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.

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)

While the football side takes its hits, the basketball side of the league continues to be a mega-draw. ESPN announced its Big Monday schedule and over at Zagsblog, Adam’s all over it.

A few highlights from today’s press conference at Marquette:

Villanova coach Jay Wright on the play of Marquette’s three senior guards Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews:

“If you weren’t playing against them, they’re actually fun to watch…I thought they controlled the game, all three of them…in college basketball, big time guards are going to be very successful.”

McNeal on Matthews’ quiet first half (three points), followed by his 16-point second half:

“He was a missing piece tonight, he was a little bit quiet until that point.”

McNeal on the play of James, who forced ‘Nova guard Scottie Reynolds into four offensive fouls:

“He was locked in, and I was locked in, we were on a mission tonight…he did a real good job defending (Reynolds).”

It’s a final here in Milwaukee, as No. 25 Marquette beats No. 13 Villanova 79-72 on New Year’s Day. The Golden Eagles were led by a a quartet of double-digit scorers. Jerel McNeal led all scorers with 24 points and Dominic James (17), Wesley Matthews (19) and Lazar Hayward (15) gave him plenty of help.

James shot just 6-of-15 from the floor, but his four three pointers were timed so well it seemed like he made a lot more. Marquette withstood several Villanova runs in the second half, keyed by Corey Fisher (21 points, 8-of-11 free throws), Scottie Reynolds (15 points) and Dante Cunningham (16 points, 8 rebounds).

The Wildcats are good this year, but for my money probably a ranked a touch too high at No. 13. Still a solid win for a Marquette team that, aside from Wisconsin, hasn’t beaten anyone this year.

I’ll have quotes when they become available. If ‘Nova coach Jay Wright is half as animated as he was on the sidelines today, they’ll be good ones.

The powers that be have unanimously named John Marinatto commissioner of the Big EAST. Marinatto will take over when current commish Mike Tranghese officially retires this summer after having held the title for 18 years.  

The decision to put Marinatto in charge is no real surprise. He has worked as Tranghese’s second-in-command for seven years. Marinatto said during a press conference on Wednesday that his highest priority as commish will be to arrange the next series of bowl opportunities for the conference’s football teams since current bowl contracts expire after the 2009 season. Read More

 “I truly believe that the next decade will prove to be the best decade in the history of the Big East conference and for its members.” – John Marinatto

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