Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown: WVU's best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.
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Football:
West Virginia Mountaineers football biggest needs for 2017 | ESPN
West Virginia must replace some key players at receiver and on the defensive line as they aim higher in the Big 12.
Holgorsen Announces Staff Addition | WVU Athletics
West Virginia University football coach Dana Holgorsen has announced the hiring of Jake Spavital as the Mountaineers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Jake Spavital to get 3-year, $1.5 million deal at WVU | Charleston Gazette-Mail
The contract that new West Virginia University football offensive coordinator Jake Spavital is receiving will net him an average of a half-million dollars a year.
WVU hires the OC who once had a lighthearted Twitter beef with Dana Holgorsen | SBNation
The addition of Spavital to West Virginia’s staff also recalls one of the more enjoyable inter-program Twitter exchanges in the history of that medium.
Basketball:
WVU basketball gets lift from Phillip, Carter and Myers | Charleston Gazette-Mail
On an afternoon when the Mountaineers were searching for answers, they were able to keep Texas guessing.
Assist-to-turnover ratio tells the story for Mountaineers | The Exponent Telegram
The focus of this so far magnificent 2016-17 West Virginia basketball team from the start has been on defense, especially on turnovers created and certainly the numbers were so eye-popping that they could not be missed.
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Mountaineer football hosts three official visitors over weekend | Charleston Gazette-Mail
The final contact period of the 2017 recruiting year started on Thursday, and with it came a handful of new names on West Virginia’s radar. Well, "new" is a relative term, as most have held Mountaineer offers for months, but had not been linked to WVU in some time. That included all three official visitors for this weekend.
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Around The NCAA:
Missouri State RB Richard Nelson killed in shooting incident | SBNation
The Missouri State football family has lost one of its own. Freshman Richard Nelson was shot and killed in front of his home in Las Vegas Saturday night. They called him "Nelly," and he majored in...
Arizona’s Greg Byrne reportedly heading to Alabama as athletic director | SBNation
He’ll replace Bill Battle.
NCAA tournament projections by conference at the midway point of the season | SBNation
It’s time to examine how many bids each conference can expect to receive on Selection Sunday. Can the ACC live up to the 11-bid hype?
The NCAA tournament selection committee is finally embracing modern metrics | SBNation
At long last, the days of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee only considering the RPI appear to be coming to an end.
National Signing Day 2017's 7 most important teams: Can anybody break Bama's streak? | SBNation
Can anyone unseat Alabama? Who will land top-five classes?
Predicting where the top 11 uncommitted 2017 college football recruits will sign | SBNation
There is still plenty of talent in the class.
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Today's Miss Throwdown is an Australian model and Playboy's Miss January 2017. CLICK HERE for Bridget Malcolm's Instagram.