Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Aug 12, 2007 15:48:49 GMT -5
By Don Clegg POSTED: July 15, 2007
The Big East released its list of league opponents for the 2007-08 basketball season late last week and, at first glance, it appears the opportunity is there for Bob Huggins to have a pretty nice homecoming season in Morgantown.
The conference schedule has been expanded from 16 to 18 games, allowing every team to play every other team at least once with three home-and-home series.
According to the Big East, criteria for determining the repeat opponents involved natural interest, geography, rivalries and television contracts.
It’s safe to assume consideration wasn’t given in that order.
With Huggins on board, the logical choices for WVU in terms of natural interest, rivalries, geography would have been Pitt, Cincinnati and Louisville.
What we got were Pitt, Providence and St. John’s.
Didn’t you want to see what happened when Huggins took his first West Virginia team to Cincinnati, where many fans still regard him as some sort of deity?
Rick Pitino and Huggins’ teams have locked horns in some epic battles during the years. The Louisville-WVU football rivalry is one of the conference’s newest and fiercest and who can forget that classic Elite 8 game in Albuquerque?
With the natural interest, rivalry and geography cards all on the table, we’re left with a couple of assumptions.
It’s possible the University of Cincinnati — meaning president Dr. Nancy Zimpher — wanted no part of the circus atmosphere that would certainly ensue if Huggins and the Mountaineers swaggered into Fifth Third Arena in his first season. This season’s lone WVU-Cincinnati matchup will be played in Morgantown.
It’s also possible the networks see this as a transition season for WVU basketball. Many believe the uber-intense Huggins will drive himself crazy trying to hammer the square peg of his aggressive athletic style into the round hole of some dilettante 3-point jump shooters left over from the John Beilein era.
Regardless of the reason, if I’m looking to put some conference victories in the bank, extra games with St. John’s and Providence instead of Louisville works much better for me.
I didn’t think the home/road splits for the remainder of the conference schedule worked out as well for WVU.
The Mountaineers’ only games against Georgetown, Marquette and Syracuse will be played in the friendly confines of the WVU Coliseum.
But Huggins will have to take his show on the road to places like Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame, Villanova and DePaul.
There’s no such thing as an easy schedule in the Big East, especially when you add two more league games into the mix, but it could have been a lot worse.
Non-Conference Schedule
Adding two more games to the conference schedule will help each team’s RPI by boosting the strength of schedule component.
But non-conference victories are what really catch the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s eye in March.
Since TV negotiations are still ongoing between the Big East and its various network affiliates, West Virginia’s complete 2007-08 basketball schedule probably won’t be released until football season is well under way.
Nevertheless, the Mountaineers will have several chances to make their presence felt outside the Big East.
The first one comes in mid-November when WVU is expected to be one of the four “anchor” teams for the Legends Classic.
The tournament, sponsored by the Gazelle Group, will be structured very much like the Guardians Classic the Mountaineers played in two years ago.
In case you’ve forgotten, the Mountaineers opened that event with easy victories at home against Louisiana-Monroe and Wofford before heading to Kansas City and losing to Texas and Kentucky.
According to the Gazelle Group’s Web site, West Virginia, Texas, Tennessee and a school to be announced — probably from the West Coast — will play host to two games sometime between Nov. 14-18.
If they win, they’ll head to Trenton, N.J., with the other three winners to play the tournament semifinals and finals on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 23-24).
The games will be played at “The Rock,” the brand-new Prudential Center scheduled to open this fall as the new home of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils.
West Virginia also will participate in the Big East-SEC Challenge. The Mountaineers are scheduled to play Auburn in Birmingham, Ala., as part of a December doubleheader also featuring Georgetown and Alabama.
Huggins’ boys will also play two games in Charleston this season. Along with the annual Marshall game, WVU will be entertaining Oklahoma in a return game from a few years back.
Familiar Face
Steubenville football fans will see a familiar face on the sidelines when Akron Buchtel comes to Harding Stadium on Aug. 31.
It’s a face that might keep some of the older fans awake at night.
Ricky Powers was hired as the Griffins’ new head coach earlier this summer.
Powers was a Big Red killer during his days as a high school star at Buchtel.
A talented running back, he led the Griffins to back-to-back state championship game victories against Steubenville in 1987 and 1988.
He went on to star at the University of Michigan and eventually played in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens.
This will be the fourth meeting between Big Red and Buchtel in the last three years.
The Griffins lost to Steubenville in the season opener each of the last two years and also fell to Big Red in the 2005 Division III state semifinals.
Powers replaces former coach Claude Brown, who pled guilty in April to two counts of sexual battery involving a 17-year-old student.
Cancer Research Classic
If you’re any kind of basketball fan at all, don’t forget to circle the date of Dec. 15 on your sports calendar.
The inaugural Cancer Research Classic at Wheeling Jesuit University wants to grow into the nation’s premier Catholic high school basketball tournament.
Judging by the field announced by tournament organizers late last week, they’re well on their way.
Dr. Gregory Merrick, Director of the Urologic Research Institute at Wheeling Hospital, and Wheeling Jesuit University are to be commended for their efforts in putting this thing together.
I spent a few hours sifting through several internet recruiting sites following the announcement and was amazed by the number of blue-chip athletes who will be coming to town that afternoon and evening.
There’s no doubt this will be the largest collection of high school basketball talent ever to perform on a single day in the state of West Virginia.
And it’s happening right here in Wheeling.
Don Clegg can be reached via e-mail at: Clegg@news-register.net
The Big East released its list of league opponents for the 2007-08 basketball season late last week and, at first glance, it appears the opportunity is there for Bob Huggins to have a pretty nice homecoming season in Morgantown.
The conference schedule has been expanded from 16 to 18 games, allowing every team to play every other team at least once with three home-and-home series.
According to the Big East, criteria for determining the repeat opponents involved natural interest, geography, rivalries and television contracts.
It’s safe to assume consideration wasn’t given in that order.
With Huggins on board, the logical choices for WVU in terms of natural interest, rivalries, geography would have been Pitt, Cincinnati and Louisville.
What we got were Pitt, Providence and St. John’s.
Didn’t you want to see what happened when Huggins took his first West Virginia team to Cincinnati, where many fans still regard him as some sort of deity?
Rick Pitino and Huggins’ teams have locked horns in some epic battles during the years. The Louisville-WVU football rivalry is one of the conference’s newest and fiercest and who can forget that classic Elite 8 game in Albuquerque?
With the natural interest, rivalry and geography cards all on the table, we’re left with a couple of assumptions.
It’s possible the University of Cincinnati — meaning president Dr. Nancy Zimpher — wanted no part of the circus atmosphere that would certainly ensue if Huggins and the Mountaineers swaggered into Fifth Third Arena in his first season. This season’s lone WVU-Cincinnati matchup will be played in Morgantown.
It’s also possible the networks see this as a transition season for WVU basketball. Many believe the uber-intense Huggins will drive himself crazy trying to hammer the square peg of his aggressive athletic style into the round hole of some dilettante 3-point jump shooters left over from the John Beilein era.
Regardless of the reason, if I’m looking to put some conference victories in the bank, extra games with St. John’s and Providence instead of Louisville works much better for me.
I didn’t think the home/road splits for the remainder of the conference schedule worked out as well for WVU.
The Mountaineers’ only games against Georgetown, Marquette and Syracuse will be played in the friendly confines of the WVU Coliseum.
But Huggins will have to take his show on the road to places like Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame, Villanova and DePaul.
There’s no such thing as an easy schedule in the Big East, especially when you add two more league games into the mix, but it could have been a lot worse.
Non-Conference Schedule
Adding two more games to the conference schedule will help each team’s RPI by boosting the strength of schedule component.
But non-conference victories are what really catch the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s eye in March.
Since TV negotiations are still ongoing between the Big East and its various network affiliates, West Virginia’s complete 2007-08 basketball schedule probably won’t be released until football season is well under way.
Nevertheless, the Mountaineers will have several chances to make their presence felt outside the Big East.
The first one comes in mid-November when WVU is expected to be one of the four “anchor” teams for the Legends Classic.
The tournament, sponsored by the Gazelle Group, will be structured very much like the Guardians Classic the Mountaineers played in two years ago.
In case you’ve forgotten, the Mountaineers opened that event with easy victories at home against Louisiana-Monroe and Wofford before heading to Kansas City and losing to Texas and Kentucky.
According to the Gazelle Group’s Web site, West Virginia, Texas, Tennessee and a school to be announced — probably from the West Coast — will play host to two games sometime between Nov. 14-18.
If they win, they’ll head to Trenton, N.J., with the other three winners to play the tournament semifinals and finals on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 23-24).
The games will be played at “The Rock,” the brand-new Prudential Center scheduled to open this fall as the new home of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils.
West Virginia also will participate in the Big East-SEC Challenge. The Mountaineers are scheduled to play Auburn in Birmingham, Ala., as part of a December doubleheader also featuring Georgetown and Alabama.
Huggins’ boys will also play two games in Charleston this season. Along with the annual Marshall game, WVU will be entertaining Oklahoma in a return game from a few years back.
Familiar Face
Steubenville football fans will see a familiar face on the sidelines when Akron Buchtel comes to Harding Stadium on Aug. 31.
It’s a face that might keep some of the older fans awake at night.
Ricky Powers was hired as the Griffins’ new head coach earlier this summer.
Powers was a Big Red killer during his days as a high school star at Buchtel.
A talented running back, he led the Griffins to back-to-back state championship game victories against Steubenville in 1987 and 1988.
He went on to star at the University of Michigan and eventually played in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens.
This will be the fourth meeting between Big Red and Buchtel in the last three years.
The Griffins lost to Steubenville in the season opener each of the last two years and also fell to Big Red in the 2005 Division III state semifinals.
Powers replaces former coach Claude Brown, who pled guilty in April to two counts of sexual battery involving a 17-year-old student.
Cancer Research Classic
If you’re any kind of basketball fan at all, don’t forget to circle the date of Dec. 15 on your sports calendar.
The inaugural Cancer Research Classic at Wheeling Jesuit University wants to grow into the nation’s premier Catholic high school basketball tournament.
Judging by the field announced by tournament organizers late last week, they’re well on their way.
Dr. Gregory Merrick, Director of the Urologic Research Institute at Wheeling Hospital, and Wheeling Jesuit University are to be commended for their efforts in putting this thing together.
I spent a few hours sifting through several internet recruiting sites following the announcement and was amazed by the number of blue-chip athletes who will be coming to town that afternoon and evening.
There’s no doubt this will be the largest collection of high school basketball talent ever to perform on a single day in the state of West Virginia.
And it’s happening right here in Wheeling.
Don Clegg can be reached via e-mail at: Clegg@news-register.net
