Today was a slow day for WVU Bball news so I thought I would go out and see what was a buzz about football and….

Ahhhhh Nice… I flipped over to Yahoo Sports College football front page and saw this.

What a sight for sore, football depraved eyes. (Spring game is getting closer and closer)

Anyway, when you read the article, Rivals has the combo of Pat White and Noel Devine as the most dangerous players in college football… check it:

1. West Virginia QB Pat White/West Virginia TB Noel Devine: One of just three players to rush and pass for 1,000 yards last season, White scored seven touchdowns on rushes of at least 20 yards. That included a game-winning 50-yard burst against Louisville. A better passer than most think, White also threw 14 touchdown passes, including four that covered at least 30 yards. Meanwhile, Devine averaged a whopping 8.6 yards per carry as Steve Slaton’s true freshman understudy last season. Devine had five touchdown runs of at least 10 yards, including a clinching 65-yarder against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. His season-long run covered 76 yards, and he did this all on just 73 carries. Slaton won’t be around next season, so Devine should be even scarier.

And what do the dill-holes at ESPN have us ranked pre-season?

Also check out this spring capsule breakdown of the big east.

New Coaches:

Bill Stewart, West Virginia: Stewart had little trouble winning over the fans in Morgantown for two reasons: because he beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and because he isn’t Rich Rodriguez. The next task is to win some game. Stewart, who went 8-25 as a head coach at VMI, looks to keep much of the same system in place, including the spread offense. He retained Rivals.com national defensive coordinator of the year Jeff Casteel, who will continue to run the 3-3-5. Stewart hired away some talented assistants from successful programs, such as Jeff Mullen from Wake Forest, Doc Holliday from Florida and David Johnson from Georgia.

Biggest Position Battles this spring:

West Virginia: Defensive end. Redshirt freshman Julian Miller will be the only returnee from last season, but soon will have company. The Mountaineers will have junior college end Larry Ford for the spring. But the real prize won’t arrive until fall, when four-star JC transfer Tevita Finau lands on campus.

Players that should emerge this spring:

West Virginia TB Noel Devine: To Mountaineers fans and recruitniks, Devine already is a household name. Look for him to take a big leap in production during his sophomore year with Steve Slaton leaving early for the NFL. Devine averaged 8.6 yards per carry as a backup last year, but carried the ball more than 10 times in a game just twice. With his smaller frame, he and the coaching staff will look to limit the wear and tear on his body as the season progresses.

Impact newcomers this spring:

West Virginia DEs Julian Miller and Larry Ford: Miller, a redshirt freshman, was the only defensive end on scholarship before Ford enrolled in January. Since West Virginia plays a 3-3-5 stack defense, Miller and Ford will compete for one spot during the spring.

September can’t get here fast enough.

StatSheet.com has some awesome game stat and charts about every bball game. It’s a great way to graphically see how the game breaks down. Enjoy.

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

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West Virginia knew they had to win this game in front of an ESPN Big Monday audience on Senior Night with Darris Nichols, Jamie Smalligan, and Teddy Talkington playing their final game at the WVU Coliseum.

In front of 13,960 fans, including a vocal jammed pack student contingent, the Mountaineers pounded Pittsburgh inside and out as they won 76-62. Led by Joe Alexander’s 2nd straight 32-point game the Mountaineers have most likely solidified an NCAA Tournament berth. (Mountaineerbob totally called this one!)

Joltin’ Joe was 10 of 16 from the field plus 12 of 16 from the foul line. He also was solid in getting frontcourt players DeJuan Blair and Sam Young in foul trouble and they both eventually fouled out. Nicholas scored 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting with 3 treys. The Rainmaker chipped in with 14, and had 3 treys of his own. LaVance “Don’t Taser Me, Bro” Fields scored 15 for Pitt.

It was a back and forth slobber-knocker throughout the first half until about 4 minutes remaining as WVU was leading 27-25. The Eers went on an 11-3 tear to get the lead up to double-digits for the first time tonight at 38-28.

The Eers held it there at the half with the score of 40-30. In order for West Virginia to get after the Big Dance invite they had to come out on fire. After a couple wide-open three point attempts by Young were off the mark, WVU was off and running as they scored the first seven points of the second half.

Pitt tried to keep it close but Alexander was almost perfect. He couldn’t miss from 17 feet, off the bank, and even hit a tip-in, basically Alexander was putting on a clinic tonight against Blair and Young. The closest Pitt ever got to WVU in the second half (after than opening second half spurt) was fourteen, and that was end of the game.

About 200 students rushed the floor to the fine tune of Country Roads after the game. What a great night to be a Mountaineer!

What it all means…

The Mountaineers will wrap up the regular season Saturday afternoon as they go to NYC to play the St. John’s Red Storm at the world’s most famous arena Madision Square Garden. While tonight’s win puts a seal of approval in the NCAA Tournament resume with 20 Division-I wins as well as 10 Big East wins, the next game is important for seeding purposes.

If we win and Marquette loses to Syracuse at the Carrier Dome WVU will clinch the 5th spot due to their win over Marquette. Let’s not think about that now, let’s just savor this kick-ass win over the Panthers. I just want to know if anybody is burning their old couch tonight in Sunnyside? If so, burn one for me tonight!

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

Students, if you’re reading this, you should be heading out to the Coliseum right now and waiting for hours to get that coveted lower-level seat. That area will be the best seat in the house as the West Virginia Mountaineers are in yet another MUST-WIN battle. This time it will be in front of a nationwide ESPN Big Monday audience. The 175th meeting of the BBall Backyard Brawl will take place in front of a packed Gold Rush crowd at the WVU Coliseum. The tipoff is at 7pmE.

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PITT vs. WVU

In Morgantown

Major implications….

A win: Helps us clinch a Tourney spot and possibly put PITT on the bubble.

A loss: Could put us on the outside looking in… again.

I hate that all of our big games come down to playing an overrated PITT but makes livin’ in Pittsburgh interesting.

My prediction. A WVU win by 12.
PITT 64 - WVU 76

REVENGE will be sweet. I’ll be there cheering on the blue and gold. See ya there.

Eat Shit Pitt.

and Let’s GOOOOO Mountaineers.

Meg Bulger and Yinka Sanni capped off Senior Day with 20 points each including 6 treys from Bulger as 13th-ranked West Virginia held on against star player Angel McCoughtry and the Louisville Cardinals 78-70 to clinch third-place in the Big East Conference. This win gives WVU the first-round bye for the second straight year. All seven seniors played for the Mountaineers which included a rare start by Kendra Goodley plus spirited play by Lateeyah Joye in a stretch the Eers needed the most when Sanni got four fouls early in the second half. McCoughtery rallied from a FG-less first half to score 29 points with 11 rebounds and five steals. WVU made just enough effort to carry a much-needed victory that almost didn’t happened. Read the rest »

Joe Alexander scored a career-high 32 points for the West Virginia Mountaineers. Along with his 10 rebounds, Alexander arguably had one of the best individual performances a Mountaineer basketball player had in quite sometime. The same can’t be said for the rest of the team whose shoddy transition defense caused Husky point guard A.J. Price to have a career game of his own as UCONN withheld a furious Mountaineer comeback to win 79-71. Price scored 24 points on five three pointers. Frontcourt beast Jeff Adrien had another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. 7′3″ Tanzanian Devil Hasheem Thabeet was plagued by foul trouble early and scored only 2 points with 2 rebounds in only 18 minutes. For a brief time on the court, Thabeet did have 3 blocks and altered a few of the Mountaineer shots as the Eers shot only 41 percent from the field. Take away Alexander’s 14 for 24 performance from the field plus making all four foul shots and WVU would’ve shot a horrid 32 percent not to mention 2 of 7 from the foul line.

At first glance, it appeared WVU was ready to play as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead on a three by The Rainmaker. UCONN decided to wake up and play basketball as they out-scored WVU 19-6 capped off by a dunk from Stanley Robinson to take a 23-16 lead. The Huskies would not let up as they went on another spurt, this time a 14-2 run to give UCONN a huge 37-23 lead. The Huskies cruised to a 12-point halftime lead. Read the rest »

Now that the West Virginia Mountaineers got the road win they needed north of Chi-Town on Wednesday, it’s time to head to New England and accomplish something the Eers have never done in school history. WIN AT UCONN! They have lost in Huskie territory all six times including one back in February 2000 when, as the buzzer sounded, Khalid El-Amin scored on a desperation runner to win by one. Aside from that the Eers lost to UCONN on the road, in the other five games, by an average of 20 points. Read the rest »

For the seven seniors on the 13th ranked West Virginia women’s basketball roster, this is the end of the road. The most successful group of players in women’s basketball school history will be walking down the rolled out blue and gold carpet one last time. For star players Meg Bulger, Yinka Sanni, LaQuita Owens, and Chakhia Cole this is a bittersweet moment. Coach Mike Carey did a excellent job recruiting these four and turning around the program. They are now well respected in the Big East with a Top 15 ranking for most of the season. Let’s not also forget the other seniors who keep the wheels turning. Kendra Goodley, Lateefah Joye, and Ranisha White may not have played on a consistent basis but they still do a phenomenal job on and off the court and should be honored as well. Read the rest »