VOTE FOR WHAT YOU HATE MOST!!!

How appropriate. Just before WVU faces off with Notre Dame on the hardwood, we have a new entrant into the Hall of Hate. Despite struggling on the field, they had no problems garnering the hate of the By-Godders. Can the Hokies last? History of this poll tends to think so. Nominations for next edition's addition are now open. Those previously elected to the Hall of Hate can be viewed HERE.

Last Edition's Relegation: ESPN

• Virginia Tech (6)
• Mark May (5)
• Basketball Pollsters (1)

This Week's Additions:

ACC - I refer you to the CIRCLE OF SUCK

Louisville - There's some residual ire over their whining about WVU and the Big 12, apparently

Methodology:

The lowest vote total gets relegated/eliminated from the big board below. Lasting 11 weeks in a row gets the entry enshrined into the Hall of Hate. It is your votes and nominations that count. Please vote and post your nominations in the comments section (if a previous nomination of yours didn't get picked up, try again). Creative and recommended nominations are more likely to be posted on the board. Make your nominations known below!!

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 Full Sail Wassail Winter Ale.

Not counting chickens yet, but if you follow Casazza's logic in his article today, the mediation conference scheduled for Thursday could signal an imminent end to the hostilities between WVU and the Big East. We also have news that FSU may be looking to sue WVU for more than the contract was signed for. There are several post-signing day re-rankings of the football teams to go along with more on J.T. Thomas' charity work. On the football recruiting front, WVU looks to have another kicker in the fold for the coming season.

Basketball news rolls on with a couple of features on the big Turk and initial impressions of WVU by Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. The latest rankings and bracket projections are here too. All of this and more...

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After spending the last couple of weeks/games in a slump, "Good Truck" was back in a big way on Sunday against the Friars. He had 8 at halftime, despite what Huggs called "dreadful" shooting. When Truck came back after the break he exploded for another 24, including the tying drive at the end of regulation and the decisive three pointer at the end of overtime.

WVU trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but was able to cut the deficit to 6 at the break. The Mountaineers continued to trail throughout the second half, but were finally able to make a late run and tie the game to force overtime, behind Truck's contributions and a career high of 22 from the big Turk, Deniz Kilicli and a quiet 20 points from Kevin Jones (his ninth straight 20 point game). Providence's late game free throw shooting struggles didn't do them any favors either.

Despite being well known for his tendency to keep shooting the ball, even when mired in a slump, Truck was getting prodded by the Turk to keep shooting:

"He kept saying, 'Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it,' ' Bryant said of Kilicli. "Well, you know me. I was going to shoot it anyway. He didn't have to tell me.'' - Charleston Gazette

Thankfully, for Mountaineer fans and his teammates, Truck's shots were falling yesterday, leading a struggling, of late, team to victory. For that, Truck Bryant is your Smoking Musket Most Awesome Player of the Game.

The slow process of the mediation and the litigation between the Big East and West Virginia University leads me to day dream about a prop bet for our early release. One involving golf clubs and horses.

Sadly, no on ever listens to me. Things do seem to be coming to a head. Mediation is scheduled to conclude on February 9th and the Big 12 2012 football schedule was due February 1st.

Today was the deadline for the Big 12 to release its schedule for 2012 per its contract with its television partners. The conference has reportedly submitted a schedule, but it likely won’t be made public until some time next week as the Feb. 9 status conference draws close.

There's no guarantee that a final settlement will be announced on the ninth. But it does seem to at least be a possibility. Perhaps the Big 12 sent two possible schedules, one with and one without WVU, and it won't be announced until the litigation is complete. If this was a relationship, we could file for irreconcilable differences.

We're both at fault here. The way West Virginia is going about this isn't with a lot of class. But conference realignment didn't just magically appear when Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced they were leaving. We justify our actions by the results we expect. And out of frustration for the lack of action, not reaction, the conference has displayed. It's why Oliver Luck was brought in as athletic director. John Marinatto, that was your first clue. Actually, your first clue was Rutgers building up their stadium to woo the Big 10. Rumors should have been flying around somewhere about the Big East looking into expansion.

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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 Southampton Publick House Imperial Porter.

Both hoops squads picked up important victories over the weekend as the men snapped a 3 game skid and the women dumped the 15th ranked Louisville squad by 16. There's also some football notes and several looks at former Mountaineer players, including some charitable work. I've also included a link for the coaches contest for charity where Huggs is just behind Calipari for the lead. Get to voting!!!

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After almost a full week's break (a much needed one, so it seems), Huggs has the men back in action today on the road at Providence College to take on the Friars. As Chuck noted Friday, this break couldn't have come at a better time as West Virginia's current 3 game losing streak is the longest since Huggs came home to his alma mater. The Mountaineers, and all of us for that matter, hope it doesn't get any longer.

Televised coverage is being provided by ESPN3 and the Big East Network, which includes MASN, SNY and others, at noon. So, before the Super Bowl parties commence, sit back, relax, grab yourself an early favorite beverage or 11 and join us in running commentary, random observations, snark, wit, funny pictures, hopes, fears, cheers and jeers in the comments section.

And, as always...