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 Landmark Vanilla Bean Brown Ale, in honor of our host site, Syracuse, NY.
It's almost time. If you count 9 1/2 hours as almost. My stomach's already in knots. Gotta keep the faith, keep believing. As you've probably noticed, the deeper Huggs and the guys go into this tournament, coverage increases exponentially. I've assembled as much as I could find inside. The tips, suggestions and requests I've received the last day or so are awesome. Thanks a bunch. Voting in our bracket ends at 8 EDT tonight and the Exotic Eight will go up sometime after the game tonight. And...here........we.........go...
Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What You May Have Missed:
Sweet 16 Bracket Breakdown: Objectively Ranking The Remaining Tourney Teams - SB Nation
Washington Preview - MSNsportsNET.Com
WVU battles Washington tonight - Times West Virginian
Sweet 16 resumes march to Indianapolis - Tampa Tribune (AP)
Breaking down the Sweet 16; latest buzz on coaching carousel - Seth Davis - SI.com
Vito Forlenza's Final College Basketball Power Rankings: 9. West Virginia (29-6, LW 4) - Comcast.net
Breaking Down the Sweet Sixteen: East Region (2): West Virginia (29-6) - Comcast.net
NCAA Tournament Experts' Picks: Final Four, national champion - SI.com
Porn Stars Jesse Jane and A.J. Bailey Bare Their March Madness Brackets - Asylum.com
"World's Smartest Porn Star" picks the good guys. Not to worry, it's SFW. Thanks to Dawgeer.
News of Note:
Showtime for WVU at the Dome - Charleston Gazette
It truly is March Madness - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column
Kansas St. coach still loyal to Bob Huggins - Cincinnati Enquirer
Washington's Romar, WVU's Huggins share painful history - Charleston Gazette
Hickman's Notebook
NCAA Notebook - MSNsportsNET.Com
Video: Eers Thriving with Physicality - EerSports
Behind-The-Scenes Look - MSNsportsNET.Com
Video
Loose and loving it - Charleston Gazette
Mountaineers upbeat despite Bryant's broken foot - Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
WVU moving up the ladder toward elite - Charleston Daily Mail
Bogaczyk's notebook
Bryant injury blown out of proportion? - Charleston Daily Mail
Depth a concern with loss of Bryant - Charleston Daily Mail
With 'Truck' in for repairs, Mazzulla ready to roll - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
WVU ready for life after Truck - Charleston Daily Mail
Guard's injury juggles dynamics -PPG
Keep On Truckin' - WVIllustrated.com
Truck Speaks - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Player Interviews - WVIllustrated.com
Videos
More March magic from Thoroughman? - Charleston Gazette
Huskies point guard is scorer, too - Charleston Gazette
Mountaineers hope to dictate pace against up-tempo Huskies - Charleston Gazette
West Virginia has experience advantage - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Romar says WVU will be hard to stop - Inter-Mountain
WVU Sees "An Excellent Test" in UW -EerSports
Washington's Pondexter Follows His Father's Advice, Not Footsteps - NCAABB FanHouse
West Virginia’s D’or Fischer Playing Well Again After Battling For Playing Time – LostLettermen.com
Sources: Long Considering Transfer - WVIllustrated.com
Around the League (and Beyond):
East Region Notebook: SEC-Ivy: No place for cliches - PPG
Winners and losers from the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament - ESPN
Picking sides in the regional rounds has never been easier - ESPN
Kentucky's Patterson downplays possible meeting with West Virginia - Charleston Gazette
Patterson's stock 'has gone through the roof' - Charleston Daily Mail
Butler forever connected to Hoosiers - Post Standard
On Salt Lake, Arinze & Expectations - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
Syracuse's commitment to defense could be ticket to Final Four - Stewart Mandel - SI.com
Seton Hall moving quickly to fill men's basketball coaching vacancy - Star Ledger
City connections make Paul Hewitt a slam dunk for St. John's Red Storm - NY Daily News
Report: Every Syracuse Football Player Leaves Team - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
He's joking...I think?
Louisville football coach Charlie Strong fast at work making team his own - Courier-Journal
USF kicker Bonani continues climb from skyride fall - Tampa Tribune
Cincinnati Bearcats add WR Kenbrell Thompkins - Cincinnati Enquirer
Michigan coach targeted in Tuscaloosa lawsuit - Tuscaloosa News
This week in schadenfreude. Thanks to Cheryl.
What's On Tap:
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on CBS
Washington Huskies vs. West Virginia Mountaineers - ESPN
7:27 pm tonight from the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. WVU is giving 4.
NCAA College Basketball Scores - ESPN
Full scoreboard for today's games.
Video of Interest:
Gottlieb is an ignorant slut...in case you missed it.
In case you missed Country Roads' Fan Shot...
Video of (Dis)Interest:
If only this were real...
"Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" from Aaron Paul
Rockstar Offspring Gallery of the Week:
They missed our Miss Throwdown.
Miss Throwdown:
Today's Miss Throwdown is the daughter of short time Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay. WHO?!?! Which is probably why she's not on the above list (Actually, I know who he is, because I'm an Aerosmith fan). She's an American actress best known as Lyla on the TV version of Friday Night Lights. Here's the probable future Mrs. Derek Jeter, Minka Kelly. Click on the pic for main gallery with BONUS GALLERY HERE.
Landmark Vanilla Bean Brown Ale image via www.ratebeer.com