I know I am a little ornery today after the loss but this new format is terrible. Hard to navigate and eliminates some options which I liked like seeing anybody else's schedule. What is the value added with this mess? Plus I have to login in every time I go to it.

If you're looking for somewhere to watch the Villanova-DePaul game this Tuesday night, a bunch of us will be getting together at Gullifty's (http://www.gulliftys.com/) at 1149 Lancaster Ave. in Rosemont. Although the game isn't scheduled to start until just after 8:30 p.m. on FS1, we'll have a large portion of the bar area reserved starting at 8 p.m.

we rarely play our A game there. The sterile environment doesn't help, but we traditionally have not put the hammer down. Our final four team barely escaped with a win. Last year, we were down 11 in the first half but wore the Blue Demons down to win 13 in an ugly game.

I don't think the fact we are #1 will draw any more fans to the game tonight from a DePaul perspective. Hopefully, we come out and play focused ball.

marylands next opponent. D2.

How is that possible? Teams don't play d2 in season. Did they miss an exhibition game????

Head coach of the #1 Wildcats is overdue for a visit w/ the Pope.

There was a John Feinstein "minute" on earlier today. Feinstein is known for being on a high horse, and this was no different. He basically said that it's been a revolving door at the top. "Now it's Villanova's turn...chances are they won't stay there very long...not because they're not very good...there are at least 15 teams that can win the title in March, and being #1 is not a prerequisite." Nothing we don't know already. Still, nice to get some national notoriety on WFAN.

http://www.csnphilly.com/ncaa/no-1-villanova-excited-ranking-focused-winning

Bring on DePaul

http://www.redbubble.com/people/mattmagargee/works/20843956-ryan-arcidicono?grid_pos=3&p=t-shirt

contact info nova73 at gmail dot com
just to make it clear, I am not looking for free tickets, I am willing to pay
Thanks

Two games tonight:

8:00 PM XAVIER at Creighton (CBS Sports Network) (Kenpom: 80-79 Xavier (51% chance of Creighton win)

8:30 PM VILLANOVA at DePaul (Fox Sports 1) (Kenpom: 73-60 Villanova (89% chance of VU win)

Though kenpom shows this as being a close game, I struggle to see Xavier not playing well. They are project as a #1 or #2 NCAA Tournament seed, I think that their kenpom metrics are a little off because of the impact of the games in which Sumner was out. But who knows - the Creighton crowd is awesome and being on the low end of the bubble, this would be a massive win for them and possibly position them to get 11 BE conference wins in the regular season. It is a shame this isn't part of a BE twin-bill on FS1 because I would certainly like to see the last 5 or 10 minutes if the game is close.

Expect Villanova to come out in full attack mode tonight. The players and staff probably would downplay the #1 ranking a bit but I think the ranking will serve as extra motivation in a game that could have been one of those where the team starts out a bit flat. It will be interesting to see a) how Ochefu plays if he is back in the rotation and b) what Reynolds does for an encore after opening a big can at Providence.

BE Tracker:
https://villanova.n.rivals.com/news/2015-16-big-east-tracker

It is a strange title, but a really fun read by Mike Kern and Dick Jerardi.

It's lengthy, and I am only part-way thru, but enjoy a trip down memory lane and some thoughts on this year:

http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/philly/sports/colleges/villanova&id=368098321

Lots of misses but 11 points off of TOs.

"It's an unfortunate part of sports that when you lose its a lot easier to learn." I hope the next time we lose a regular season game some of our board members remember this.

Slick Rick is the Kim Kardashian of college hoops. Their is no such thing as bad publicity for him. I actually think he relishes this latest scandal because it keeps the spotlight on him, and ESPN is his biggest enabler. Witness the fact that they have been promoting the heck out of his appearance on mike and mike this morning. Listening to his absurd argument that he would do anything for the players and that these players shouldn't suffer but that the school should give back to the ncaa some of the millions it made off the ncaa as a result of their widespread disregard for the rules is absolutely sickening. But rick loves every second of it because it gives him another forum to spew his deception that he somehow cares about kids, when all he really cares about, is filling his already overstuffed wallet and feeding his megalomania induced ego. He belongs in jail and much like the ray lewis case, espn is a co conspirator

Murdered on live television.

Both teams going to be tough outs in dance.

17-13 Longhorns 8 min left 1st

I know G'Town's season can be looked at as a disappointment, or a rollercoaster ride to say the least, but they still have a shot to make the tournament and the crowd there is just awful.

I also know St. John's is abysmal this year, but you are playing a traditional Big East rival, that should AT LEAST contribute some interest.

Anyway, seeing that type of crowd at a Georgetown vs. St. John's basketball game is NOT helping the Big East. Really disappointing.

Makes you realize what good additions Creighton, Butler and Xavier are when you see the crowds they get.

Dixville Notch has spoken. On the Dem side, HRC was shut out by the Bern 4-0. On the Rep side, Kasich edged Trump 3-2.

Reports out of Vegas claimed that 85% of money wagered on the AFCCG was on New England.

Opening line CAR -4.0.

After the Virginia loss some board members stated that our shot for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament was over. In about 24 hours we are going to be the #1 team in the country.

When Clark Francis lists his All-American Team, regardless of class, he ranks the Top 100 players by placing them on 20 All-American teams.
His latest list is in the most recent edition of Basketball Times.
Here are some players of interest:

2nd Team All-American (Players 6 through 10 nationally regardless of class):
OMARI SPELLMAN

4th Team
Mohamed Bamba
Rawle Alkins

5th Team
Trevon DuVal

6th Team
D.J. Harvey
Markelle Fultz

7th Team
Kevin Huerter
Peyton Pritchard

8th Team
Shamarie Ponds (6-1, G, St. John's commit)

11th Team
Hamidou Diallo

14th Team
Brendan Bailey (6-8, PF, Marquette Commit)

20th Team
Tremont Waters

We'll lose tomorrow night at DePaul.

Guaranteed.

My gut tells me that last year's team was slightly better.

Discuss

Does anyone else recall that during a particular season about 5-7 years ago Jay Wright stopped standing during games? This lasted, as best as I can recall, for about half the season.

One of the real oddities of the Wright-era.

Ok, continue on with rankings discussions.