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Snowflakes: Big East Hoops

Louisville got a monster win last Saturday night when they knocked off first place Georgetown. The Cardinals are playing much better ball of late, having won 5 of 6, and looking solid for a good run in the postseason. However, I’ve got to give at least an assist to Rick Pitino’s choice of apparel for this victory. We in the South can be very superstitious when it comes to what we wear for a game. At Freedom Hall, the Louisville crowd decided to have a “white out” for the big conference tilt and for the ESPN national audience. Consequently, Pitino came out for the game in an all white suit (possibly the first one worn in the Commonwealth since Colonel Sanders?). The Cards struggled early and were down 8 at the break. So as the team returned for the 2nd half, Pitino comes back in his usual black suit, and Louisville responded by outscoring the Hoyas by 16 to take a 59-51 victory. I know defense and rebounding win games, but it’s nice to see a coach act a little like us fans every now and then.

* West Virginia lost another Big East heartbreaker last Thursday when the Pittsburgh Panthers hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the visiting Mountaineers. At 16-7, Bob Huggins’ team is probably still in good shape to make the NCAA tournament even after dropping three of the last four. Their next four games are against teams standing at 10th or below in the conference, and three of those contests are at home. As long as West Virginia doesn’t get upset (more than once) in that stretch, they should easily be Tourney-bound which is a pretty significant accomplishment in Huggins’ first season in Morgantown. To totally change the style of play of the team and still go to the postseason from the rugged Big East, that says a lot about the Coach and the future for the Mountaineers.

* I should have mentioned last week that the sites for the 2nd SEC/Big East Invitational were announced for next season. Only four teams in each league will play in the 2-city event. In Nashville, the doubleheader will feature Vanderbilt vs. South Florida and then Tennessee vs. Marquette. You’ll hear a ton of Bruce Pearl/Milwaukee coverage in that one since the Vols coach was hired from UW-Milwaukee after their Sweet 16 run in 2005. In Cincinnati, the games will be Ole Miss vs. Louisville and Mississippi State against the Bearcats. I think fans would have preferred to see a matchup of former UC coach (and current Ole Miss boss) Andy Kennedy against his former club, but all in all, they mini-event seems much better than this year’s version which did not feature any marquee teams from the SEC.

                                                                     

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