Pitt Football Finds A New Head Coach: Pittsburgh hired Miami of Ohio head coach Mike Haywood to lead the Panthers football team after head coach Dave Wannstedt  was forced out last month. Although I understand the case for moving on past Wannstedt, one would think the Panthers would be able to lure a bigger name coach than Haywood. Especially since the Big East is only getting stronger with the addition of TCU in 2012. Haywood has no doubt done a great job at Miami of Ohio, but he doesn’t have the name, prestige, or past relationships with the level of recruits the Panthers need to go after. The Panthers will lose a number of quality players this season to the NFL Draft, so they need to hope they don’t have a rash of transfers as well. Pitt can still compete next year if a few of their key players develop, but it could be a beginning of a rebuilding era in Pitt football.

WVU Adds Their Future Coach: In a surprising move, the West Virginia Mountaineers hired Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen to be their offensive coordinator this season, and their head coach in 2012. Current head coach Bill Stewart still has 4 years on his contract, but that didn’t stop WVU from planning his retirement party. Apparently Stewart will take an administrative position, but it is obviously not his choice. If Stewart was on the verge of retiring, it would make sense to hire a ‘coach in waiting’ to ensure a succession plan for recruits as well as to prevent transfers, but this situation is just silly. I’m no Stewart fan, so I have no problem moving on from him, but this is the wrong way to handle it. Stewart has been successful since taking over for Rich Rodriguez in 2008 and if he adds another 10+ win season or wins a major BCS Bowl (or even the National Championship) can you really ‘retire’ that guy? Sure a big part of any success next year will be because of the offensive mind of Dana Holgorsen. But is that enough to move on from Stewart? Also, if the Mountaineers aren’t successful next year and have a 5 win season, can all the blame be placed on Stewart? Now I think the Mountaineers found the right man for the job overall, as Holgorsen is young, talented and apparently a great recruiter, but I do think they went about this the wrong way. This ends up being a great long term move for WVU, but in the short term I think they could regret it.

Heat Stay on Fire, Win Their 10th Straight Game: Just a couple weeks ago this team looked on the verge of collapse, but since then no one has been able to stop the Heat. Miami’s big three (James, Wade, and Bosh) have been playing great, and taking over games when they need to. Last night was Wade’s turn as he scored 17 of his team high 28 points in the 4th quarter. The Heat needed all of Wade’s points as the Cavs played them tough all game. Cleveland even closed Miami’s lead to within three with a minute remaining, but they couldn’t overcome Wade and the Heat. Miami is finally looking like the dominate team we all expected when James and company came to town. I think there are still a few overall questions with the Heat’s ability to go deep into the playoffs, but they should be fun to watch.

With today’s announcement that TCU will be joining the Big ‘East’ in 2012, it helps solve two major problems prevailing in College Football. The first being the relative weakness of the Big East as a football conference. Sure some years they have 2-3 schools that can play with anyone, but years like this when they all beat up on each other and no one is a Top 25 team are hard to watch (and defend).

Now by adding TCU, the Big East has a legit National Title contender from the last few years. Also, plaguing college football was the playoff vs. BCS debate, where non-AQ schools like TCU have about a zero % chance of getting to a title game. Now with the Horned Frogs going to an automatic qualifying conference like the Big East, they don’t have to wait for a playoff system to get their fair shot. For those two reasons alone this is a win-win situation, but this move was much bigger than appeasing the BCS gods.

One way or another, the Big East needed to expand its football presence and looked to get up to that 10 team plateau that really adds legitimacy. There is no doubt the Big East was a basketball powerhouse, but their football presence was lacking. And football is where the biggest money is, so it affected them for all sports as well. Now by adding two more teams (likely Villanova moving up from FCS play) they added two more markets. By expanding out west into a Texas market (especially the Fort Worth/Dallas market), the Big East now can gain more lucrative TV deals.

Another area where it helps the Big East schools is recruiting. The three best recruiting states are California, Texas and Florida. Now the Big East schools do land a fair share of Florida products, but have little presence in Texas and California. That should now begin to change with the addition of TCU. Just as having a Florida school (first Miami and now South Florida) helps high school players become more familiar with the other schools in the conference. Adding TCU will help the Big East recruit more players from Texas and other western states.

The Horned Frogs also benefit in both TV revenue and recruiting. Not only does joining a big conference allow for big TV revenues, but now the Big East has a presence in Texas, Florida, New England, New Jersey/New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, not to mention Kentucky and West Virginia as well. That is a power house that you’d expect from an AQ football conference and should help allow them to invest heavier in recruiting to increase their talent level. Not only does the extra money help TCU (and the rest of the Big East) recruit, but by joining a big conference it helps give the Horned Frogs credibility with more 4 or 5 star recruits. And just as the TCU addition helps open up Texas and the West to the Big East, TCU now has a presence to go after Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Jersey recruits as well.

I think this a great marriage for both the Big East and TCU, with the only loser being the whole BCS vs. playoff debate. With now Utah and TCU leaving for major conferences, only Boise State and Nevada (and not even every year) can make a case for being unfairly treated by the BCS system. I really hope this doesn’t table the debate too much, though I’d guess it pushes it back at least another 2-3 years. Even if there is eventually a playoff system (and I think their will be), TCU will be in a better position going forward. Especially in terms of money and recruiting, to field a competitive team to handle a Championship run.

The West Virginia Mountaineers received some devastating news yesterday for their Tournament chances, when they found out that starting point guard Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant will miss the rest of the season with a broken foot. Bryant was the Mountaineers 4th leading scorer during the regular season and has been an integral part of the team since he arrived on campus fall of 2008. He was one of coach Bob Huggins top recruits his first year, and one of two true point guards on the roster.

Now the responsibility of the team will fall back on veteran Joe Mazzulla who had the starting job last season until he went down with injury. Mazzulla has been a solid player for the Mountaineers for years, but he’s never been a star. He is an okay ball handler, but I’d expect forwards Da’Sean Butler and Devin Eubanks to handle the ball quite a bit given their overall talent. While Mazzulla can offer a good option around the 3-point line, and be a solid defender, he lacks Bryant’s quickness and athleticism, as well as his ability to drive to the basket.

Now West Virginia fans will be quick to point out that Bryant hadn’t really made an impact in either Tournament game, and the Mountaineers did fine. While that is true, it does make me wonder if Bryant’s foot had already been bothering him and it was affecting his game. I’d also point out that WVU is about to play the Washington Huskies, who rely heavily on guard play. I don’t like the match up of Mazzulla guarding Huskies star point guard Isaiah Thomas, who is a dynamic scorer off the dribble.

And remember if West Virginia gets past Washington, they will likely face a Kentucky, with their two star point guards, in the Elite Eight. You would be fooling yourself to think Bryant won’t be missed. He sometimes gets overlooked given the talent on the WVU roster, but he is a very good player. He might be the fourth scorer on this team, but that’s because West Virginia has so much talent inside. On a more average team Bryant would likely be the second scoring option.

I’d expect the Mountaineers to try to play big with 4 or 5 forwards on the floor at all times. They won’t be able to match the quickness of Washington and Kentucky on the perimeter, so they might as well play big and dominate in the paint (that could be a bit tougher against Kentucky), and try to force them to play their game. Despite the loss of Bryant, I still think WVU will make it to the Elite Eight, but I’m no longer too sure of their ability to get past Kentucky.

1 Kentucky:  There is no doubt that the Wildcats have the most talented players in the nation. And if this tournament was solely decided by NBA future talent they would be a shoe-in for cutting down the nets in April. Fortunately for the rest of the teams in the country, this tournament is decided by a lot more than NBA talent. Even still Kentucky is one of the favorites of this tournament and have the talent, depth, and skill to win the title. The Wildcats are a very balanced team with star talent on the perimeter in John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, and underneath with Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins.

While it’s easy to love Kentucky, there are some hurdles they will have to overcome. Not the least of which is their freshman-centric starting lineup and rotation. We’ve seen a number of great freshmen and freshmen classes lead their teams deep into the tournament over the past few years, but the only freshman class to cut down the nets was Syracuse in 2003. That is not a great precedent for this Kentucky team, and something they will have to overcome. Something else they have to overcome is a pretty tough potential schedule. In the second round they will likely face a Texas team, that at one point in time was considered just as good of a team as Kentucky. And though they collapsed some down the stretch, the Longhorns have the talent to be extremely dangerous in this region. If Kentucky survives them, as they will likely face a dangerous Wisconsin team in the Sweet 16. That is almost as tough as a road that Kansas will face and, much tougher than Syracuse or Duke. Kentucky has the talent, but it will remain to be seen if their lack of experience will be their down fall.

2 West Virginia:  The West Virginia Mountaineers are my pick coming out of this region. They have tremendous talent, and athleticism and can run the floor with anybody. Though they lack a true big man, the Mountaineers have enough length to succeed in this tournament. They have one of the most underrated players in the nation in G-F De’Sean Butler. Butler was huge for West Virginia on their way to winning the Big East Conference Tournament.

WVU isn’t without weaknesses, they can be inconsistent and lack great depth, but have been able to overcome those issues this season. They do rely on their starters a bit to much and don’t do well if they get in foul trouble or overtime games. But few teams go deeper than 7 guys, so it hasn’t been a major issue for them. One thing that has haunted them this season is their consistency. They have struggled against the top teams in the Big East, and didn’t separate themselves from the pack. And while they did win the Big East Tournament, they didn’t have to face any of the other top teams (Pitt, Villanova, Syracuse). That being said, West Virginia could have made a solid case for deserving a number 1 seed, and even without facing some of the top teams winning the Big East Tournament is extremely impressive. I think the Mountaineers have a pretty clear path in the bottom part of this bracket, and have the ability to knock off Kentucky.

Rest of the games:

3 New Mexico over 14 Montana:  The Lobos are a talented team that might struggle early against Montana, but should be able to pull it out. I don’t see them going too far in this Tournament, but round 1 should be no problem.

4 Wisconsin over 13 Wofford:  The Badgers are a dangerous team and could end up busting a lot of brackets later in this tournament. As long as they don’t look ahead, Wisconsin should have no problem getting past Wofford.

12 Cornell over 5 Temple:  Temple not only drew the dreaded 5th seed, but also a tough match up against Cornell. Cornell has the ability to beat Temple inside, and if that is the case I don’t see Temple surviving this game.

6 Marquette over 11 Washington:  Marquette is a quality team with one weakness, size. Luckily for them Washington isn’t a great interior team, which should allow Marquette to get past them with their excellent guard play.

10 Missouri over 7 Clemson:  In the battle of the Tigers I’ll take Missouri by a hair over Clemson. Missouri has some consistency questions, but they create defensive headaches for every team they play. I think a team like Clemson who hasn’t really seen their style before will struggle and give up a number of turnovers.

8 Texas over 9 Wake Forest:  Both teams have a lot of talent but I like the Longhorns in this match up. I feel they are the more balanced team and will be more then the Demon Deacons can handle.

By Guest Blogger Geoff Newolet:

Villanova will edge West Virginia in a battle for second in the Big East

No. 9 Villanova is hosting No. 8 West Virginia in a Big East match up that will determine who earns second place in the regular season Big East title race. More importantly, the winner will potentially earn the two-seed in the Big East tournament – depending on Pittsburgh’s results and the tiebreakers. Villanova has already defeated West Virginia this year by the score of 82-75.

Villanova started the season on a tear. They won 20 of their first 21 games, and they were ranked as high as second nationally. As of late, they have lost three of seven – all to Big East opponents. Villanova also only has two strong victories over ranked opponents at home against Georgetown and West Virginia. They also have quality wins over Maryland, Dayton and a slew of solid Big East teams.

West Virginia is coming off a huge home victory over Georgetown, which propelled them to contention for second in the Big East. The Mountaineers are 23-6 on the year, and five of their six losses came against Big East opponents. Their other loss came against a top-five Purdue team. The mountaineers are led by forwards Da’Sean Butler, Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks. Each of the three averages over 12 points and 6 rebounds, and they have caused match up problems all year for their opponents.

The Wildcats are led by senior Scottie Reynolds who averages nearly 19 points per game. Corey Fisher also chips in at 13 point per contest, and he rounds out one of the best backcourts in the Big East. Beyond those two players, only one other averages in double figures for the Wildcats, which creates an unbalanced attack. Villanova is certainly a top-20 team in the nation, but it seems that they are not quite a top-five team, and their past ranking of second nationally came prematurely.

Villanova has already defeated West Virginia on the road this year, and they will edge them again at home. It will be a close came, though, that could end up going either way. Final score: Villanova 76 West Virginia 72

Duke will pummel North Carolina to stay atop the ACC

The troubled North Carolina Tar Heels will renew their rivalry with the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke is looking to finish undefeated at home for the season, whereas North Carolina is looking for their sixth conference win of the season. No. 4 Duke is 25-5 on the year, and they are tied for the ACC lead at 12-3. North Carolina is in the midst of one of their worst seasons in decades, and will most likely be thrilled when the season finally ends.

Duke is coming off their first loss in nine games against ACC rival Maryland. Maryland is now tied with Duke for first place in the ACC, which will give Duke even more incentive to defeat the Tar Heels. It is hard to imagine Duke losing to an inferior North Carolina team with the ACC title on the line. This certainly will not be a uninspired, unmotivated performance by the Blue Devils.

North Carolina has absolutely nothing to play for aside from bragging rights over their conference rivals. The Tar Heels are 16-14, and they have no chance of making the NCAA tournament. They will potentially receive an invitation to one of the various lesser, irrelevant tournaments such as the NIT or the CBI, but being in one of those tournaments is just as much of a disappointment for the Tar Heels as not making a tournament at all.

North Carolina, though, is slightly headed in the right direction with two straight conference wins over Wake Forest and Miami. It would be quite an accomplishment for them to finish their miserable season with a three-game ACC win streak topped by a road win against the Blue Devils.

Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, that most likely will not happen, as Duke will be too much for them with the combination of their superior guards: Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler. Not to mention, North Carolina will be without arguably their best player – Ed Davis. Duke will handle North Carolina with ease in order to keep pace for the ACC title. Final Score: Duke 80 UNC 60

1. Pittsburgh Panthers

Why They Will Contend: The Panthers return 14 starters this year including one of the best defensive line’s in college football. DE’s Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeus should spend a lot of time in opposing team’s backfields. The linebacking corps is pretty new, but is filled with some talented prospects. CB Aaron Berry leads a very good secondary, and should be an all-conference selection. On offense Soph. WR Jonathan Baldwin is poised to become one of the nation’s leading receivers. He’s joined by a pair of seniors at WR (Oderick Turner and Cedric McGee) and TE (Nate Byham and Dorin Dickerson) that give the Panthers the most formidable passing weapons in the conference. The Panthers will have a running back by committee approach led by three interesting prospects. True Freshmen Dion Lewis and Ray Graham, along with redshirted freshman Chris Burns, should give the Panthers plenty of fresh legs this year.

Why They Won’t Contend: The Panthers lost their best offensive playmaker, RB LeSean McCoy, and their leading tackler, MLB Scott McKillop to the draft. They have three talented prospects to replace McCoy, but those are big shoes to fill. He would singlehandily win games for the Panthers last year. Its easier to replace McKillop’s on the field production, but it may not be so easy to replace the leadership he brought to the team every day. The biggest returning question is at QB. Highly touted Pat Bostick has been a bust so far and will move to 3rd on the depth chart (he will likely be redshirted as well). Senior Bill Stull remains as the starter, but he was ineffective last year especially when the game was put in his hands. If he doesn’t rebound this year don’t be surprised to see redshirted freshman Tino Sunseri lining up behind center.

Offensive Player to Watch: WR Jonathan Baldwin. The comparisons to Larry Fitzgerald are starting and they might not be too far off the mark. A bit raw at wideout Baldwin has freakish athletic ability that should allow him to dominate the Big East.

Defensive Player to Watch: DE Greg Romeus. There is talent up and down the def. line, but Romeus is the best of the bunch. He had 7.5 sacks last year and will cause havok among offensive coordinators trying to find a way to stop him this year.

2. West Virginia Mountaineers

Why They Will Contend: The Mountaineers run one of the most dynamic offenses in college football. Led by Junior running back Noel Devine. Devine led the Mountaineers last season with over 1,200 rushing yards with a 6.3 ypc average. At wide receiver WVU has some playmakers as well. Junior Jock Sanders and redshirt sophomore Bradley Starks have established themselves as quality targets. Incoming freshman Logan Heastie gives the Mountaineers a big target to add balance to their receiving corps. WVU returns an experienced defense to run their 3-3-5 alignment. Junior CB Brandon Hogan is an excellent coverage corner and isn’t afraid of contact as well.

Why They Won’t Contend: The Mountaineers lost the heart of their offense in quarterback Pat White. White athleticism was off the charts and his presence on the field made every other player better. 5th year senior Jarrett Brown will take White’s spot behind center. While he offers the same running ability as White, Brown lacks White’s elusiveness and quickness that made him so dangerous. Brown will need to find a way to beat opponents through the air if the Mountaineers are going to contend this year. WVU needs a true number 1 receiver to step up to take their offense to the next level. They have a lot of ability among their wideouts, but no true go to guy. WVU could use a power running back to help them convert short yardage situations. On defense the Mountaineers need to get a better pass rush to neutralize some of the other Big East offenses.

Offensive Player to Watch: RB Noel Devine. Devine is one of the fastest running backs in the NCAA, and if he sees daylight in front of him no one will catch him. Finding ways to get the ball to Devine in space is a key for the WVU offense and a nightmare scenario for defensive coordinators.

Defensive Player to Watch: CB Brandon Hogan. Hogan is a ball hawk defensive back, and has shutdown corner defensive ability. Hogan is a big hitter for a corner and should be an all conference selection when the season is over.

3. Cincinnati Bearcats

Why They Will Contend: The returning Big East Champs will be one of the favorites to win it again entering the 2009 season. Cincinnati returns one of the Big East’s best quarterbacks in senior Tony Pike. Pike is a big strong armed quarterback, who knows how to make plays. Pike has a solid receiving corps overall, but his favorite target, senior Marshawn Gilyard, is anything but solid or average. Gilyard is one of the best playmakers in the nation and a sure fire first round pick next April. At running back the Bearcats return junior John Goebel who had over 600 yards last season while in a backup role. Goebel isn’t a game breaker, but he can keep the chains moving with his 4.6 yards per carry average.

Why They Won’t Contend: Cincinnati’s biggest problem is their defense. While they have plenty of athletic talent they return just one starter, senior FS Aaron Webster. Webster is a good player, but with that kind of turnover a number of players will need to step up to keep the Bearcats in contention. Another issue with the defense is the transition to a 3-4 system, which is going to cause a learning curve for their new starters. The Bearcats will need another play maker on offense to step up as well if they hope to compete with the Panthers and Mountaineers.

Offensive Player to Watch: WR/KR Marshawn Gilyard. Gilyard is a home run hitter and a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. He’s one of the best kick returners in the nation, in addition to his production on offense. Gilyard will create match up problems for corners around the Big East.

Defensive Player to Watch: FS Aaron Webster. Webster is the lone returning starter on this defense, and one of its biggest leaders. He is a hard hitter, but is a very good coverage safety as well. His presence in the defensive backfield will allow the front 7 to get after the quarterback more.

4. South Florida Bulls

Offensive Player to Watch: QB Matt Grothe. Grothe is the best and most experienced quarterback in the conference. He’s a dual threat quarterback that can keep plays alive with his feet.

Defensive Player to Watch: DE George Selvie. Selvie is one of the elite pass rusher’s in the nation. He lives in opponents backfields and is very difficult to block one-on-one.

5. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Offensive Player to Watch: RB Jourdan Brooks. The redshirted sophomore had 516 yards last year and 6 touchdowns in just 100 carries. He is a power back who can make some moves in the open field.

Defensive Player to Watch: MLB Ryan D’Imperio. D’Imperio is one of the best linebackers in the Big East. He’s a sure tackler and extremely instinctive. He’s always around the ball and makes the big plays when needed.

6. Louisville Cardinals

Offensive Player to Watch: RB Victor Anderson. As a true freshman Anderson rushed for over 1,000 yards with a 5.7 ypc average. He is in line for a breakout year this year, and should be accounted for on every play by opposing defenses.

Defensive Player to Watch: LB Jon Dempsey. Dempsey led the Cardinals in tackles last year and is one of their defensive leaders. He is an extremely sure tackler and is adept at making plays in the backfield.

7. Conneticut Huskies

Offensive Player to Watch: RB Andre Dixon. Dixon didn’t get much of an opportunity last season with Donald Brown rushing his way to 2,000 yards, but Dixon is a quality ball carrier. In 2007 he had over 800 yards rushing and should get plenty of chances to top that this season.

Defensive Player to Watch: LB Scott Lutrus. Lutrus led the Huskies with over a 100 tackles last season and is the team’s defensive captain. In addition to being a sure tackler, Lutrus is a good coverage linebacker that can limit TE’s and RB’s catches.

8. Syracuse Orange

Offensive Player to Watch: QB Greg Paulus. Paulus was a top QB recruit but elected to play college basketball instead at Duke. Now with one year of eligibility remaining Paulus will be Syracuse’s quarterback. If he has a solid year he could help put the Orange back on the map.

Defensive Player to Watch: DT Arthur Jones. Jones has lived in the offensive backfield during his time at Syracuse with 31.5 career tackles for a loss. He is by far the Orange’s best player and defensive leader.