Posts Tagged ‘Washington Huskies’

2014 NCAA Week 5 Line Breakdown

September 24th, 2014 by Chad A. Dawkins | Posted in College Football   Comments Off on 2014 NCAA Week 5 Line Breakdown

Week 5 of the 2014 college football season is upon us. Here are some of the marquee matchups and the lines for the upcoming weekend of action, courtesy of JustBet Sportsbook. All NCAA football bettors and sports fans will get their fill of quality action this weekend as there are quite a few interesting matchups on tap.

Thursday, September 25

Texas Tech at #24 Oklahoma State (-13.5, 71) 7:30 PM (EST) ESPN

The #24 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys host the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Thursday night from Stillwater, OK. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders last year in Lubbock 52-34.

#11 UCLA (-4, 59.5) at #15 Arizona State 10:00 PM (EST) FOX SPORTS 1

The #11 ranked UCLA Bruins travel to Tempe, AZ to take on the #15 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils. Both teams are currently undefeated and are contenders in the very competitive PAC-12 conference.

Saturday, September 27th

Tennessee at #12 Georgia (-17, 55.5) 12:00 PM (EST) ESPN

The #12 ranked Georgia Bulldogs take on the Tennessee Volunteers in a key SEC matchup. Georgia may have lost to South Carolina, but are still in the talk as being one of the contenders to be in the final four teams.

UTEP at #25 Kansas State (-26.5, 56) 12:00 PM (EST) ESPNU

Kansas State is in the top 25 due to an admirable performance against Auburn, and will need to be focused when they host the UTEP Miners, who are the 9th best rushing team in the nation.

#1 Florida State (-18.5, 58) at North Carolina State 3:30 PM (EST) ESPN2

The #1 ranked Florida State Seminoles survived a scare beating Clemson 23-17 in overtime. Jameis Winston will return this week as they face an improving NC State squad.

Arkansas vs. #6 Texas A&M (-8.5, 70) 3:30 PM (EST) CBS from AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX

The Arkansas Razorbacks will take on the undefeated Texas A&M Aggies from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. The Razorbacks are improving under head coach Brett Bielema, and it was evident in their impressive in their 49-28 win at Texas Tech.

#16 Stanford (-7.5, 47.5) at Washington 4:15 PM (EST) FOX

Washington head coach Chris Peterson will be coaching his first game in the PAC-12 conference when the Washington Huskies host the Stanford Cardinal. These two schools have split the past two meetings and both games have been highly competitive.

Missouri at #13 South Carolina (-5.5, 63) 7:00 PM (EST) ESPN

The Missouri Tigers were upset last week by Indiana, and they’ll have to regroup when they head to Columbia to take on the Gamecocks. South Carolina won in Missouri last year, coming back from a 17 point deficit to win.

Memphis at #10 Ole Miss (-19.5, 57.5) 7:30 PM (EST) ESPNU

The Ole Miss Rebels will need to be focused when they host a pesky Memphis team that took UCLA to the limit. Ole Miss faces Alabama next week, and can’t look ahead as Memphis is very capable of pulling the upset.

Oregon State at #18 USC (-10, 10:30 PM (EST) ESPN

The USC Trojans will take on the Oregon State Beavers from the Coliseum in Los Angeles. USC will be looking to bounce back from being upset by Boston College. This will be Oregon State’s first PAC-12 game of the year.

Washington vs. Boise State Predictions: 2012 Las Vegas Bowl 12/22

December 16th, 2012 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in College Football   Comments Off on Washington vs. Boise State Predictions: 2012 Las Vegas Bowl 12/22
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Las Vegas Bowl 2012The 2012 Las Vegas Bowl picks are going to be difficult to make, as the Washington Huskies and Boise State Broncos are set to do battle with one another in a Pac-12 vs. Mountain West battle. Check out our Las Vegas Bowl predictions and the keys to the game for Washington vs. Boise State.

Click Here For The Rest Of The 2012-13 Bowl Game Schedule And Other Bowl Game Previews

2012 Las Vegas Bowl: Washington Huskies vs. Boise State Broncos
2012 Las Vegas Bowl Location: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
2012 Las Vegas Bowl Date/Time: Saturday, December 22nd, 3:30 p.m. (ET)
2012 Las Vegas Bowl Television Coverage: ESPN, Watch ESPN

Key #1: Both teams need to win the turnover battle
It’s definitely cliché in football, but in this case, it clearly is something that is true. The team that wins the turnover battle is going to win the Las Vegas Bowl this year. The Broncos were ranked No. 4 in the country in turnover margin at +18, and they were the leaders in the nation in recovered fumbles with 17, and tied for 17th in picks with 16. Washington meanwhile, in spite of its horrifying schedule chock full of great defenses, still managed a +7 turnover margin for the year, which is something that you wouldn’t have expected from a team that featured a quarterback in QB Keith Price that tossed 11 interceptions on the campaign. One of these teams is going to end up with a minus in the turnover margin in this game, and it is going to be a rare happening for either one. The loser will be the one with the big, fat minus marking in their turnover column on December 22nd.

Famous Las Vegas Bowl Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Washington Huskies +5.5
Boise State Broncos -5.5
Over/Under 44
Click Here to Bet Your Famous Las Vegas Bowl Picks!

Key #2: Points cannot be left on the field
There were only a total of 31 field goals attempted all year long by both the Broncos and the Huskies, while there were just a total of 77 touchdowns. It’s just not all that great for either team. That means that, especially Washington, which averaged just 2.92 touchdowns per game this year, cannot afford to let opportunities slip away. RB Bishop Sankey has a real nose for the end zone, as he had 15 scores this year, and when he gets close, he has no choice but to pound the ball into the end zone. The same could be said for a Boise State outfit that has gotten spoiled by QB Kellen Moore over the course of the last four years. Now, with QB Joe Southwick in the fold, Head Coach Chris Petersen is relying a lot more on his defense, which is one of the best in America statistically. Again, it’s up to RB DJ Harper to get the job done, as there wasn’t another player on this team that had a better nose for the end zone. Harper scored 15 times on the campaign. No one else scored more than five.

Key #3: Boise State has to prove that it belongs here and wants to be here
Those are two totally different points of contention that we have to discuss. The Broncos did win 10 games again this year, but few think that this 10-win team is anywhere near as good as some of the 10, 11, and 12 win teams that have come off of the Smurf Turf in the past. The losses this year against the San Diego State Aztecs and Michigan State Spartans turned out to be as bad of losses as the program has had in years and years, and there weren’t those dominating 65-0 victories littered all over the schedule. As a result, this is the third straight season playing in the Las Vegas Bowl, and it has to get tiresome, especially for some of the upperclassmen that have been here before. Were the Broncos really the best team in the Mountain West this year? That’s probably still partially to be determined. That loss to the Aztecs at home with a backup quarterback under center really didn’t sit well at all with the Boise State faithful. Don’t blame the Broncos if they don’t really feel like showing up for this game, something that certainly will not be a problem for a U-Dub team that has earned every single victory that it has gotten since Head Coach Steve Sarkisian has taken over as the man in charge in Seattle.

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Holiday Bowl Picks: Washington Huskies vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

December 30th, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in College Football   Comments Off on Holiday Bowl Picks: Washington Huskies vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

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The Holiday Bowl is always one of the best NCAA football betting battles of the year in the bowl season, and this year shouldn’t be any exception. We have a real David vs. Goliath situation here in San Diego on Thursday night, as the Washington Huskies are taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a game that really should be hot and heavy. Will U-Dub be able to exact some revenge from an early season loss to Big Red? Our Holiday Bowl keys to the game have the answers that you need to know before making your Holiday Bowl picks.

Key #1: Washington has to just forget about Round 1 against Nebraska
Sometimes, you just get blown out of the water in games. The Huskies were three point dogs at home earlier this year against the Cornhuskers, and they just never stood a chance. QB Taylor Martinez ran all over the place, the defense was stifling for Big Red, and by the time the dust settled in this one, Nebraska had scored a dominating five TD victory. The task for Head Coach Steve Sarkisian here is to make sure that his team’s psyche is still rock solid. He needs to turn that blowout loss into a form of motivation instead of being a reason for intimidation. Still, there is a lot that physically needs to change for U-Dub to even be able to compete in this one, and the biggest thing that really needs to happen is that it just needs to get tougher. Don’t be afraid to step up and smack the other guy in the mouth a little bit. Nebraska is like the big bully on the schoolyard, while Washington, which doesn’t have a single player on its roster that has every played in a bowl game before, looks like the little kid that just got his lunch money taken away. If the Huskies don’t stand tall and really believe that they can win this game, they’re going to get slaughtered.

Holiday Bowl Odds at BetUS Sportsbook
Washington Huskies +13.5
Nebraska Cornhuskers -13.5
Over/Under 52.5
Click Here to Bet on Your Holiday Bowl Picks!

Key #2: Jake Locker needs to look like a first round pick in the NFL Draft for a change
We’re calling you out, kid! Locker really doesn’t look like a man that is capable of leading a team at the NFL level even though he has all of the raw abilities to get the job done. Sometimes, you just need a winner. Sure, we know that the Huskies never really did surround Locker with type of talent he needed to be able to compete in the Pac-10, but there is really no excuse for this four year starter to never throw for 3,000 yards and to never have a winning season. This is his first bowl game, and he needs to make it count in front of a nationally televised audience. Locker threw for 2,209 yards and ran for 302 more this year, accounting for 22 TDs against nine picks. Of course, he had three games this year in which he didn’t throw for even 100 yards in the game, one of which came against these Cornhuskers. Big Red held him to just 4-for-20 passing for 71 yards with a score and two picks, and if Locker can’t shake those cobwebs off, there is no hope for the Huskies. Nebraska’s defense held teams to just 294.8 yards per game this year, just 159.9 of which came through the air. Needless to say, the Black Shirts are licking their chops once again.

Key #3: Washington can’t let Nebraska’s trio reach milestones
Of course, we’re talking about the rushing threesome of QB Taylor Martinez, RB Roy Helu, and RB Rex Burkhead. These three are all within striking distance of the 1,000 yard barrier this year (Helu is already there), and if that happens, they’ll become the second trio in the history of college football, joining the Nevada Wolf Pack’s QB Colin Kaepernick, RB Vai Taua, and RB Luke Lippincott to all reach four digits in yards on the ground in the same season. These three all rushed for 100+ yards on the Huskies the first time around, and Washington just can’t let that happen again. U-Dub allowed a very questionable 200.9 yards per game to opposing ground attacks this year, and it was one of the few teams in the land that allowed at least 200 yards per game both passing and rushing. This is why the Huskies are one of the few teams in the bowl season that averaged allowing more points per game (31.2) than they scored (22.1).

2010 College Football Betting: Preseason Top 25 ATS Power Rankings

July 17th, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in College Football   1 Comment »
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The 2010 college football betting season is nearly here! Though anyone can rank the teams No. 1 to No. 25 in the nation in terms of SU records, here at Bankroll Sports, we are ranking our Top 25 underrated teams that could be monsters for your against the college football odds this season.

25. Ball State Cardinals (2-10, 6-5 ATS in 2009) – After a magical run in 2008 in which the Cardinals flirted with an undefeated season, Ball State came crashing back down to Earth last year under first-year HC Stan Parrish. However, this year Ball State returns their entire offense from 2009, including 2nd team All-MAC RB Miquale Lewis who should go down as the school’s all-time leading rusher with even a halfway decent 2010 campaign. The Cardinals have been friends to college football betting fans over the past five years, going 35-22-1 ATS in that span.

24. Air Force Falcons (8-5, 7-4-1 ATS in 2009) – Since taking over for the legendary Fisher DeBerry, HC Troy Calhoun has excelled in his first three years at the Air Force Academy, taking the Falcons to a 25-14 record and three straight Armed Forces Bowl appearances. QB Tim Jefferson is a dual-threat passer who can beat team with his arm or his legs and should be one of the best in the conference if he can stay healthy for the whole season.

23. Syracuse Orange (4-8, 6-5 ATS in 2009) – The Orange may be seen as a surprising candidate to be on this list, but Syracuse showed marked improvement in their first year under new HC Doug Marrone. Although the Orange managed just one more win in 2009 than in 2008, the Syracuse program showed signs of life for the first time in years, especially when the mass exodus of 20+ players prior to the start of the 2009 season is considered. The key to the offense will be RB Delone Carter who carried the ball for 1,021 yards and 11 TDs last year.

22. Rice Owls (2-10, 4-7-1 ATS in 2009) – Much like Ball State, Rice went from a fantastic 2008 CFB wagering season to a disastrous campaign in 2009. For the 2010 season though, the Owls bring back 18 starters and one of the more experienced offensive lines in the nation to provide protection for QB Nick Fanuzzi. Fanuzzi showed some promise last season in completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,598 yards with 11 TDs and eight INTs and will look to get even better in 2010.

21. Idaho Vandals (8-5, 8-5 ATS in 2009) – In any other conference in America, QB Nathan Enderle would have garnered all-conference honors last season and would be considered one of the conference favorites for Offensive Player of the Year. Last season, Venderle completed over 60 percent of his passes for 2,906 yards with 22 TDs and nine INTs while leading the Vandals to their first winning season of the decade.

20. Oregon State Beavers (8-5, 7-5 ATS in 2009) – Over the last decade, the Beavers have been one of the best teams against the NCAA betting odds in the country, going 68-48-1 ATS. With the return of the Rodgers brothers (WR James and RB Jacquizz), HC Mike Riley’s Beavers have one of the most formidable offenses in the Pac-10 and should once again challenge for the Pac-10 title now that the Trojans are ineligible to take home the trophy.

19. North Texas Mean Green (2-10, 5-7 ATS in 2009) – With only five wins over the past three seasons, it seems rather unlikely that North Texas could be on any Top 25 list, but the Mean Green have 17 returning starters and a very manageable schedule. RB Lance Dunbar had a monster season for North Texas last year, carrying the ball for 1,378 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to 1st team All-SBC honors in 2009. Dunbar looks to continue the tradition of quality running backs at North Texas, following in the footsteps of Jamario Thomas and Cedric Cobbs.

18. Baylor Bears (4-8, 5-7 ATS in 2009) – Many pundits thought that 2009 would be the year that the Baylor Bears turned the corner, but those dreams were derailed in Week 3 after sensational QB Robert Griffin tore his ACL and back-up QB Blake Szymanski injured his shoulder. Griffin looks like he is back to form though and if he can stay healthy has a real chance to take the Bears to their first bowl appearance since 1994.

17. Miami Redhawks (1-11, 5-7 ATS in 2009) – Things haven’t looked good in Oxford over the past half decade, but there is reason for Redhawks fans to be excited in 2010. In HC Mike Haywood’s second year, the Redhawks return 19 starters from 2009 while many of their opponents in the MAC East are reloading. Miami probably isn’t good enough to make a bowl this season, but should keep games close and cover a lot of college football gambling spreads.

16. UTEP Miners (4-8, 5-7 ATS in 2009) – Inconsistent wouldn’t even begin to describe the UTEP Miners’ 2009 season. In their first C-USA game of the season, the Miners upset #12 and then undefeated Houston 58-41 as a two TD underdog on the NCAA gambling odds. In UTEP’s very next game they suffered an embarrassing 15 point loss at Memphis, giving the Tigers their only FBS win of 2009. With one of the best backfield tandems in the conference in QB Trevor Vittatoe and All-American RB Donald Buckram, the Miners will be able to put up a lot of points this season.

15. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-6, 7-5 ATS in 2009) – With the graduation of the record-setting Tim Tebow, the SEC East is the most open its been in years and the Gamecocks are in good position to take advantage of this. They usually have one of the better defenses in the country and if QB Stephen Garcia can continue to develop like he has over the past two seasons, South Carolina could flirt with a 10 win season.

14. Connecticut Huskies (8-5, 9-2-1 ATS in 2009) – Few would deny that Randy Edsall has done one of the best jobs in the country in guiding UConn from the FCS level to the FBS level. Over the past three years, Edsall has really hit his stride with the team going 25-14 and winning back-to-back bowl games. The Huskies have also been one of the best teams for NCAA wagering enthusiasts with the team going 63-42-2 ATS since 2000.

13. Texas A&M Aggies (6-7, 6-7 ATS in 2009) – Mike Sherman’s Aggies benefit from only having four road games this year, and in only one of those four road games (@ Texas) will they be a prohibitive underdog. Texas A&M has 16 returning starters this season, including QB Jerrod Johnson who passed for 3,579 yards to go with 30 TDs against just eight interceptions on his way to a 2nd team All-Big 12 selection in 2009.

12. UCF Knights (8-5, 9-3 ATS in 2009) – Last year, not much was expected of the UCF Knights after a 2008 campaign in which the Knights had one of the worst offenses in the country. However, HC George O’Leary turned to the running game last year and found a valuable asset in RB Brynn Harvey. Last season, Harvey ran for 1,109 yards and 14 touchdowns while picking up 3rd team All-C-USA honors. Harvey suffered a knee injury in spring, but is expected to miss no more than a few games at most.

11. Michigan Wolverines (5-7, 5-6 ATS in 2009) – HC Rich Rodriguez might be on the hottest seat in the country after managing just an 8-16 record and zero bowl appearances in his first two seasons as the head coach of one of the most storied programs in the country. This season, though, will be the first where Rodriguez has a clear-cut choice at QB to run his system in Tate Forcier. With Forcier at the helm, the Wolverines will almost certainly improve on their paltry 7-16 mark against the CFB betting line over the past two seasons.

10. Temple Owls (9-4, 8-4 ATS in 2009) – Al Golden has done a remarkable job in turning around a horrific Temple program that hadn’t made a bowl game in 30 years prior to the Owls making the EagleBank Bowl in 2009. This season, the Owls return almost all of their skill position players and 16 starters to a team that should be considered the favorite to win the MAC East.

9. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-5, 5-6 ATS in 2009) – North Carolina may have the best defense in the country this season with a bevy of NFL prospects at every position along the defensive front. DE Robert Quinn, LB Quan Sturdivant, CB Kendric Burney, and FS Deunta Williams all garnered 1st team All-ACC selections in 2009, while DT Marvin Austin, LB Bruce Carter, and SS Da’Norris Searcy all picked up 2nd team honors. With 19 returning starters in all, the Tar Heels should be one of the best teams against the NCAA odds in 2010.

8. Nevada Wolfpack (8-5, 7-6 ATS in 2009) – When QB Colin Kaepernick pulls the strings, the Wolfpack have one of the most exciting offenses in the country. Last season, Nevada managed an NCAA first when the Wolfpack had three different players (Kaepernick, Vai Taua, and Luke Lippencott) rush for over 1000 yards. In WAC play, the Wolfpack have been especially great the past five seasons, going 26-14 ATS for CFB wagering fans over that time.

7. Washington Huskies (5-7, 7-5 ATS in 2009) – Jake Locker is considered by many to be the top pick in the 2011 draft, and the strong-armed quarterback showed off just what he could do in his first year under new HC Steve Sarkisian. In 2009, Locker became much more polished as a quarterback, throwing for 2,800 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in a season where they flirted with a bowl bid. This year, with 18 returning starters, the Huskies will be in great shape to make their first bowl appearance since 2002.

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-6, 4-8 ATS in 2009) – Although QB Jimmy Clausen and WR Golden Tate have departed, the Fighting Irish are primed to turn some heads in the first year of new HC Brian Kelly. Kelly had one of the best offenses in the country at Cincinnati last year and inherits an offense with a lot of weapons in RB Armando Allen, WR Michael Floyd, and TE Kyle Rudolph. The key to the season for Notre Dame will be how well sophomore QB Dayne Crist can perform in his first season running the offense.

5. Florida State Seminoles (7-6, 4-8 ATS in 2009) – Before getting hurt, QB Christian Ponder looked well on his way to having one of the best seasons in school history. Still, Ponder finished with great numbers, completing 68.8 percent of his passes for 2,717 yards with 14 TDs and seven picks. He’ll also have the luxury of being behind one of the best and most experienced offensive lines in the country, anchored by Jacobs Award winning LG Rodney Hudson.

4. Auburn Tigers (8-5, 6-6 ATS in 2009) – Despite questions over whether he was the right man for the job or not, HC Gene Chizik led the Tigers to a respectable season in 2009. With the help of offensive guru Gus Malzahn, the Tigers offense went from one of the worst in the SEC in 2008 (17.3 PPG) to one of the best in the conference last year (33.3 PPG). The Tigers dodge both the Vols and the Gators in conference play and with eight home games could turn many heads this NCAA wagering season.

3. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (10-3, 10-3 ATS in 2009) – QB Dwight Dasher may have been playing in the lowly Sun Belt last season, but his numbers were good enough for any conference in the country. The athletic Dasher turned a lot of heads in 2009, by throwing for 2,789 yards along with 23 TDs and 14 INTs while also running for 1154 yards and 13 scores. With Dasher under center, the Blue Raiders have a very good chance for back-to-back 10 win seasons.

2. Cincinnati Bearcats (12-1, 5-7 ATS in 2009) – Though QB Tony Pike and HC Brian Kelly have since departed, the Bearcats should still have one of the best offenses in the Big East in 2010 under new HC Butch Jones and QB Zach Collaros. Collaros was impressive in his limited playing time in 2009, completing 75 percent of his passes for 1,434 yards with ten TDs against just two INTs. USC transfer WR Vidal Hazelton will also pack some punch to a WR corps that lost Mardy Gilyard.

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-4, 9-5 ATS in 2009) – Since taking over for Bill Callahan, Bo Pelini has brought respect back to the Blackshirts and pride back to Husker Nation. Pelini’s Huskers were one last second FG away from making it to a BCS bowl and ruining Texas’ undefeated season in the Big XII Title Game, and although they do lose Heisman Trophy candidate DT Ndamakong Suh, Nebraska returns six starters to the defense that only gave up 10.4 PPG last CFB gambling season.

The Big, Bad Big East May Just Be Bad

March 19th, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in NCAA Basketball   Comments Off on The Big, Bad Big East May Just Be Bad

The Big, Bad Big East

Someone’s going to have to forgive Big East Commissioner John Marinatto if this is what he looks like after yesterday’s NCAA Tournament games from his conference.

It’s bad enough that that’s Buzz Williams, the head coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles, who crashed out of the dance in their most predictable fashion: losing by two points practically at the buzzer. It was par for the course for a team that only suffered one loss by double digits all year long and lost six games in conference by less than a touchdown.

An 11 seed (as the Washington Huskies were) from a power conference (even though there’s a debate about just how “powerful” the Pac-10 was this year) isn’t the end of the world. Upsets happen all the time like that this time of year, and the Big East knew that it wasn’t going to have an 8-0 first round of this tournament in all likelihood.

Even losing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish wasn’t all that big of a deal to the Big East. After all, the Irish were probably the weakest of tournament teams out of this conference, and they were still adapting to a new system and life where their best player (Luke Harangody) was coming off of the bench and not starting.

Notre Dame was probably an overrated #6 seed playing against an Old Dominion squad that was probably an underrated #11. So it was par for the course for the luck of the Irish to run out late in the game against the Monarchs, and again, it wasn’t that big of a deal or that black of an eye to take.

Now… Villanova…. You’re a significantly, significantly different story.

Once upon a time a threat to take over the #1 spot in the AP Poll, the Villanova Wildcats entered this tournament looking to make amends for a bad showing in the Big East Tournament, which wrapped up after just one game following a loss to the aforementioned Golden Eagles. Surely, there was no way that there was even a remote struggle coming for a team that was going to be on the #1 line of the tourney if not for that late season swoon, right?

Wrong.

Nova was acting like a defeated team before it even stepped anywhere near the court in Providence on Thursday. HC Jay Wright benched both G Corey Fisher and G Scottie Reynolds at the outset of the game for a violation of team rules. His Cats fell behind Robert Morris, the Northeast Conference champions early. No big deal, right?

It is a big deal when you’re still behind by nine points late in the game! However, thanks to officiating that allowed the Wildcats back into the game and some great free throw shooting from Reynolds (who had better have had a great day from the charity stripe after going 2/15 from the floor and 1/8 from downtown), somehow, the Cats clawed their way into overtime. From there, they asserted themselves, and finally downed the scrappy Colonials.

It was all over the news during the 2:30 games as well as in that break between the morning and afternoon sessions. Everyone was talking about how Villanova is done and how St. Mary’s is going to pick it off on Saturday and that that was that for the Big East giants.

That statement might’ve been almost right… But maybe that was that for the Big East period.

Hey Georgetown Hoyas, all you had to do was go out and take care of an Ohio Bobcats team that was probably overrated as a #14, as it was the #9 seed in its own lousy conference during the year and really beat no one of any real note outside of the MAC this year. You could’ve restored order in your own conference.

Instead, you fell behind by double digits in the first half, played a miserable defensive game, and ultimately crashed out of the tourney in the most embarrassing way possible.

It’s not even like the Hoyas can say that they were just a victim of the proverbial “March Madness.” This wasn’t a situation where Vanderbilt was in, where it just got unlucky with a crazy shot at the end of the game. There were no crazy shots. There was just sheer domination.

So now, the Big East enters its second day of basketball, and Syracuse, West Virginia, Louisville, and Pittsburgh will hope to make a better impression on the college basketball world than what their conference brethren did yesterday.

The lesson learned, though, is that the big, bad Big East might not be quite as big and bad as we once thought.