Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information and daily distractions.  We're being brought to you today by Antarctica, in honor of today's Miss Throwdown.

Of course the big news is that everybody's favorite recruiting violator, Kiffin, is heading back to USC, where he made his name.  What recruiting fallout will that cause and will it help WVU?  It certainly can't hurt.  The women kept their streak alive last night by beating Nova.  Can the men bounce back against USF on the road?  I guess we'll all find out tonight.  Send in your tips, suggestions and requests.  It all starts after the jump...

What You May Have Missed:

Gold and Blue Report for Wednesday - WVMETRONEWS.COM

West Virginia Wins Slow-Down Affair - MSNsportsNET.Com
The women beat Nova 45-41

USF Preview - MSNsportsNET.Com

Big East all-bowl team - ESPN

Women's Basketball: Ranked 13th in Coaches' Poll - MSNsportsNET.Com
...to go along with a #18 ranking in the AP poll

Wooden Award Midseason Top 30 - Scout.com

Davenport leaves Mountaineers for ODU - Charleston Daily Mail
Baby D has left the building.

News of Note:

WVU can't explain recurring troubles - Charleston Daily Mail

'Good enough to beat us' - Charleston Gazette

USF Preview - Times West Virginian

Charting WVU free throws and playing opposite Tebow - Charleston Gazette
Vingle's Notebook

WVU notes: Short-handed Bulls taking their lumps - Charleston Gazette

WVU looking for comeback against Bulls - Charleston Daily Mail

Mountaineers looking to bounce back tonight - Register-Herald

WVU takes on South Florida - Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Mountaineers Head South - WVMETRONEWS.COM

Bouncing Back - WVMETRONEWS.COM

Jacobs Chat: Jan. 12, 2010 - MSNsportsNET.Com

Recruiters defect, W.Va. coach unfazed - The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register (AP)

Top 10 games of 2009: No. 7 - ESPN

Brown, Capers to Play in Senior Bowl - WVMETRONEWS.COM

What we learned from the Big East bowl season - ESPN

Good and Bad - BlueGoldNews.com

Always a Mountaineer: McAfee Living the Dream - WVIllustrated.com

BIG EAST Hardwood Slate 1/12 - WVIllustrated.com

Recruiting:

Johnson: "I'm ready to bring West Virginia a Championship." - EerSports

UT may lose recruits - Tennessean
Ya think?

NCAA to consider increase in restrictions on basketball recruiting - USATODAY

Around the League (and Beyond):

Pitt and Connecticut usually ends up a classic - PPG

Syracuse men's basketball team hits the road for three games in six days - syracuse.com

Rob Moore officially on board as Syracuse's new receivers coach - syracuse.com

Warning, its about to get nerdy in here: A sobering look at UConn's efficiency problem - The UConn Blog

As Rutgers men's basketball slides backward, time has come for Fred Hill to go - Star Ledger

Sorry, USF fans, but Dungy isn't going to coach the Bulls - Tampa Tribune

U of L’s Siva now plays to a crowd of one - Courier-Journal

Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson prepared to be booed by New York crowd - Cincinnati Enquirer

Coaches behaving badly - Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Lane Kiffin to leave Tennessee Volunteers for USC Trojans job - ESPN Los Angeles

Andy Katz: Kentucky simply too talented to fail - ESPN

Alabama, Boise State, Ohio State top early 2010 Top 25 rankings - Andy Staples - SI.com

What's On Tap:

West Virginia Mountaineers vs. South Florida Bulls - ESPN
7 pm tonight from the Sun Dome in Tampa. ESPN360 and MASN have live coverage. The line has WVU giving 8.5.

Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Connecticut Huskies - ESPN
7 pm tonight from the XL Center in Hartford on ESPN2. UConn is giving 6.

Syracuse Orange vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights - ESPN
7:30 pm from the RAC (I know they changed the name, but it's still the RAC to me) ESPN 360 has live coverage and there's a replay on MASN at 9 after our game. The line has Rutgers getting 13.5.

Video of Interest:

Video of (Dis)Interest:

As suggested by our founder:

Home Improvement Gallery of the Week:

via coedmagazine.files.wordpress.com

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is yet another gorgeous Brazilian.  She's been a SI swimsuit and Victoria's Secret model (Screw it, I'm moving to Brazil).  Here's Fernanda Tavares.

via www.nicewallpapers.info

Antarctica image via www.mensagens-subliminares.kit.net