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The Shotgun/Throwdown: Tuesday (12/6/11) Edition

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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 Lost Rhino Face Plant IPA.

Today we have more reactions to the Orange Bowl bid and reactions on the football season as a whole. People are expecting an offensive shoot-out in the bowl game, but Coach Holgorsen needs to get his offense back on track if WVU is to hold up their end of that bargain. And, as we begin to make the full transition to hoops season, Huggs is getting ready to take the Mountaineers to Kansas City to face his old friend Frank Martin and the Wildcats. There's also some lawsuit(s) tidbits and a whole lot more.

What You May Have Missed:

Gold And Blue Now: Tuesday - WVMETRONEWS.COM
members of the Orange Bowl Committee stop by the MetroNews studios, Bob Huggins talks about coaching against a friend and a poll is released about the favorability of WVU coaches.

Jeff Rubin Orange Bowl - Mountaineer TV
2012 Discover Orange Bowl committee member Jeff Rubin was in Morgantown Monday to talk about this year's matchup against Clemson.

WVU football: More than 2,000 tickets sold for Orange Bowl after first day - Charleston Daily Mail
WVU Director of Sports Marketing Matt Wells said the early sales are from season-ticket holders working on the priority deadline and the general public.

Flipper the Dolphin Picks WVU Over Clemson in Orange Bowl - WVillustrated
I give up. Internet, you win.

bowlgame.wvu.edu - West Virginia University
University bowl page where you can leave the team a message

Football: BIG EAST Weekly Award Winners - MSNsportsNET.Com
Junior wide receiver Tavon Austin has been named the BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Week, and sophomore wide receiver Stedman Bailey and senior linebacker Najee Goode have been named to the Weekly Honor Roll for their performances against USF on Thursday night.

VSR: Burnett, Palmer Named Athletes of the Week - MSNsportsNET.Com
This week's Varsity Sports Report

Big East Responds - BGN
Lawyers for the Big East on Monday moved to dismiss a lawsuit designed to speed the Mountaineers’ departure from the conference, arguing West Virginia University’s case has no legal foundation to challenge conference bylaws it is now trying to invalidate.

Scheduling Order Set For WVU Lawsuit - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Judge Russell Clawges in Monongalia County Circuit Court Monday signed off on a scheduling order for WVU’s lawsuit against the Big East Conference. The league had a deadline on Monday to submit its motion to dismiss the suit.


News of Note:

Return visit - Times West Virginian
Huggins set to play old team in K-State

Orange Bowl excited, honored to have West Virginia and Clemson in game - Daily Athenaeum
Two Orange Bowl representatives came to Morgantown Monday afternoon, as No. 23 West Virginia will take on No. 15 Clemson Jan. 4 in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl.

Mountaineers Excited to Play in Orange Bowl - WVillustrated
Shortly after the official announcement Sunday night, WVU football players began celebrating the news of their spot in the Orange Bowl on twitter.

Offensive Fireworks - MSNsportsNET.Com
The 2012 Discover Orange Bowl will feature two of the better offenses in the country when 23rd-ranked West Virginia hooks up with 14th-ranked Clemson on Jan. 4 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Orange Bowl 2012: Clemson And West Virginia Sure To Provide Points - SBNation.com
If you like points, the Jan. 4th Orange Bowl might be the BCS game for you. West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen and Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris have plenty of weaponry at their disposals.

Pressure on Holgorsen to get offense back on track - Charleston Gazette
OK, so now Dana Holgorsen has one month to figure it out.

Will WVU take talents to South Beach? - Daily Athenaeum
Part of me is still curious as to which team will come to play. Will it be the mistake-prone Mountaineers that got dominated by an awful Syracuse team? Or the gritty, never-give-up team that made big plays against South Florida.

WVU football: Alston rescues Mountaineers with critical play - Charleston Daily Mail
There were about a dozen decisive plays late in West Virginia's victory against South Florida.

WVU to BCS: Good for the Big East? - Big East Blog - ESPN
West Virginia has done so much for the Big East, the league should give the program the proper hand-clap send-off before picking up the pieces and moving on.

Mountaineers parlay talent into BCS bowl in Holgorsen’s 1st year - Register-Herald
West Virginia’s 2011 football team isn’t as talented as some of its predecessors. But it will be remembered herein as certainly one of the luckiest.

Holgorsen Era begins with success in 2011 - Daily Athenaeum
It's been quite a year for West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen.


Around the League (and Beyond):

Big East Expansion Update: Boise State, San Diego State, SMU, UCF, Houston Reportedly 'Very Close' To Joining Conference - Big East Coast Bias

Finalists named for 77th annual Heisman Trophy - ESPN

Bowl Games 2011: Ranking Each Matchup, With Some Commentary By A Stupid Relative - SBNation.com
Spencer Hall ranked every 2011 college football bowl game, and then got sort of punchy, and then kept ranking them anyway. Don't watch bad football. It can kill you.

Ranking all the bowl games - ESPN
How do the 35 bowl matchups stack up? On The Mark ranks the games.

The College Football System's Broken? Then It's Time To Pick Your Playoff - SBNation.com
The college football system's broken, you say? You're outraged that (random No. 2 team) was selected over (random No. 3 team)? Then it's time to pick which method would be better. Small playoff? Big playoff? Go back to the old way?

Big East power rankings - Big East Blog - ESPN
Time for the final installment of the power rankings until after the bowl games.

Weekend Rewind: Big East - Big East Blog - ESPN

USF-West Virginia Animated Drive Chart - Voodoo Five
I forgot to dig this up earlier, but here's the link to it

What’s next for Butch Jones? - Cincinnati Enquirer

Rutgers' starting quarterback decision may not be made until week before Pinstripe Bowl - Star Ledger

Dave Wannstedt Rips Todd Graham Over Tino Sunseri - Cardiac Hill
There's about 1000 jokes in that headline somewhere

Bernie Fine Owns A Lot Of Electronics, All Of Which Were Seized - Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Some friendly advice to the athletic department: the word tradition does not mean what you think it means - The UConn Blog

St. John's sputters against Detroit 69-63 - Rumble In The Garden

Is Georgetown Ranked Where it Should Be? Dissecting the Polls - Casual Hoya

'Cheers' & '/Facepalms': The Freshman Step Up - The Nova Blog

A Brief, By the Numbers Look at the Washington Huskies - Anonymous Eagle


What's On Tap:

Weekly Watch: Week 1 - ESPN
Your hoops rundown for this week

Weekly walkthrough: Harvard, Indiana get their shots this week - Sporting News
And another, this one includes WVU's KState game


Video of Interest:

Thought it would be nice to see what WVU will be up against in the Orange Bowl:



Video of (Dis)Interest:

This year in the movies:



Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is Colombian model Carla Ossa. Click on the picture for a 3 page mega-gallery.

via nextround.net

Lost Rhino Face Plant IPA image via 3.bp.blogspot.com