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 Chipotle, because I believe in Syracuse's curse. I'll have mine today...will you join me?
Happy VD everybody. That's Valentine's Day to Mountaineer fans (for fans of that green school a little farther South, well...it stands for something else). The men got off the schneid Saturday against DePaul, but no rest for the weary as they head to Syracuse tonight for a tilt in the Carrier Dome. On the other side of the coin, the women's slide has now reached three straight with yesterday's loss to Louisville. Coverage of the weekend's games and previews of tonight are inside. Also, Owen Schmitt celebrated his birthday in Morgantown over the weekend, Mountaineer style.
If you have any tips, suggestions or requests for content that you think is worth sharing, you can send them to me by email or Twitter and don't forget to "LIKE" the Smoking Musket MAIN PAGE on Facebook (follow this link, then hit "LIKE" at the top of the page). Many thanks to those who already "LIKE" us. We are now at 661. Let's see how fast we can get to 700. Please, spread the word!! Enjoy the game!! It's all after the jump...
Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What You May Have Missed:
WVU-Syracuse Preview - WVMETRONEWS.COM
WVU Men's Basketball Game Preview: #25 WVU at #12 Syracuse - WVillustrated.com
WVU returns to Dome to face Orange - Daily Athenaeum
WVU Will Try to Tap Into Elite Eight Magic in Syracuse - WVillustrated.com
Orange will test suddenly potent offense - Charleston Gazette
Road rumble - Times West Virginian
For WVU, Dome just another court - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column
Mountaineers on the road to face No. 12 Syracuse - Parkersburg News and Sentinel
WVU basketball: Slump ends at the right time - Charleston Daily Mail
Dawson again Dana’s right-hand man - Times West Virginian
WVU Men's Basketball Team Report: 2/11 - WVillustrated.com
WVU Men's Basketball Team Report - 2/14 - WVillustrated.com
From the Cheap Seats 2/12 - WVillustrated.com
Inside the WVU Student Section - WVillustrated.com
Best Big-Game Performers - MSNsportsNET.Com
The effect of Big East play great - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column
Bracketology - ESPN
#6 SW
College Basketball Bubble Watch - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN
Schmitt Continues To Overcome Adversity - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Owen Schmitt Celebrates His Birthday with Morgantown Concert - WVillustrated.com
Includes a video feature
Louisville Hangover:
Louisville hands W.Virginia its third straight loss - ESPN
Recap, stats, etc
Mountaineers Defeated by Cardinals - MSNsportsNET.Com
Women struggle offensively in 57-47 loss to Cards - Daily Athenaeum
Repella climbing WVU stat ladder - Martinsburg Journal
Mickey's Column
DePaul Hangover:
West Virginia ends 2-game skid by beating lowly DePaul - ESPN
Recap, stats, photos, etc
Flowers Powers WVU - MSNsportsNET.Com
WVU Men's Basketball Game Recap: WVU 82 DePaul 71 - WVillustrated.com
DePaul Derailed - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Recap and gallery
WVU basketball: No. 25 WVU makes DePaul feel pressure - Charleston Daily Mail
Offense finally clicks - Charleston Gazette
True, it was just DePaul, but WVU will take it
Mountaineers surge past DePaul, 82-71 - Times West Virginian
Balanced WVU continues DePaul’s Big East nightmare - Daily Athenaeum
Five Mountaineers score at least 10
Every game counts in the rugged Big East - Charleston Gazette
WVU men find shot for now - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column
Demons an Elixir For Mountaineers - Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
Ball Distribution Leads to Multiple Mountaineers in Double Figures - WVillustrated.com
DePaul Highlights - Mountaineers TV
Highlights from West Virginia's 82-71 victory over DePaul Saturday at the Coliseum in Morgantown.
Sights And Sounds: Beating The Demons - WVMetroNews.com
West Virginia cruises to an 82-71 Big East win over DePaul on Saturday in Morgantown.
Head Coach Bob Huggins - Mountaineers TV
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins talks about Saturday's 82-71 victory over DePaul at the Coliseum.
VIDEO: Postgame Reaction from WVU's Win Over DePaul - WVillustrated.com
Huggs, Joe, JFlow, Deniz, Casey, Pepps and Truck
Bob Huggins: DePaul Postgame - WVMetroNews.com
The Mountaineer head coach talks about his team's improved offense against DePaul on Saturday and looks ahead to Syracuse on Monday.
Casey Mitchell: DePaul Postgame - WVMetroNews.com
Mitchell scored 11 points on Saturday against DePaul.
Joe Mazzulla: DePaul Postgame - WVMetroNews.com
Mazzulla talks about West Virginia's offense against DePaul and how they'll have to play differently against Syracuse.
John Flowers: DePaul Postgame - WVMetroNews.com
Flowers scored a team high 15 points against DePaul on Saturday.
WVU Basketball Photos: WVU vs. DePaul - WVillustrated.com
Photo Gallery II: WVU vs DePaul - BGN
Photo Gallery IV: WVU vs DePaul - BGN
Recruiting:
Pat Forsythe Takes in WVU Game at Coliseum - WVillustrated.com
Texas Recruiting And Selders - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Naz's Ali overcoming injuries, commits to West Virginia - NY Post
Women's Basketball commit
Around the League (and Beyond):
postGame: Pittsburgh 57 Villanova 54 "The Suckfest" - The Nova Blog
Pitt beats Villanova, earns first win at The Pavilion in 17 years - PPG
Syracuse's rally falls short as Orange loses to Louisville - Post-Standard
Louisville extends streak over Syracuse with 73-69 win - Courier-Journal
St. John's fights off a late Cincinnati rally, defeats the Bearcats 59-57 - Rumble In The Garden
Late UC run not enough to down St. John's - Cincinnati Enquirer
UConn 75, Providence 57: Jamal Coombs-McUnstoppable leads the way - The UConn Blog
#11/11 Georgetown 69, Marquette 60 - Anonymous Eagle
Hoya Destroyas: Georgetown Beats Marquette 69-60, Win 8th Straight Big East Game - Casual Hoya
Seton Hall 69, Rutgers 64, Addition by Subtraction Evens the Turnpike Tussle - South Orange Juice
Seton Hall foils Rutgers 69-64 - On the Banks
Irish warm-up carries over to rout of South Florida - South Bend Tribune
USF men's hoops flat in loss to Notre Dame - Tampa Tribune
78-55
Replacing the Legends -- Schools Follow a Very Predictable Pattern - NCAAFB FanHouse
Urban Meyer thinks college football is full of ‘garbage’ - College Football Talk
What's On Tap:
West Virginia Mountaineers vs. (13) Syracuse Orange - Preview - ESPN
7:00 tonight from the Dome on ESPN
Videos of Interest:
Video of (Dis)Interest:
This one has advice from some of my favorite people for both sexes:
Miss Throwdown:
Today's Miss Throwdown is a Romanian singer and model who's done work for Victoria's Secret...after all, nothing says Valentine's Day Hottie like a Vicky's model. Click on the picture for today's gallery of Alina Puscau.
Chipotle burrito image via cancelthenews.com
