PRESEASON NOTES
October 02, 2007 04:09 PM | General
By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
October 12, 2007
West Virginia and Florida are the only two teams in the country entering this season with winning streaks. The Gators enter this season riding a 10-game winning streak after capturing their second-straight national title by defeating Ohio State 84-75.
West Virginia has averaged 24 victories over the last three seasons and last year’s 27 wins were second-most in school history.
The Mountaineers were one of the best ball handling teams in the country in 2007, ranking seventh in the nation in assists per game (17.6) and 10th in turnovers per game (11.3).
Last year West Virginia ranked 39th in the country in scoring defense (62.4 ppg.) using an unorthodox 1-3-1 zone defense. This year Mountaineer Coach Bob Huggins will employ a trapping, aggressive, in-your-face defense.
There are two new coaches in the Big East this year. Of course West Virginia introduced alumnus Bob Huggins in April to replace John Beilein. South Florida is also under new leadership with Stan Heath taking over in Tampa. Heath led Arkansas to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances before moving on.
The Big East Conference has six coaches that have taken teams to the Final Four during their coaching careers. Rick Pitino is the only coach in NCAA history to lead three different teams to Final Fours (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville). Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim has been to the Final Four three times and Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has been there twice.
The Big East has had the most NCAA Sweet 16 appearances since 2002 with 15. The next closest conferences are the ACC and the Big 12 with 11 each.
The Big East now has one of the best television deals in the country with the entire conference slate of games being televised on ESPN’s family of networks.
Seton Hall is switching homes this season after spending the last 26 years at Continental Airlines Arena. The Pirates will be playing their home games this year at the 18,500-seat Prudential center in Newark, N.J. Seton Hall supporters like the move because the facility is closer to their campus.
The conference has opted for a controversial 18-game league schedule after choosing to play a 16-game slate the last eight seasons. Each team will face each other at least once and will also have three repeat foes. West Virginia’s three repeat opponents are Pitt, Providence and St. John’s.
October 12, 2007
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| West Virginia's Joe Alexander should thrive in Coach Bob Huggins' up-tempo system.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
West Virginia has won five in a row on the way to capturing the 2007 NIT championship by defeating Clemson 78-73 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the school’s second NIT title.
The one area Huggins will spend a lot of time on is rebounding. Last year the Mountaineers ranked 272nd in the country in rebounding margin at minus-3.4 per game.
Georgetown’s John Thompson III made last year’s Final Four and West Virginia’s Bob Huggins took Cincinnati to the Final Four in 1992.
RETURN TO MAIN
Alumni Series | Violet Hewett
Friday, May 01
SWIM: What it Means to Represent West Virginia
Wednesday, April 29
SWIM: What it Means to Become a Mountaineer
Wednesday, April 29
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
