Dec. 10-15 Blog
December 10, 2007 11:03 AM | General
We’re changing things up a little bit. For the past four years Campus Connection has kind of been like a weekly blog full of tidbits, notes, commentary, quasi-opinion and weak stabs at humor that have sometimes hit the mark and at other times completely missed. Well, to keep up with the Jones', we’ve decided to turn Campus Connection into a daily blog. If we miss a day then you know we’re struggling.
Hope you enjoy it ...
Thursday Thoughts
Posted By John Antonik: December 13, 2007 (4:01 pm)
Three of King’s five teams averaged more than 80 points per game, including his ’61 team that averaged 86.11 points per contest.
Huggins currently has the Mountaineers averaging 86.8 points per game to rank ninth nationally. The last WVU team to average more than 80 points per game for a season was Gale Catlett’s 1998 team that scored at an 80.21-points-per-game clip.
There have been 23 WVU teams that have averaged more than 80 points per game in a season. Here is a breakdown of the WVU coaches and the number of their teams that averaged at least 80 points per game in a season:
Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator Kevin Sumlin will be named Houston’s new head football coach on Friday, Houston athletic director Dave Maggard told the Houston Chronicle Thursday. Sumlin worked directly with OU’s wide receivers and interviewed with Miami’s Randy Shannon for a similar post before the season but instead opted to remain in Norman. Sumlin was also up for head coaching jobs at Eastern Washington and Washington State.
Quick Slants
Posted By John Antonik: December 12, 2007 (4:29 pm)
The Big East Conference today announced that West Virginia’s Jan. 10, 2008, men’s basketball game at Louisville will be televised by ESPN. The Arkansas-Auburn game that night will air on ESPN2. The network has the option of selecting which games it will air on ESPN a month beforehand.
First-year football SID Mike Montoro has worked hard getting WVU’s junior tackle on other All-America teams. Stanchek was a first team Football Writers Association of America All-American, and a second-team Walter Camp, Sporting News and Rivals.com All-American.
As irony would have it, this is the second time Arkansas has gotten its football coach in the middle of an NFL season. Lou Holtz bailed on the New York Jets with one game remaining in the 1976 season to coach the Razorbacks. Both Holtz and Petrino had 3-10 records at the time they left.
Basketball Notes
Posted By John Antonik: December 11, 2007 (10:04 am)
Scout Inc.’s Reggie Rankin has UMBC at West Virginia this Saturday as one of his five upsets to watch this week. The Retrievers are off to an impressive 7-2 start with early-season wins coming over A-10 schools LaSalle, Richmond and George Washington.
Coach Randy Monroe has four players averaging double figures led by 6-3 guard Brian Hodges who is averaging 18.8 points per game. James Madison transfer Ray Barbosa is averaging 16.2 points and Coppin State transfer Darryl Proctor is averaging 14.8 points per game.
UMBC also has some size in 6-foot-8-inch James Madison transfer Cavell Johnson, who averages 14.3 points per game. The Retrievers have a Wednesday night matchup at Central Connecticut before facing West Virginia on Saturday at the Coliseum.
Saturday’s game will be the final MSNsportsNET.com pay-per-view telecast and can be purchased for $11.95 by clicking here.
To get a more accurate feel for the type of basketball schedule Bob Huggins plans to have at West Virginia, it might be a good idea to take a look at some of the teams he’s scheduled in the past.
His last year at Cincinnati in 2005 Huggins' out-of-conference schedule included games against Purdue, Dayton, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Wake Forest and Xavier.
This year’s Kansas State schedule includes out-of-league games against George Mason, Oregon, Notre Dame, Cal and Xavier.
Huggins indicated earlier this year that he will take West Virginia to a tournament in Las Vegas next season and also has verbal agreements with Mississippi and Memphis to play home and home games beginning next season.
West Virginia got 70 votes in this week’s AP Top 25 poll to placed 29th; the coaches’ are still not convinced, giving the Mountaineers just six votes in this week’s poll.
The Mountaineers are ranked first in the Big East in scoring offense (86.8 ppg.), first in scoring margin (plus 30.1), first in field goal percentage (51.3), first in turnover margin (plus 8.13), first in 3-point field goals made (9.25), second in scoring defense (56.6 ppg.), second in field goal percentage defense (35.7), second in blocked shots (6.38 bpg.), second in assists (19.3 apg.) and second in steals (10.13 spg.).
Big East Update
Posted By John Antonik: December 10, 2007 (11:04 am)
There are just two remaining undefeated teams in the Big East – Pitt and Georgetown – and both have stiff tests coming up next week. The Hoyas play at No. 2 Memphis on Saturday, Dec. 22, and Pitt has a pair of tough games ahead against Oklahoma State on Dec. 15, and against Duke on Dec. 20.
The Panthers (9-0) needed video replay to wipe off a buzzer-beating basket by Washington to remain undefeated.
Villanova is 7-1 after an eight-point victory over cross-town rival Temple and a come-from-behind one-point win over LSU. Marquette is now 6-1 after an impressive 81-76 win over No. 23 Wisconsin. The Golden Eagles should be 10-1 when they open Big East play against Providence on Jan. 3.
Seton Hall’s strong 6-0 start that included a road win at Virginia has been tempered with a pair of recent losses to St. Mary’s and Penn State; Syracuse also shows some early season losses to Ohio State, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino’s bid for win number 500 was denied by Dayton last Saturday when the Cardinals dropped a 70-65 decision to the Flyers at Freedom Hall. The Cardinals are now 5-2 with their other loss coming against BYU.
South Florida under new coach Stan heath has won seven in a row after starting the season with losses to Cleveland State, Buffalo and Rhode Island.
Connecticut is 6-2 with both losses coming to ranked teams in Memphis and Gonzaga. The Huskies should be 9-2 when conference play begins in January.
Notre Dame (7-2) has done all of the heavy lifting in its non-conference schedule and expects to have at least nine wins when it faces West Virginia on Jan. 3. The Irish open league play on Dec. 22 against South Florida at the Joyce Center.
Providence and Rutgers are both 6-3 at this point; Providence has non-league losses to Miami, Rhode Island and South Carolina with another non-conference game looming against Florida State while Rutgers has losses to Florida, St. Peter’s and Nebraska. The Scarlet Knights have a game coming up against No. 1 North Carolina.
Cincinnati is already 4-4 after a 10-point loss to Illinois State and has four tough non-conference games on the horizon against Xavier, Memphis, N.C. State and Miami, Ohio, before league play starts at Louisville on Jan. 1.
DePaul (2-3) is also staring at a tough December with non-conference games remaining against Vanderbilt, Mississippi and Clemson before christening Big East play against Villanova on Jan. 3.
St. John’s is 4-1 with its lone loss coming against Miami on Dec. 2. The Red Storm have just three more games before opening conference play against Syracuse on Jan. 2.
