Big East Coast Bias - All Posts

Louisville falls to Duke in Battle 4 Atlantis final

2012-11-25T05:45:33Z

It lived up to its billing as the most intriguing early season tournament of the college basketball season, capped off by a high-energy final did its best to compete with a busy night of college football.

In the first meeting between Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski since Christian Laettner starred in one of college basketball's most iconic moments, the Louisville Cardinals fell to the Duke Blue Devils 76-71 in the finals of the second annual Battle 4 Atlantis.

Following their first loss of the season, questions about how the puzzle pieces are supposed to fit for the now former No. 2 ranked team will certainly abound over the next week.

The Cardinals were without the services of starting center Gorgui Dieng, who missed the game due to an injured wrist suffered Friday night against Missouri, which left a gaping hole in the Cardinals frontcourt.

In that game, the Cardinals forced the Tigers into 23 turnovers, including eight from Phil Pressey, arguably the game's top point guard. But just 24 hours later against Duke, the Cardinals committed a number of turnover blunders of their own, many which led to Blue Devil points on the other end of the court. That, paired with yielding 23 Duke made free throws on 27 attempts are what did Louisville in tonight.

Was Dieng's absence the deciding factor in the game? It is surely possible that he would have checked Mason Plumlee and clogged the lane for ambitious Duke guards, but his replacement Stephan Van Treese didn't back down from the challenge, his presence just simply wasn't as imposing.

Peyton Siva and Russ Smith led the Cardinals with 19 and 17 points, respectively, but how they got their points may have raised a red flag to some observant Cardinal fans.

There's no doubt that Rick Pitino's club is dangerous, but that sort of takes on a double-meaning. On one hand, it's clear that Peyton Siva has established himself as a true playmaker - a guy that can can bail his team out of a broken play or force a turnover on and get to the other end of the floor in the snap of a finger. He's nearly impossible to contain for 40 minutes and is taking ownership of this team.

Conversely, the Cardinals are dangerous in that they are combustible, and it starts and ends with Russ Frieken Smith.

The most enigmatic and unpredictable college basketball player in recent memory, Smith took 19 shots Saturday and spent time serving as both a gigantic liability with errant shots and silly fouls, but also as a valuable asset to Pitino with relentless effort at breaking down the Blue Devil defense in the second half.

In one sequence of events, Smith got into the lane with 11 minutes to play and dumped the ball off to Van Treese for an easy dunk, capping off an 11-2 run put Cardinals right back into the game with the momentum fully swung in their favor.

Just seven seconds later, though, Smith committed a selfish reach in foul on Quinn Cook with Duke already in the bonus; a momentum killing head shaker.

With the entire rotation still around from last year , Louisville should have the advantage of entering the season with players having a good sense of their role, instead of working towards that definition come February and March.

On Saturday night, it was Duke who looked like the more polished team. The Blue Devils were sound in their execution in the half court, highlighted by balanced scoring from their five starters, and weathered Louisville's full court press. Louisville's game plan seemed to dissolve when they fell behind, relying on one-on-one dribble penetration from Siva and Smith and hoping for the best.

In a college basketball season that could have a revolving door of top 5 teams, not one program is infallible to defeat or an off night. Everyone has weaknesses, and the difference between an Indiana, Louisville, Duke...enter your favorite top 10 club...could be something as simple as who as the hot hand or makes the fewest mistakes on any given night.

Louisville certainly has the tools to return to the Final Four, but right now, they are not the second best team in the country.

Instead, that distinction will likely be handed over to the team that knocked them off in Atlantis.

Big East Gameday: Louisville hosts Connecticut, Rutgers travels to Pitt

2012-11-24T17:24:50Z

It's the final full gameday of the regular season. Louisville hosts UConn while Rutgers is at Pitt.

It's the final full week of the regular season, with Louisville hosting UConn. Rutgers travels to Pitt in what is now a meeting of future Big Ten and ACC teams. Louisville and UConn, meanwhile, are hoping to be future ACC teams themselves. It'll make for an interesting day of games regardless. Rutgers is assured of playing for a share of the Big East title on Thursday night no matter how the game against Pittsburgh goes today. Louisville can force a de facto title game with Rutgers if it wins today.

Stay tuned!

Big East Gameday: Louisville hosts Connecticut, Rutgers travels to Pitt

2012-11-24T17:22:37Z

Stay tuned!

Rutgers joins the Big Ten: Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco statement

2012-11-20T19:40:32Z

Big East commissioner Mike Aresco released this statement today concerning the departure of Rutgers for the Big Ten.

Although we are disappointed that Rutgers has decided to leave the Big East Conference, we wish them well. They have been a valued member of the Conference for many years.

We realize that conference realignment is currently a fact of life in college sports. In the context of this realignment, changes in our membership have been taking place, including important additions. In fact, the Big East has expanded its scope with new members in California, Texas, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. As a result, the Big East has created a unique national football conference that is a factor in the BCS Championship, remains the nation’s strongest basketball conference top to bottom, and is a major force across the full spectrum of men’s and women’s college sports. We remain committed to, and confident in, the continued growth and vitality of the Big East Conference.

Conference Realignment: Rutgers to announce move to the Big Ten

2012-11-20T19:34:28Z

Rutgers will announce it's intentions to move to the Big Ten today in a press conference at 2:00.

Conference realignment will likely never end and today it will get even crazier. In a press conference this afternoon scheduled for 2:00 that will be aired, incredibly, on The Big Ten Network, Rutgers will announce its intentions to leave the Big East conference and join the Big Ten. It will assuredly follow the same pattern as the move announced by Maryland yesterday, meaning the school will play in the Big East for the 2013-2014 season and begin play in the Big Ten for the 2014-2015 season.

#Rutgers to hold presser today at 2 pm with President Robert Barchi, AD Tim Pernetti & Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany.

— Jason Baum (@JasonBaumRU) November 20, 2012

This move has been rumored since late last week and should not come as a surprise to readers. The loss of one Big East member would hurt, but wouldn't necessarily be fatal. The problem for the Big East now will be all of the downstream effects. The ACC will need to replace Maryland and the Big East will surely provide the replacement (rumored to be between Louisville and UConn).

Losing two football playing members will throw so much of the future plans of the conference into jeopardy. The western schools and former C-USA members all have revenue projection agreements that allow them to back out of the move without penalty if the future television contract isn't worth what is projected.

Losing UConn and Rutgers will only hurt the television deal and at the end of all of this, there could be nothing left. It sounds alarmist, but these plans are all very fragile and so many individual parts depend on other parts so heavily that any one thing going wrong throws the entire enterprise into question. We'll try not to overreact or speculate too much as things are announced, so stick around as we cover the latest drama surrounding the Big East and its future.

Conference Realignment: Rutgers to announce move to the Big Ten

2012-11-20T15:43:34Z

#Rutgers to hold presser today at 2 pm with President Robert Barchi, AD Tim Pernetti & Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany.

— Jason Baum (@JasonBaumRU) November 20, 2012

Boise State And Memphis Record Big Victories

2012-11-18T00:10:52Z

It was a mixed day for the schools that will be playing football in the Big East Conference in the near future.

Boise St. (9-2) defeated Colorado St. (3-8) 42-14 on the blue turf of Bronco Stadium in Boise. The Rams were down 42-0 before scoring two late touchdowns.

Navy (7-4) defeated Texas State (3-7) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

Memphis (3-8) earned its second consecutive win beating UAB (3-8) 46-9 At Legion Field in Birmingham. Brandon Hays ran for 127 years and three touchdowns.

Central Florida (8-3) fell to the Tulsa (9-2) 23-21 at Chapman Stadium in Tulsa. Both teams brought 6-0 conference records into the game as leaders of their respective divisions. Knights’ quarterback Blake Bortles threw for 169 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked four times.

Houston (4-7) staged a fierce comeback to tie Marshall (5-6) at 41 with 1:18 remaining but allowed the Thundering Herd at 45-yard field goal to steal the victory 44-41 at Edwards Stadium in Huntington, W.V.

SMU (5-6) fell to Rice (5-6) 36-14 at Rice Stadium in Houston.

Harris's 7 TDs, 350 Yards Lead Temple Over Army 63-32

2012-11-17T20:28:50Z

Montel Harris had a recording setting day. He broke Temple's all-time rushing record netting 351 yards and more than doubled his season total five touchdowns, crossing the goal line seven times. Army quarterback Trent Steelman also broke the career touchdown record with 44.

With a Temple leading 28-10 at the half, the teams kept up the scoring with two touchdowns apiece in the third quarter.

On Army's first possession in the second half Larry Dixon broke a 43-yard run. On the next play, quarterback Trent Steelman scored from a yard out to tie the Black Knights' career touchdown mark with 43. Raymond Maples converted the two-point conversion.

Temple quarterback Clinton "Juice" Granger had a carry of 24 yards on the ensuing drive. A few plays and an Army penalty later, Harris scored his third rushing touchdown from a yard out.

Steelman broke Army's career touchdown record, passing 1946 Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis, with a 54-yard run late in the third quarter. The PAT failed.

Harris answered with his fourth rushing touchdown from 37 yards out to end the third quarter with Temple up 42-24. He opened the fourth quarter with his fifth touchdown on a two-yard run.

On the next Army Malcolm Brown scored from three yards out for Army following a 47-yard pass play from Steelman to Chevaughn Lawrence. After a failed onside kick for Army, Temple scored quickly on Harris's sixth touchdown run. His seventh TD followed an Army fumble on the next series. That ended the scoring although Harris had a few more carries until he surpassed the career rushing record.

Final score: Temple 63 Army 32

Temple:

Total yards - 565

Rushing yards - 534

Passing yards - 31

First downs - 28

Turnovers - 0

Army:

Total yards - 495

Rushing yards - 407

Passing yards - 88

First downs - 25

Turnovers - 2