It was announced last week that the LSU and WVU football programs have agreed to a home-and-home deal that will bring the Mountaineers to Tiger Field in 2010 and the Tigers to Mountaineer Field in 2011.

Sept. 25, 2010 will mark the first time these teams have ever met on a football field, which is pretty impressive considereing that both programs have existed for over 100 years.

The game scheduled to be played in West Virginia (Sept. 24, 2011) will be the first time since 2002 that LSU has traveled to play a non-conference team located on the east coast.

The Mountaineers are 4-0 against SEC teams since 2005, playing one team from that league in the last 4 seasons; Georgia (Sugar Bowl), Mississippi State (2005-2006 regular season) and Auburn last season.

 ”This is a series that is very attractive to fans of both LSU and West Virginia and at the same time, it’s a game that will have a great deal of national attention. West Virginia is one of the top teams in the Big East Conference and we are excited about the opportunity to face a quality opponent from a BCS league.” – Joe Alleva, LSU Director of Athletics

Over the weekend I painted a scenario where a naysayer could leave Syracuse from the NCAA Tournament.  It looked like this…

-If Syracuse losses to Cincy and Marquette it finishes 9-9 in conference (sorry Rutgers)

-Cincy would then win out and finish 11-7…sorry USF and Seton Hall

-West Virginia would finish 10-8 with wins over USF and DePaul and a loss to Louisville.

-Notre Dame beats Villanova tonight and St. John’s to close the regular season.  The Irsih is 9-9.

That all would have left Syracuse tied for 9th in the Big East and playing DePaul on the first day of the Big East Tournament.  Yeah, that’s a win, but regardless you’re now 9th in the conference.  I know that SU still would have a high RPI and solid non-league wins at Memphis and over Kansas and Florida, but crazy things happen in the tourney selection process — and I’ve heard Debby Downer say that SU would not beat those teams if they played again (and no, they’d still beat Memphis).  I’ve heard Negative Nelly say SU has no huge wins in conference.  And, yeah, they’d be 9th in the conference.

So there’s the case.  BUT, Syracuse beat Cincy.  It will finish at worst 10-8 in Big East play (again, sorry Rutgers).  Syracuse could finish 11-7 (sorry to Marquette fans on senior day – but I guessed this could be a win before the James injury, so now… (Don’t get me wrong.  I love Marquette, I just think SU can beat them).

So at 11-7, SU will have a top notch win in the Big East and will not have to play in the BET first round and is in the NCAA Tournament for sure.  So for all those nervous fans out there, you can sleep easy.

Oh, and blowing bubble team Cincinatti to Mars helps that cause too.  A close win could have warrented more nail biting for the ultra-cautious.

Louisville’s senior guard Andre McGee scored a season high 16 points as the Cards held off No. 8 Marquette (23-6, 12-4) 62-58. The Cards have now won four straight games over the Golden Eagles dating back to the 2006-07 season.

McGee connected on four of his seven three point attempts and did not register a single turnover in his 28 minutes on the floor.

As the team sported their retro uniforms from the late 60′s, the No. 6 Cards (23-5) moved to 14-2 in the Big East and remains tied with Connecticut in the loss column for the conference title. U of L is now 5-1 against teams ranked in the Top 25 this season and is now guaranteed a double bye in the Big East Tournament.  

The Cards led throughout the entire second half after taking a three point lead at the end of the first. Though the offense was not all that impressive, Louisville’s defense disrupted the Marquette offense throughout the enitety of the contest. The Golden Eagles came walked into the game is the most productive scoring team in the Big East and was held to 22 points below their scoring average while shooting just 33% from the field.

Jerel McNeal finished 10 points on 3-19 shooting. You have to give credit to Marquette, who battled valiantly despite McNeal’s struggles and leader Dominic James out for the season. After falling behind by as many as 12 in the second half, the Golden Eagles dug in and cut U of L ‘s lead three on a few occasions, but just could not get over the hump.

Guard Wesley Matthews finished with a game high 19 points and forward Lazar Haywood added 16 to go along with his 10 rebounds.  

Four U of L players scored in double figures, led by Terrence Williams near triple-double. Williams finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Earl Clark finished with 10 points and 13 boards while center Samardo Samuels put in 12 points with eight rebounds.

Both teams will return to action Wednesday, as the Cards will welcome in Seton Hall for senior night and Marquette will go on the road to play the top five ranked Pittsburgh Panthers. U of L will close out the regular season on the road at West Virginia and the Golden Eagles will wrap up theirs with Syracuse at home.

Georgetown fought off a resiliant Villanova squad by refusing to give up the lead in the final 17 minutes.

DaJuan Summers and Dante Cunningham lead their teams with 16 and 13 points respectively.

The game was pretty sloppy, couldn’t believe their were 45 turnovers, and the shooting in the first half was just atrocious.

Georgetown held the Wildcats to their lwest point total of the season with stifling defense.

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Oh yeah, the white suit is back, baby! University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino broke out the suit made famous in the first half of last season’s “white out game” against Georgetown. Even with the Cardinals’ players rocking throw back uniforms from the 60′s, their play in the first half has not inspired the excitement their wardrobe has.

After 20 minutes of play, No. 6 Louisville leads No. 8 Marquette 28-25. Both teams have struggled offensively. Though the Cards shooting percentage (45%) isn’t that bad, their eight turnovers in the first half have made it hard for them to get into rhythm. Their offense has been too perimeter oriented. I’d like to see them go inside with more consistency and expose Marquette’s smaller frontcourt.

Marquette is just 10-32 from the field and 3-11 from three, but have played with an outstanding level of energy which has allowed them to be right with U of L heading into the locker-room.

Senior forward Terrence Williams has continued his recent high level play scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds.

The Golden Eagles have not gotten the play from standout Jerel McNeal they’ve been accustomed to. McNeal is just 2-13 from the field for five points.