You know… this really proves that the women’s rankings are a sham.

Even after the West Virginia women’s basketball team defeated their highest-ranking opponent ever (plus blowing-out Seton Hall in their home gym) they did not move a single spot.

Even more infuriating -  Rutgers moved down ONLY three spots to number seven despite getting by 15th-ranked Pitt only because Pitt’s star center “Mo-Mo” Walker got a severe ankle injury during that game. I am very outrage in the fact we still get no respect. I hope Coach Mike Carey will tack on these rankings up on the bulletin board to fire this team up. Watch out Providence!

On a couple related notes:

• In the latest ESPN bracketology (yes, there’s one for the ladies too!) West Virginia is the third seed facing Fresno State in Baton Rogue, Louisiana. That’s a great position to be in and if the ‘Eers keep it up they might find themselves as a number two seed.
• Their RPI rating at this moment is 11th according to realtimerpi.com. They still have a lot of work to do to keep that RPI up.
• Don’t forget next Wednesday February 13th they will face the hated Pitt Panthers at the WVU Coliseum. Show your love and be there to support the women’s team who are on their way to big things this year.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!

I’m not a huge NFL Football fan, but last night’s game reminded me of so many Mountaineer football games…

The whole world thinks you’re gonna lose, you’re undersized, undertalented, not enough media coverage, your coach threatened to be fired … the list goes on. How many times in the 28 year history of watching the Mountaineers have I been the one guy in the bar who thought WVU could still pull it out? Many, many times. Last night, the Giants did just that, when everything seemed to be against them they played fundamental football and pulled it out, against all odds. Now Giants fans know what it’s like to be a Mountaineer fan. Extreme highs, heartbreaking lows.

Now the sad part, it’s over 200 days until football starts again. Every year I call this day “Black Monday.” I know I can watch Mountaineer Basketball when they play on National TV (I live in SC). I don’t really care about the NBA, or NASCAR, and I only follow baseball when it has to do with a high school teammate of mine, Nick Swisher. I may watch the Pro Bowl to get my fix, and I’ll half-heartedly watch the Draft. But it will be a long waiting game…

With all of the excitement of the upcoming season, the new coaching staff at WVU, a potential Heisman run (or two), new “secret content” we’re planning for this website, and National Championship potential for the Mountaineers…. those 200 days can’t go by fast enough.

The WVU women’s basketball team should be well on their way to their school’s first ever Top 10 ranking as the Eers beat Seton Hall 70-42 at the Walsh Gym in South Orange, New Jersey.  This win gives head coach Mike Carey his first win at Seton Hall in his WVU coaching career.  LaQuita Owens torched the nets once again as she led all scorers with 20 points on 6 three-pointers.  Owens became the fourth Mountaineer player on this team to reach the 1,000 point milestone.  She joins Meg Bulger, who did not make the trip due to her ailing knee, Yinka Sanni, and Jersey native Chahkia Cole for that dubious destination.  Sanni also scored 19 points as she bounced back from her foul-plagued game against Rutgers last Tuesday night.

West Virginia took control of game defensively as they held the Pirates scoreless in the first 6:10 of the game.  Their dominance continued throughtout the entire first half as they held the Pirates to 16 points.   They never led up in the second half as they brought it up to a 30 point lead on a few occasions.  They held the Pirates to 29 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers.  Coach Carey brought in some bench warmers at around the 8 minute mark as this game was well decided from the beginning.

West Virginia raises their record to 18-3 and are now 7-1 in Big East play.  They will get some rest before heading up to New England to play the Providence Friars Saturday afternoon at 2pm.  Keep on winning and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!

When redshirted freshman Cam Thoroughman came into the game with 6:34 left in the first half, the Mountaineers were down by 12 and there was little hope they would ever recover from that controversial goaltending no-call last Saturday night. Cam’s high energy on the court plus his ability to contain the Friars frontcourt and steady ball control offensively in his 21 minutes of action led the Mountaineers to a huge road win beating the Friars 77-65.

Darris Nicholas led all scorers with 24 points with 4 out of 6 threes. Joe Alexander back from a groin injury, scored 19 points with 8 rebounds along with a few highlight-worthy jams. Joe Mazzulla impressed the hometown crowd as the only other Mountaineer in double figures with 11 points.

Early on, West Virginia jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Providence used their strong inside play to open up their deadly three-point shooting accuracy and made six of their first nine 3-point shots to gradually control the game. All of the yelling and cursing from Coach Huggs fell on deaf ears as they were still down 36-24 with 6:34 left. It looked like all hope was lost until WVU slowly began to chip away at Providence’s lead with solid defense thanks in large part to Thoroughman who previously had only played 27 minutes all season. The Eers held the Friars for the next six minutes as they scored 15 points to take a 41-38 halftime lead.

In the second half both teams were at a stalemate until Thoroughman with time running out on the shot clock, took Larry Bird’s love child Read the rest »

Tonight’s game against the Providence Friars will be on the line for two reasons. One, if you read my blog from yesterday you’ll know that WVU will have to be at least .500 in their final six road outings to have a shot at the Big Dance. If the Eers lose to the Friars tonight then, number two, we’ll be looking toward the anxiety-ridden “Big East Tournament Bubble Watch”. Believe me that’s not what any Mountaineer fan would like to see. If we end up not making it to Madison Square Garden on the second week of March then it’s likely there will be no postseason tournament AT ALL! So the make or break 10-game stretch will begin tonight at 7 and it will be televised on ESPN PLUS.

The Mountaineers are 2-5 lifetime at the Dunkin Donuts Center (MMMMMMMMM Donuts). One of those wins occurred three seasons ago, in 2005, when the Mountaineers were stumbling hard after a 10-0 start. Heading into this game they were on a five-game losing streak. In the first half WVU jumped out to a double-digit lead and held on for a four-point win. From there they went 14-5 the rest of the way to go on a magical run to the Elite Eight. If the Mountaineers win tonight this season could get right back on track the way that season did.

The two teams faced each other twice last season. The first meeting they lost a tough one at Providence by the score of 64-61. The rematch was held at MSG as they squared off in the 1st round of the Big East Tournament. In that game the Mountaineers made a Big East Tournament record 17 3’s to defeat the Friars 92-79. Read the rest »

I found this over at LetsGoMountaineers.net today and though I would pass it on.

U.S. House Passes Resolution Honoring WVU Football

January 28, 2008

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives Monday passed a resolution introduced by Congressman Alan B. Mollohan that honors and commends the West Virginia University Mountaineer Football team for its landmark victory in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Mollohan said the team’s impressive fight against the odds to emerge victorious from the bowl game with a national television audience was worthy of significant recognition. The resolution, H.Res. 938, reads:

Whereas the West Virginia University Mountaineer football team won the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, defeating the University of Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 48 to 28 in Glendale, Arizona, on January 2, 2008;

Whereas the Mountaineer football team has been a source of great pride for West Virginians throughout the years;

Whereas the people of West Virginia take their team’s triumphs and setbacks as their own in times of hardship and in times of prosperity;

Whereas the Mountaineers displayed uncommon intensity and determination in preparing for the challenge of meeting one of the best teams in the country in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl;

Whereas the Mountaineers executed an almost flawless game;

Whereas then-Assistant Coach Bill Stewart demonstrated true leadership and coaching skill by filling an unexpected coaching void, instilling confidence in his team and leading them to victory, thereby earning the admiration and gratitude of his fellow West Virginians;

Whereas the Fiesta Bowl Most Valuable Player on offense, Mountaineer quarterback Pat White, gave a brilliant running and passing performance that inspired his teammates, delighted his fans, and frustrated his opponents;

Whereas the Fiesta Bowl Most Valuable Player on defense, Mountaineer linebacker and native West Virginian Reed Williams, led his teammates in an outstanding defensive performance; Read the rest »

Starting with tomorrow night’s game at Providence, the West Virginia Mountaineer basketball team will play six of the final ten regular season games at their home court. The road-stretch does not include a Big Monday showdown with Pitt in March. A few of the many things to impress the NCAA Tournament Committee is that they have to have a decent road record plus close out the season on a high note. Winning some important road games will not only improve their RPI rating, which is at 48, but factor in to a better season as well.

To correlate a winning road record with the NCAA Tournament invite here are the seasons the ‘Eers went to the Big Dance and their road and neutral records before post season play starting with the most recent.

So in the past five occurrences that the ‘Eers have been in the Big Dance they did not have a losing road record. Keep in mind this is only during the regular season. Now in the years WVU was screwed out of the tournament let’s compared the road and neutral records for that.

Now the ultimate factors as to why West Virginia did not receive the NCAA bids was the fact that the Big East did not have a strong enough conference RPI, only two teams in the Top 25 last year, to warrant numerous bids plus the committee would always go for the sexy and attractive mid-majors. Last year when they played in the Old Spice Tournament in Orlando the two teams the Mounties beat were .500 teams.

Now let’s see how WVU is doing on the road this year. Read the rest »

This is what I felt like yesterday morning when I found out my site was sha-hacked. This might be a weekly post, might not be, but it’s Friday so enjoy.

(Thanks JWilson for the vid)
The Chris Berman Freak Out.

According to the Columbus(GA) Ledger-Enquirer ESPN has finalized a deal with the two schools to set the game dates between the Eers and Tigers to a nationally-televised Thursday night game on October 23rd.  Well so much for College GameDay. Oh well.  I guess we also won’t be seeing any Auburn hotties head this way either. Ugh! At least if we beat the Tigers Morgantown will be off the chain as always on a Thursday night.  This potentially could be a Top 10 matchup by the time these two teams meet.

No word yet who would take Auburn place on the originally scheduled date of September 6th.  It may either be Villanova, an FCS school previously known as Division I-AA, or a trip to East Carolina.  Whatever the case the Mountaineers are their strong core of talented players should have no trouble no matter who’s playing and when.

OK This is the 2nd time I’ve posted this. I was hacked last night and now I’ve been able to recover all but a few posts. Got the backup from the 26th. So if you commented or been on the forum in the past few days, chances are it’s gone.

I want to thank everyone for their patience though. It’s a big pain in the ass dealing with these lame ass hackers. It’s nothing more than online vandiliism, pretty pathetic if you ask me. I would respect them more if they were doing something like stealing my credit card number or something REAL. But “taggin” my site. Well that’s just lame.

So lets move on and keep this going.

I guess if this was going to happen, last night was the best day for it. Who wanted to read about that bullshit game. Huggins and the boys need to regroup and take the Saran Wrap off the hoops.