The Shotgun/Throwdown: UConn Hangover (3/3/11) Edition

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

Great game, great win and a great atmosphere last night at the WVU Coliseum.  Yes, the referees were terrible (what's new?).  Even the guys over at The UConn Blog thought we were getting hosed there.  The other moment of disappointment was when the students tried to storm the court again (thankfully security stopped them).  Last night's victory went a long way to solidify WVU's Big East Tournament seeding in the top half of the rankings.  While it didn't completely lock in a top 8 finish (there are some weird tie breakers still in effect if a loss happens this coming Saturday against Louisville), it erased any lingering doubt if this was a NCAA tournament team and solidified a higher seed there.  In football news, WVU had a press luncheon yesterday to sort of kick off spring drills in a few weeks.  There's lots of coverage of that today as well.

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What You May Have Missed:

Fraternity of coaching greatness - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column

Strength of Schedule and RPI Boosts NCAA Tourney Resume - WVillustrated.com

Mazzulla is key to another NCAA run - Daily Athenaeum

West Virginia screens to get the post open - The Mikan Drill
Nice breakdown/analysis (in case you missed the link/comment on Charley's RPI Fanshot)

Mountaineers Complete Combine - WVMETRONEWS.COM

The Big East's best: No. 14 - Big East Blog - ESPN
Roberts Sands

News of Note:

Spring Luncheon Kicks off Modified Regime at WVU - WVillustrated.com

Football Luncheon - Mountaineer TV
Coach Bill Stewart, defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and offensive coordinator Dan Holgorsen give their pre-spring remarks on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 inside the Touchdown Terrace at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Football: WVU Coaches' Quotes - MSNsportsNET.Com

Stewart: Chemistry No. 1 Goal - MSNsportsNET.Com

Quoting The Coach: Wednesday Luncheon - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Full article and videos of HCBS, OCDH and DCJC

Stew, Holgorsen sit down, talk football - Charleston Gazette

WVU football: Holgorsen eyes internal changes first - Charleston Daily Mail

WVU's Holgorsen getting right to work - Charleston Daily Mail

Holgorsen, new assistants begin installing new offense - Daily Athenaeum
WVU QB Geno Smith says he will fully participate in spring ball

West Virginia prepares for high-flying spring - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

VIDEO: WVU Football Spring Luncheon Press Conference - WVillustrated.com
HCBS, OCDH and DHJC

Solid Chemistry For New Staff - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Article and gallery plus video of DH and Coach G

Robert Gillespie: Coaching The Running Backs - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Blurb and video

Geno Smith: Back To Full Health By Spring - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Blurb and video

Geno Smith says he's 'full go' for spring - Big East Blog - ESPN

Smith ready to take part in WVU spring drills - Times West Virginian

2011 Football Depth Chart - WVMETRONEWS.COM

UConn Hangover:

Kevin Jones helps West Virginia pull away from Connecticut - ESPN
Recap, stats, video, photos, etc

WVU Holds Down the Huskies - MSNsportsNET.Com

Mountaineers Take Down Huskies - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Recap, video and gallery

WVU Men's Basketball Recap: WVU 65 UConn 56 - WVillustrated.com

WVU uses hustle, ‘D’ in 65-56 victory over UConn - Times West Virginian

Holding (Home) Court - BGN

No doubt now, 'tough' WVU going dancing - Charleston Gazette

No NCAA Tourney Worries for WVU - Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

WVU basketball: Mazzulla, Jones lead defeat of UConn - Charleston Daily Mail

Switch to matchup zone limits Walker, Huskies - Daily Athenaeum

Kevin Jones Overcomes First Half Struggles to Lead WVU - WVillustrated.com

Jones, Mazzulla outshine Walker, Connecticut to keep Big East bye alive - Daily Athenaeum

Clutch time - Charleston Gazette
Win over Huskies bolsters WVU's chances of getting Big East bye

West Virginia Mountaineers Capitalize On Their Size In Beating UConn - Hartford Courant
Often using a three-guard lineup, UConn was hurt by bigger, physical players Wednesday night in its 65-56 loss at West Virginia.

PoG: WVU vs UConn - BGN

UConn Highlights - Mountaineer TV
Highlights from West Virginia's 65-56 victory over 16th-ranked Connecticut Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum.

Head Coach Bob Huggins - Mountaineer TV
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins talks about Wednesday night's 65-56 victory over 16th-ranked Connecticut at the WVU Coliseum.

UConn Postgame (Video) : WVU Players - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Huggs, KJ, Joe, Deniz, Cam and JFlow

VIDEO: Postgame Reaction to WVU's Win Over UConn - WVillustrated.com
Huggs, KJ, Joe, Cam, JFlow, Deniz and Jim Calhoun

UConn Postgame (Video): Huskie Players - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier and Coach Calhoun

WVU Basketball Photos: WVU vs UCONN - WVillustrated.com

Photo Gallery II: WVU vs UConn - BGN

Recruiting:

Lowe is Versatile, Talented - Scout.com

Around the League (and Beyond):

Casting our ballots: Big East - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN

Experts' picks for conference POY, COY - ESPN

The Big East Tournament: How Wednesday's game impacted the seeds and standings - Post Standard

Bye-bye! Louisville Cards hit road in style after thumping Providence 87-60 - Courier-Journal
Wrap up top-four Big East seeding

10 Thoughts after PC's Loss to Louisville - Friar Basketball: PC Hoops For All

Cincinnati Handles Marquette 67-60 - Down The Drive

Deja Vu All Over Again: Cincinnati 67, Marquette 60 - Anonymous Eagle

Bulls drop home finale to Pittsburgh - Tampa Tribune
66-50

Pitt claims share of Big East title with win at South Florida - PPG

Rutgers hangs on to beat DePaul, 68-64, ending four-game losing streak - Star Ledger

Seton Hall Gameday: Pirates need to slow down Dwight Hardy against No. 15 St. John's - Star Ledger

Q + A with St. John's basketball legend Chris Mullin - Rumble In The Garden

Corey Fisher To Have An MRI On His Knee - The Nova Blog

Villanova Football Nearing Decision To Move Up To Big East - The Nova Blog

Scoop Jardine: Ooh Yea That's Taking Criticism In Stride - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Pitt football gets top ranking in wrong areas - PPG
Pitt's football program is No. 1 in the country ... in number of players arrested among teams that were ranked in the preseason top 25 last year, that is.

UConn Football: UConn Lost Nearly $1.6 Million In Trip To Fiesta Bowl - Hartford Courant

NCAA president Mark Emmert 'happy' to help with football playoff - SI.com

Report: BYU's Davies suspended for premarital sex - Truth & Rumors/FanNation

College Basketball Mailbag - Seth Davis - SI.com

What's On Tap:

(15) St. John's Red Storm vs. Seton Hall Pirates - Preview - ESPN
7:00 tonight from the Prudential Center on ESPN2

Video of Interest:

Video of (Dis)Interest:

This guy is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors:

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is Australian model Lara Bingle.  Click on her picture for a 4 page mega-gallery.

Matilda Bay Dogbolter image via farm4.static.flickr.com