BigEastSportsBlog.com

My colleague Adam Zagoria sat down with Rice star – and UConn, Seton Hall and St. John’s recruit – Kadeem Jack and his teammate Shane Southwell today at SNY’s studio. They talk about college, their official visits and this weekend’s SNY Invitational. Check it out right here.

Heckuva Fiesta Bowl. Still would’ve liked to see both teams pitted against one of the BCS conference schools though. We could’ve had TWO Oklahoma-Boise State Fiesta Bowl reduxes… apparently it’s not enough to just be employed… Sad day for the Jets family… Surprise, surprise, someone hates Avatar. And it’s the Right…

A Big East bowl season review. (ESPN.com)

Pitt pulled out a winner in Cincinnati because the Panthers had moxie. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Randy Edsall was nervous last week in Birmingham. Really. (Republican-American)

UConn won the national Orange Bowl Courage Award and Edsall got to stand next to a stuffed Orange. (UConnHuskies.com)

Before a busy weekend of recruiting, an update on Louisville’s commitments. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

Two Florida assistants are set to join Charlie Strong’s staff. (Gainesville Sun)

Expansion work on PapaJohn’s Cardinal Stadium is chugging along. (U of L Card Game)

A quick hoops primer for the NY-metro area folks transitioning out of football season. (MSG.com)

The CFL’s scouting South Florida DB Jerome Murphy and QB Matt Grothe… the International Bowl may be kaput. (Tampa Tribune)

Jason Pierre-Paul could make his NFL decision (go now, go next year) Thursday. (St. Petersburg Times)

Syracuse plays at Washington Sept. 11… The Orange have a new defensive line coach. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

So the Orange were again outside-looking-in on the postseason. Not so in the NFL: Syracuse has seven alums in the playoffs. (SUathletics.com)

Grading the WVU-FSU game. (Smoking Musket)

Question: Do you know whether its possible to get detail on which games will be showed on SNY when it simply says “college basketball”? I’m trying to find out what the 4:30pm Saturday afternoon game is (11/14). Thanks, Jeff

Excellent question, Jeff. Especially since every time I input that schedule over on the right side, I have to go chasing this info down myself! Well, yesterday, my fabulous editor Ted built us a link to the whole season schedule. If you click right here, you’ll be taken right to it. I suggest bookmarking it. And as for that 4:30 p.m. Saturday game, it looks to be a tape delay replay of the previous night’s Centenary-Marquette tip.

Make sure to check out the video player in the right sidebar. We have previews of Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall and UConn running right now.

There I am, suddenly 6-9, interviewing Rutgers’ Greg Echenique. Wait till you see the video footage.

As promised this morning, some hoops stories. I couldn’t possibly get them all (or even half), but here’s a decent sampling.

Morgantown, New York City, both home. Who would’ve thunk? Nova’s the preseason no. 1, there aren’t 38 star seniors, but give the Big East time. Cream always rises. (SNY.tv)

John Marinatto has a sense of humor. Or maybe Mike Tranghese does. (NJ Newsroom)

Rick Pitino was obviously the draw of the day. Sex scandals tend to do that. (NY Daily News)

Pitino talked about thoroughbreds’ blinders and he promised no more distractions. Fat chance. (Providence Journal, USA Today, AOL Fanhouse)

Maybe to deflect some of that, maybe just to be honest, Pitino figured it was as good a time as any to knock Rutgers’ facilities. (Star-Ledger)

It wasn’t so much quality of the truly good teams yesterday as it was quantity of the truly good. (Journal Inquirer)

Jay Wright thinks his team is prettier than last year’s. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Jim Calhoun’s lost 500 pounds. In two players. (Hartford Courant)

There’s a shift in Big East power. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize… Turns out sleep is just as valuable as any flu shot… 

Another reason for Brian Kelly’s genius: he puts kids in positions they should be playing. (Rivals.com)

Kelly’s not sold on his quarterback being Heisman worthy. Yet. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Forget plain playing: Scott Lutrus is starting. Here too. Breaking down UConn-Pitt. (Connecticut Post, Hartford Courant, Connecticut Post)

Cody Endres is coming home to Pittsburgh… with his Huskies. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Another ode to Endres’ counterpart, Bill Stull. (Republican American)

Pitt lost an incredible backfield trio. The three replacement players are proving pretty darn impressive themselves. (pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Five previous FCS opponents. A combined score of 236-20. Rutgers’ Homecoming fans should get to see an emptied bench. (SNY.tv)

Dom Natale’s back to being a back-up. Marvell Scott: from WABC sports anchor to team doc. (Star-Ledger)

Greg Schiano says Rutgers’ offense can use a little Jacking up. (Home News Tribune)

In three games as South Florida’s starting QB, BJ Daniels has twice rushed for 100 yards. “I don’t like to run,” he says. (St. Petersburg Times)

Syracuse can’t seem to run the ball. A rivalry gone sour. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Noel Devine leads all active players in 70-plus yard runs. He has five. (Wiz of Odds)

It’s never too early for hoops season. Former Vermont coach, NJ native and current ESPN commentator Tom Brennan talks Seton Hall, Rutgers and being an assistant to Bill Raftery in this podcast. (NJ Newsroom)

The Pirates got the fast paced, high energy affair they needed if they wanted to defeat Notre Dame on Saturday – and still fell short, falling 88-79.

In a game with 14 lead changes, the Hall gave the Irish everything it could. Playmakers, though, would mark the difference.

With the game tied late, it was Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney that stole the show. Despite early game struggles (including Harangody’s worst shooting performance of the year), both came up huge in the waning minutes, propelling Notre Dame to an emotional victory.

Eugene Harvey paced the Pirates with 21 points, while Robert Mitchell kicked in 15. Jeremy Hazell, who didn’t start, turned in a rough 3-12 mark from the floor.

John Garcia, meanwhile, left the game in the first half with back spasms.

Now at 0-4 in the conference, Seton Hall has a week off before traveling north to face Connecticut next Sunday.

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

At 0-3 in the Big East, the Pirates have to think their time is coming.

Well they would, anyway, if their next two games weren’t against Notre Dame and Connecticut.

Last year, the Fighting Irish beat the Hall 95-69. Two years ago, Note Dame prevailed 88-76. The year before that: 102-91. And the one before that: 66-65. The list goes on and on against the Irish, currently No. 13 in the country, who’ve had the Pirates’ number for years.

Worse, the Irish are on a 44-game home winning streak, which make things even worse for the Hall, which has bumbled its way to an 0-3 start in conference.

Notre Dame is led by forward Luke Harangody, who feels like he’s been a part of the Fighting Irish lineup for a decade. Harangody averages 24 points and 12 rebounds a game, and has historically made Seton Hall big men look like children on the floor.

Trust that he’ll get his, regardless. The test will be whether or not the Hall can respond.

The Pirates will counter with Jeremy Hazell’s 23 points a game, which may not be enough at the Joyce Center. Last year the sharpshooter dropped 26 on Notre Dame, and the Pirates were still embarrassed. Without massive help from Robert Mitchell and Eugene Harvey, things will be ugly yet again.

I’ll have more tomorrow, when I hit the arena.

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

Everyone knew that Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham would get theirs – but I can’t imagine that anyone expected that they’d be all Villanova needed.

In a high-flying affair that took an extra five minutes to settle, the Wildcats escaped the Prudential Center with an 89-85 win over Seton Hall Tuesday night.

Reynolds dropped an astounding 40 points on the Pirates, and Cunningham kicked in another 21. Reggie Redding added 10, but was more notable for his near lockdown defense on Jeremy Hazell in the waning minutes of the game.

Hazell had 26 points, but nearly all of them came in the first half, which ended with the Pirates leading by two. He did hit a ridiculous bank shot three point bucket to tie the game with nine seconds remaining, but was largely a ghost after the break.

Robert Mitchell, who has largely been the second leading offensive force after Hazell, pulled a disappearing act of his own, going MIA until the final few minutes. His 13 points and nine boards look good on paper, but he was a non-factor for most of the contest.

Eugene Harvey had 19, but twice went down with apparently knee related issues. He finished the game.

The loss is one that the Hall will have little time to regret with Notre Dame and UCONN next the schedule. The Pirates will need a huge upset to avoid an 0-5 start in the conference.

Before I go, some food for thought from the game: Walk on Matt Cajuste was the Pirates first big man off the bench – not Mike Davis (who’s still on pace to match last year’s crowning achievement: more fouls than shots attempted).

That’s all for now, folks.

-Skip

If there was one game during the Hall’s five game gauntlet of death, its tonight’s.

Nothing against the Villanova Wildcats, who are a very legitimate team, but Seton Hall can at the very least match up with them – something the Pirates can’t claim to do with their next two opponents in Notre Dame and Connecticut.

‘Nova rolls into the game off their Big East opener loss to Marquette, and still sits in the AP Top 20. Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds are still the leaders there, and will both get theirs tonight regardless of how the Hall decides to defend them.

The one saving grace is that the Pirates match up alright size wise. John Garcia didn’t look anywhere near healthy against West Virginia, but if he’s better tonight he could play a pivotal role.

As we’ve seen, just Jeremy Hazell going nuts has not been enough for the Pirates. He dropped 23 on Syracuse, and the team lost. He dropped 29 on West Virginia, and the team lost. He’ll need help from Robert Mitchell, Eugene Harvey, and hopefully Garcia, to pull this one off.

I’ll have more on the game tonight, when I’m forced to catch it on television. Fortunately, tough, I’ll be traveling with the team for Notre Dame and Connecticut in the coming weeks.

Talk to you soon.

-Skip