - 15	.063	7 - 22	.241

Cuse Blow up with Fab Melo / Week 13 Huge Implications!!

2010-11-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

NFL Week 5 - Spla-dow!!

2010-10-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

$20 and Wear a Dress Angier!!

2010-09-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Angier Credentials in Question...

2010-09-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Latest NFL News - Seattle... What a Mess!

2010-09-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

Post Fantasy Football Draft - Glenn Morley Interview (Skancrew V - 2010)

2010-09-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

NCAA Tournament Dreams Made

2010-03-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

In an always exciting but more importantly an incredibly unpredictable 2010 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament, the only Number 1 seed remaining in the field is the Duke Blue Devils out of the Atlantic Coast Conference at (32-5) overall. The Number 1 overall seed in the tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks out of the Big 12 Conference, were ousted in the 2nd round by the Northern Iowa Panthers in a game in which the Panthers controlled throughout and simply handed it to the heavily favored Jayhawks. Most notably, Northern Iowa Senior Guard Ali Farokhmanesh went from a no namer to the biggest name in college basketball overnight, as he hit the best shot of his career by nailing a shot from distance with 30 seconds left in the game to push the Panthers lead to 4. Kansas couldn't recover after that. The win was also enough to have Northern Iowa provide Head Coach Ben Jacobsen to a 10 year contract extension. That moment in the tournament completely carved up everyone's brackets, except for maybe those Northern Iowa faithful.

The Northern Iowa win over Kansas would have been the biggest story of the tournament if it weren't for the recent success of the Butler Bulldogs, a 5 seed that has made their first NCAA Tournament Final Four in school history. Butler (32-4), out of the Horizon League, has overcome the likes of the Number 1 seeded Syracuse Orange in the Sweet Sixteen and the Number 2 seeded Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite 8. Butler stand out forward Gordon Hayward has played like a star throughout March Madness and has spelled trouble for each opponent he's faced, scoring 17 points against Syracuse and 22 points versus Kansas State. Hayward is averaging 15 points and over 8 rebounds on the year, however, his 6'9'' frame, toughness, and quickness has provided him with the tools necessary to play all positions on the floor. His transition defense and aggressiveness on the offensive end has been the main reason Butler has looked to him during clutch times in the game. Even though he has a baby face, opponents don't want to step up to Gordo, as he'll either drive around you or shoot well over the top. Butlers approach towards team defense feeds their offense and has propelled them towards a legitimate shot at the National Championship game.

The West Virginia Moutaineers are the Number 2 seeded team in the East bracket and won the Big East Championship in New York City this year. However, their biggest win so far being their huge victory over the Number 1 seeded Kentucky Wildcats 73 to 66 in the Elite 8. The West Virginia alum and Head Coach Bobby Huggins has led West Virginia to it's first Final Four appearance since 1959 when they were led by Hall of Famer Jerry West. Nonetheless, the biggest story of this Elite 8 matchup between the only Top 2 seeds to make it to the Elite 8 for their region, is the fact that backup Guard Joe Mazzulla scored 17 points and started the game due to the injury of starting Guard Darryl Bryant. Mazzulla had not attempted a three point field goal this year until the game against Kentucky, when he drained a 3 pointer in the first half. Mazzulla continued his attack of the Wildcats defense, as he made defenders pay dearly for leaving driving lanes open while Kentucky defenders attempted to fall into a help defense position against more notable scorers such as Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks. The second huge factor in the game was the fact that the Wildcats couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from three point land, as they shot a hurrendous 4 of 32, which is an abismal 12% from beyond the arc. It was evident throughout the game that Kentucky's inexperience played a role in the overall outcome of the game, however, I don't think it played as much of a role as people might think. Kentucky's aggressiveness and raw talent had allowed them to steamrole through their conference schedule and the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament, however, the experienced, long, and athletic Mountaineers front line disrupted the scoring attack and outside shooters of the Wildcats. Ultimately, allowing the Moutaineers to grind out the game and play their style of play. The transition game of the Wildcats was not able to play a role in the outcome, as the West Virginia defense was suffocating.

There is no doubt that this NCAA Tournament has been flipped upside down, and has allowed the lower seeds to have a phenomenal shot at a National Championship. The Number 6 seeded Tennesee Volunteers and the injury ridden 5th seeded Michigan State Spartans will play for a shot at a Final Four appearance, while Duke will attempt to continue a shot at Coach K's 4th National Championship if they can advance against the Number 3 seeded Baylor Bears from the Big 12 Conference. If the trend continues, Baylor will eliminate the 4th Number 1 seed from the tournament, however, we will see if the tournament shockers continue. I must say, all of these upsets definitely provide evidence of the large expanse of talent across America. Those trends are great for the game of Basketball and certainly for March Madness in years to come.

March Madness at it's Best!! Cuse Rolls over the Zags

2010-03-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday Scores:

-Duke Bull Dozes Cal: 68 to 53

-West Virginia outlasts Missouri: 68 to 59

-Ohio State beats Georgia Tech: 75 to 66

-Purdue huge OT win over Texas A&M: 63 to 61 because of end of game layup by Chris Kramer (he had 17 to lead Purdue)

*The CUSE over Gonzaga: 87 to 65 (SU 54% from the field, Gonzaga 14% from 3 point land on the game) (Wesley Johnson player of the game with 31 points and 14 rebounds / Andy Rautins had 24 points and made some clutch 3 point field goals. Rautins was 5 of 9 from distance)

-Michigan State beats Maryland: 85 to 83 with last second 3 pointer by Korie Lucious
(**HUGE News: Kalin Lucas injured in game and questionable for Sweet 16 Game this week, ankle injury)

-Xavier barely holds off Pittsburgh: 71 to 68

**Cornell shocks Wisconsin: 87 to 69 with a barage of 3 pointers from Wittman (Big Time Sweet 16 matchup against a young Kentucky Wildcats squad that just beat Wake Forest by 30 points) Can Cornell continue their season and move past the Wildcats? I think they can....

Remaining Field Breakdown: Sweet Sixteen Games played Thursday and Friday, March 25th and 26th

Midwest:

Northern Iowa(9) vs. Michigan State(5)
Ohio State(2) vs. Tennessee(6)

West:

Syracuse(1) vs. Butler(5)
Kansas State(2) vs. Xavier(6)

East:

Kentucky(1) vs. Cornell(12)
Washington(11) vs. West Virginia(2)

South:

Duke(1) vs. Purdue(4)
Baylor(3) vs. Saint Mary's(10)

Final Four Predictions:

Kentucky(1)
Ohio State(2)
Syracuse(1)
Baylor(3)

NCAA Tourney Begins - Herb Pope Blast to Midsection - Onuaku Out - Tiger Woods to play in The Masters

2010-03-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

2010 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket - Sleepers??

2010-03-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Oklahoma State(7) beat Kansas earlier this year

Northern Iowa(9) was nationally ranked nearly all of this year and could pose problems for Kansas in the 2nd round.

_______________________________________________________________

WEST REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Murray State(13) is 30-4 on the year and has the size and athleticism to create serious match up problems for Vanderbilt(4)

Xavier(6) should be a formidable opponent in the 2nd round for Pittsburgh and has played very well over the last month in the A-10

Gonzaga(8) has been ranked in the top 25 for most of the year and has the size down low to get offensive rebounds against Syracuse without Center Arinze Onuaku.

__________________________________________________________________

EAST REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Missouri(10) is 22-10 on the year and was 10-6 in conference play in the very tough Big 12

Texas(8) should be a very interesting matchup in the 2nd round against a young Kentucky squad that will be evenly matched in athleticism by the Longhorns.

Marquette(6) has played the best of the best in the Big East tough all year and will need the leadership of Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler to make a run towards a Sweet 16 matchup against conference rival West Virginia

_______________________________________________________________

SOUTH REGIONAL

Sleeper Picks: Siena(13) should pose serious problems for a depleted Purdue team that is lost with Robbie Hummel

Louisville(9) with two huge wins over Syracuse this year could disrupt and pressure the Blue Devils in the second round, as Rick Pitino will have his boys ready for a big upset.

Old Dominion(11) won the CAA Conference Championship and has held opponents to an average of 57 points per game this year. This should be a close game between ODU and Notre Dame and could come down to the last shot.

What are your thoughts? What other sleepers do you see out there?

Big East Tourney - Thursday Surprises??

2010-03-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

UPDATES:

Notre Dame upsets Pittsburgh: 50 to 45

Georgetown upsets Syracuse: 91 to 84

Marquette upsets Villanova: 80 to 76

Prediction:

Cincinnati will lose to West Virginia: 62 to 54

Louisville Ousts Syracuse / Big East Tournament 2010 Preview (Video)

2010-03-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

2009 Big East Tournament (Let's hope we get another game like this in the 2010 tourney)

Louisville Ousts Syracuse (First Road loss for SU this year...wow!)

Big East Tournament Bracket 2010

FIBA 2010 Big East Conference Tournament Schedule

In Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

2010 Big East Conference first round of the tournament games

Tuesday 9 March

Game 1: No. 9 South Florida vs. No. 16 DePaul at noon

Game 2: No. 12 v. Connecticut, No. 13 San Juan, 2 pm

Game 3: No. 10 Seton Hall vs. No. 15 Rutgers 7 pm

Game 4: No. 11 Cincinnati vs. No. 14 Providence, 9 pm

2010 Big East Tournament First Round Games

Wednesday 10 March

Game 5: No. 8 Georgetown vs. Winner Game 1, Club World, noon

Game 6: No. 5 Marquette vs. Winner Game 2, ESPN, 2 pm

Game 7: No. 7 Notre Dame vs. Winner Game 3, ESPN, 7 pm

Game 8: No. 6 Louisville vs. Winner Game 4, ESPN, 9 pm

2010 Big East Tournament Quarterfinals

Thursday 11 March

Game 9: 1 Winner Game 5 vs. Syracuse, ESPN, noon

Match 10: 4th Winner Game 6 vs. Villanova, ESPN, 2 pm

Game 11: No. 2 Pittsburgh vs. Winner Game 7, ESPN, 7 pm

Match 12: 3rd West Virginia winner cons 8 Thu, ESPN 9 hours

2010 Big East Tournament semifinals

Friday 12 March

Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, ESPN, 7 pm

Thu 14: Fri 11 pm against the winner of Game 12 winner, ESPN, 9

2010 Big East Conference Tournament Championship Game

Saturday 13 March

Game 15: Game 13 Winner Game 14 Winner, ESPN, 9 pm

Picture of the 2010 Big East Regular Season Champs (Style Pic)

Syracuse Orange (28-3) Overall / (15-3) in Big East

Response to SJ Regarding The Cuse

2010-03-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the input SJ

The Orange Punish the Red Storm on Senior Night (Video)

2010-03-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

Next Up: SU at Louisville Saturday at 2pm

Syracuse Blasts Villanova out of the Dome (Video Blog)

2010-02-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

Syracuse to become new Number 1 team in the country on Monday due to the upsets against Kentucky and Kansas today.

7 Villanova 36 41Total = 77

4 Syracuse 46 49 Total = 95

UP NEXT: Senior Night at the Dome against St. Johns Tuesday at 7pm

Syracuse Orange Oust Providence Friars on the Road (Video Blog)

2010-02-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

NEXT UP: SYRACUSE VS. VILLANOVA SATURDAY NIGHT AT 9PM

Syracuse vs. Georgetown Video Blog

2010-02-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the first image, but it gets better!

SYRACUSE ORANGE

STARTERS PTS

Wesley Johnson, F 16 (4 fouls) (Played all 40 minutes, but didn't do much in 2nd half)

Arinze Onuaku, C 2 (Fouled Out) (Foul trouble took him out of the game, not a factor offensively)

Rick Jackson, F 12 (Fouled Out) (played well down low, hit some huge shots throughout)

Andy Rautins, G 26 (4 fouls) (5 of 9 from three point land)

Brandon Triche, G 8 (played tentative, but hit some big shots)

BENCH PTS

Scoop Jardine, G 0
Kris Joseph, F 11 (once again played well off the bench, especially late)
DaShonte Riley, F 0

TOTAL: 75

GEORGETOWN HOYAS
STARTERS PTS

Julian Vaughn, F 0

Greg Monroe, C 20 (Monster numbers late in the game)

Chris Wright, G 20 (proved me wrong, played well and took it to the Cuse, made Rautins work)

Austin Freeman, G 21 (Huge in the second half, nothing in the first half)

Jason Clark, G 8 (Big miss from 3 with under a minute left)

BENCH PTS

Hollis Thompson, F 0
Vee Sanford, G 0
Jerrelle Benimon, F 0
Henry Sims, C 2

TOTAL: 71

Technicals: 2 GTOWN ( C Wright 1 ) SYRACUSE ( A Rautins 1 )
Officials: James Breeding ,Jim Burr ,Jamie Luckey
Attendance: 19,976

Louisville Stuns Syracuse at the Carrier Dome

2010-02-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

In front of a massive crowd of 31,053 fans at the Carrier Dome, which happened to be the largest SU crowd so far this year, the Louisville Cardinal (7-5 Big East / 16-9 overall) shocked the No.2 ranked Syracuse Orange (11-2 Big East / 24-2 overall) to win 66-60. This win was absolutely huge for Louisville, a team which desperately needed a solid Big East road win for their NCAA tournament resume, as they came into the game today on the NCAA Bubble according to "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi....joke. Moreover, Louisville came into Sunday’s Syracuse game lugging a 1-4 Big East road record, which is very unlike the stellar road teams that Louisville Coach Rick Pitino has fielded in years past. The Cardinals’ latest defeat happened in New York, where St. John’s absolutely owned them 74-55 on Thursday. Louisville, a No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, has resided on the tournament bubble for the past couple weeks. The Cardinals had lost five of their last eight games before beating Syracuse.

“We’ve played very good basketball this year. We’ve gotten bad breaks,” Pitino said. “I thought we had the West Virginia game. I thought we had the Pitt game. We were right there to win both games, and we wouldn’t be worried about a road victory to get yourself on the bubble if things would have gone our way.”

However, the luck and certainly the calls seemed to all go in the Cardinal's favor today in the Dome, as Syracuse couldn't buy a call in the last 10 minutes of the game. The one major questionable call that I'm sure left every SU fan fuming in their seats was the intentional foul call on Kris Joseph.
Syracuse’s Kris Joseph was whistled for an intentional foul with 17.8 seconds left in Sunday’s game, as the call came after Wes Johnson drove the baseline and missed horribly a twisting lay-up that was blocked by the under side of the backboard, however, could've been a call against Louisville, as I don't know many times Wesley Johnson gets rejected by the backboard without any foul coming into play. Anyway, Louisville’s Jerry Smith corralled the rebound and Smith turned his back on Joseph to protect the ball. Joseph then pulled back Smith's shoulder to either immediately foul or strip away the ball and was called by Tim Higgins to be an intentional foul. Neither SU coach Jim Boeheim nor Joseph understood the intentional aspect of the foul. Louisville had reached the double bonus, so Smith would have been awarded two free throws anyway. But the intentional foul allowed Louisville to retain possession. Smith sank both of his free throws to cushion Louisville’s lead to 64-60.

“It was right in front of me. He hit him right on the shoulder,” Boeheim said. “He went for the ball and hit him. He didn’t grab him. I don’t know where (it was) intentional. It probably doesn’t matter. The kid makes the two free throws.”

“I didn’t foul him that hard. There definitely was some acting involved,” Joseph said. “I just tried to go for the ball to get him to go to the line and shoot the double bonus. But the refs saw it differently. He’s just doing his job that he gets paid to do, so I’m not going to argue with the call. “The ball was by his shoulder,” Joseph continued. “I just tried to reach over his shoulder, and he made it seem like I pulled him or pushed him or whatever the case may be. And the ref called it intentional.”

Game Analysis/Thoughts:

Overall, SU's lack of defensive and offensive intensity and aggressiveness has definitely shown itself these last fews games. Hopefully, SU is simply hitting a mid season slump and will use this defeat as a means of pushing and motivating themselves going forward. The major factor in this game was the total lack of effectiveness of SU's offense, as Wesley Johnson scored 14 points, yet went 5 for 20 from the field. Overall, SU shot 41% on 24 of 58, with 26% from downtown with 5 of 19 shooting. These numbers will have to improve against Georgetown on Thursday, or SU has no chance of victory. Syracuse needs to push the ball up the floor more often and take advantage of their length and height down low. Most importantly, Syracuse needs to get back that killer edge mentality that has brought them to top 5 in the country. They have tremendous talent and experience and were simply outplayed at the end of this game. Their defense needs to sure up against the 3, as they gave up some costly three pointers with only minutes left in the game.

Game Stats:

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

STARTERS PTS

Terrence Jennings, F 4

Samardo Samuels, F 8

Edgar Sosa, G 12

Jerry Smith, G 2

Preston Knowles, G 10

BENCH PTS

Kyle Kuric, G 0

Jared Swopshire, F 10

Peyton Siva, G 0

Rakeem Buckles, F 8

Mike Marra, G 12

TOTALS = 66

SYRACUSE ORANGE

STARTERS PTS

Wesley Johnson, F 14

Rick Jackson, F 6

Arinze Onuaku, C 12

Andy Rautins, G 12

Brandon Triche, G 0

BENCH PTS

Scoop Jardine, G 6

Mookie Jones, F 0

Kris Joseph, F 10

TOTALS = 60

Technicals: None

Officials: Tim Clougherty ,Tim Higgins ,Bob Donato

Attendance: 31,053

BIG EAST STANDINGS:

Standings Conference - Overall

Big East Wins : Losses - (Games Back) - % - Overall Wins : Losses - %

Villanova 11 1 - .917 - 22 2 .917

Syracuse 11 2 (½) .846 - 24 2 .923

West Virginia 8 4 (3) .667 - 19 5 .792

Pittsburgh 8 4 (3) .667 - 19 6 .760

Georgetown 8 5 (3½) .615 - 18 6 .750

Marquette 7 5 (4) .583 16 8 .667

Louisville 7 5 (4) .583 - 16 9 .640

Cincinnati 6 6 (5) .500 - 15 9 .625

Notre Dame 6 7 (5½) .462 - 17 9 .654

South Florida 5 7 (6) .417 - 15 9 .625

Seton Hall 5 7 (6) .410 - 14 9 .609

Connecticut 4 8 (7) .333 - 14 11 .560

St. John's 4 8 (7) .33 - 14 10 .583

Providence 4 9 (7½) .308 - 12 13 .480

Rutgers 3 9 (8) .250 - 13 12 .520

DePaul 1 11 (10) .083 - 8 16 .333

Syracuse Pulls Out a Nail-Biter Against UConn

2010-02-10T20:38:00.000-08:00

With 24,847 people shaking in their boots in the Carrier Dome, the now No.2 Syracuse University Orange improved to a school best (24-1) overall, as they barely escaped with a win against conference rival UConn 72 to 67. Syracuse leap frogged the Kentucky Wildcats to move to No.2 in the country in the AP Poll, however, they continue to be No.3 in the Coaches Poll. Overall, SU played like the No.2 ranked team in the country for most of the game, but couldn't put the finishing touches on the Huskies when they needed to in order to blow out UConn. However, SU did respond positively when it counted most in order to shoot an incredible 82% from the line to clinch the victory in the closing seconds of this Big East Battle.

This game was much tighter than what it should have been, as The Cuse squandered a 16 point lead in the second half, as their defensive intensity waivered to allow Uconn Guards Jerome Dyson and Kimba Walker to slice into the Cuse 2-3 zone and create solid scoring opportunities for themselves and others. Walker's not known for his shooting ability, yet made 3 teardrop shots with under 8 minutes left in the game to keep the Huskies cutting into the SU lead. Walker ended up with 14 points on the day, while Dyson added 19 points. Dyson went 0 for his first 4 from downtown, but then hit two huge three pointers with under 4 minutes left in the game.

With under a minute left in the game, Uconn and The Orange were tied at 65 to 65. UConn had the ball and was looking to take the lead.....Kimba Walker brought the ball down the floor and to no one's surprise, Jerome Dyson pulled the trigger on a 3 pointer that would have put some serious pressure on Syracuse to do the same. For the Cuse faithful, luckily Dyson was slightly off on his shot, as Kris Joseph got the rebound. After a timeout, Syracuse Guard Andy Rautins rushed and missed a contested 3 off an inbounds pass, but Syracuse Center Rick Jackson rebounded to give SU the ball back. However, at that moment Scoop Jardine drove to the bucket, unsure of what to do, and missed a layup that was blocked. Somehow, Orange coach Jim Boeheim called a timeout with 36.6 seconds left and 32 on the shot clock, which apparently was before Jardine's bad attempt at a layup. Overall, with SU regaining the ball it put them in the drivers seat to scrape out a victory, Johnson was fouled by Robinson as soon as play resumed and sank both free throws to give Syracuse a 67-65 lead with 30.4 seconds left. Kris Joseph then followed with two more free throws with 11.5 seconds to go to make it a two possession game. Walker hit a layup to cut the lead back to a basket, but Joseph sealed it with two more free throws after he was intentionally fouled by Majok on a breakaway with 5.8 seconds left.

**Analysis:

Solid win for the Cuse, but definitely showed that they're vulnerable to strong guard play from up top and around the foul line area. Too many holes were exposed late, The Cuse weren't pumped up to play tonight. They were expecting to win, but didn't want to put the nail in the coffin. Nothing's easy in the Big East and that was proven tonight.

STATS:

Connecticut

Player Position **(Minutes- Points)

S Robinson F 36 -16

A Majok F 11 - 2

A Oriakhi C 13 - 0

K Walker G 38 - 14

J Dyson G 34 - 19

G Edwards 37 - 12

C Okwandu 19 - 2

J Coombs-McDaniel 8 - 2

Total = 67

Syracuse

Player Position **(Minutes - Points)

W Johnson F 40 - 13

R Jackson F 28 - 15

A Onuaku C 21 - 7

A Rautins G 33 - 8

B Triche G 26 - 8

K Joseph 31 - 14

S Jardine 21 - 7

Total = 72

The Saints Stun the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV

2010-02-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

The New Orleans Saints played and won their first Super Bowl title last night, as they shocked Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31 to 17 in a game most thought they wouldn't win. Quite possibly this thinking was due to the fact that it was "Peyton Manning and Dwight Freeney Week" the entire week before the game. No one could go anywhere or turn on their TV without hearing about how Dwight Freeney had a torn ligament in his ankle and was "QUESTIONABLE" to play. In addition, even with Dwight Freeney's injury being the forefront of all discussions, and with the Saints just beating the likes of the Cardinals and Vikings, the Saints remained 5 point underdogs. Furthermore, there was so much love and admiration for Peyton Manning and his play calling ability that I felt like he was going to run for President. Nonetheless, I must say that the New Orleans Saints must have benefited, at least a little bit, from this lack of press, as the Colts stole the show when it came to press leading up to gametime. However, all this talk didn't have a thing to do with the overall outcome of the game.

Led by Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees, who went 32 of 39 for 288 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no INT's, the Saints made history and took control of their destiny to take chances and make gutsy calls that ultimately brought them their first World Championship. Nonetheless, even with those huge numbers, the Saints trailed 17-16 with under 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The game soon changed, as the Saints marched right down the field and capped it off with a 3 yard TD pass to Tight End Jeremy Shockey, as Shockey could now back up all that trash talk we're used to hearing from him. His ring during the Giants Super Bowl run he could never justify due to the injury, but this win by the Saints he can definitely take to the bank...and maybe get another tattoo also .

Think about this...The Saints, who lost their final three regular-season games, are the first team to take a three-game losing streak into the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. Some interesting stats: With the loss by the Colts, the last five regular-season MVPs to reach the Super Bowl have lost the game. The Saints' Garrett Hartley became the first kicker in Super Bowl history to make three field goals from 40-plus yards (46, 44 and 47). Saints Running Back Pierre Thomas, who had 85 total yards, is the third running back in NFL history to have a receiving touchdown in both a conference title game and the Super Bowl....surprising. Colts Kicker Matt Stover, who was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts, became the oldest player in a Super Bowl at 42 years, 11 days. Indianapolis' 96-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter tied the 1985 Bears (Super Bowl XX) for the longest in Super Bowl history.

We all knew the game was over, even for Peyton Manning, when Saints Cornerback Tracy Porter ran in front of Reggie Wayne, intercepted Peyton Manning's pass and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown to give New Orleans a 31-17 lead with 3:12 remaining in the game. To the surprise of many, the Colts were completely unable to rally in the final minutes, giving the Saints their first Super Bowl championship. The interesting fact being that Porter also had a huge interception against Brett Favre in the NFC championship game that ultimately led his team to victory....twice this postseason. Watch it again:

A Saturday of College BBall Upsets - Huge Monday Matchups

2010-02-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

No.2 Villanova was dominated by No.8 Georgetown 90 to 103
      *This was the first conference loss for Villanova this year, and only 2nd overall loss

No.5 Michigan State loses to unranked Illinois 73 to 78
      *Michigan State 2nd straight loss in Big Ten play, first time since 2008(no Kalin Lucas however)

No.10 Texas falls to unranked Oklahoma 71 to 80
     *Since becoming No.1 two weeks ago, Texas has lost 4 of it's last 6 games

No.12 Brigham Young loses to unranked UNLV 88 to 74
     *BYU was down 22 at halftime and gave up an NBA like 56 points in the first half

No.17 Temple gets dominated by unranked Richmond 54 to 71
     *Although unranked, Richmond's win brings them to a 7-2 conference record tie with Temple

No.20 Vanderbilt gets ousted by unranked Georgia 58 to 72
     *Georgia has a losing overall record so far this year at 10-11, yet dominated the ranked Vandy squad by double digits....ouch Vandy!!

No.24 Baylor loses to unranked Texas A&M 71 to 78
      *Baylor led by 12 at one point, made almost double the three pointers that the Aggies made, shot a better field goal percentage from the floor, yet lost the game by 7

*Big Monday Matchups: College Basketball fans, it doesn't get any better than this!

No.2 Villanova vs. No.6 West Virginia 7pm ET - ESPN

No.1 Kansas vs. No.10 Texas 9pm ET - ESPN

Georgetown Takes Down No.2 Villanova in D.C.

2010-02-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

After a shocking home loss on Wednesday to the University of South Florida, the No.8 Georgetown Hoyas(17-5) defended their home court amidst a monster snow storm outside to oust the No.2 Villanova Wildcats(20-2) 103 to 90. This was the first Big East conference loss for the Wildcats so far this year and only their second loss of the season, however, many analysts have pointed out how the week schedule of Villanova had up until this game kept them at the top of the national rankings. Nonetheless, that soft Wildcat schedule is about to heat up, as Villanova now moves on to play No.6 West Virginia on Monday to start Rivalry Week. Georgetown improved to 7-4 in Big East play and a tie for 4th place with Pittsburgh in the conference standings, while Villanova fell into a tie for first place in the conference with the Syracuse Orange at 9-1.

This game was the definition of a tough fought Big East battle between two power houses, as fouls played a huge role in the final turnout of the game. Georgetown shot an incredible 39 of 50 from the charity strike, while Villanova made 17 of 23 from the line. Overall, 73 free throws were attempted in the game, as the physicality of the Hoyas was simply too much for Villanova's undersized forwards and guards to handle. Hoyas Guard Austin Freeman was dynamite, as he shot 8 of 12 from the floor, and made 7 of 10 free throws to lead the Hoyas with 25 points, while Sophomore star Center Greg Monroe added 19 points and made 11 of 14 free throws. The complete lack of a bench didn't negatively influence the Hoyas offensive production today, as the Hoyas scored at ease and put up a season high 103 points against Villanova's undersized defense. This was a statement game for both teams, as Villanova sought to put a huge conference road win on their tournament resume, while Georgetown sought to possibly move up in the ranks even though they had lost to South Florida earlier this week. Overall, the home court crowd propelled the Hoyas past the Wildcats this day, however, it'll be up to the pollsters to see how far Nova will fall in the ranks and whether G-Town's victory over Nova was worthy of them moving up.

Star Watch: Scottie Reynolds had 24 points on a lackluster 6 of 17 from the floor, however, he was 9 of 11 from the line. He had 6 assists with 6 turnovers