The Shotgun/Throwdown (1/31/19): No. 2 WVU Rifle Team Continues Undefeated Season

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions.

Basketball

No. 20 Cyclones Too Much for WVU - West Virginia University Athletics
Lindell Wiggington's 27 points helped #20 Iowa State to a 93-68 victory over West Virginia Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

Huggins Gets Heated As West Virginia’s Long Winter Nightmare Continues In Ames - The Smoking Musket
The West Virginia Mountaineers continued their long, slow descent into frozen misery last night in Ames, Iowa with a 93-68 loss to the #20 Iowa State Cyclones.

Mountaineers go cold in Ames, lose to No. 20 Iowa State
Another West Virginia loss followed a familiar script, as the Mountaineers fell to #20 Iowa State 93-68 on Wednesday.

WVU basketball: Huggins ejected late as Mountaineers fall at Iowa State 93-68 | Charleston Gazette-Mail
The weather wasn’t the only thing that was cold Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum. With temperatures below zero all day, the West Virginia University men’s basketball team continued its run of poor play in a 93-68 loss at No. 20 Iowa State.

3 takeaways from West Virginia's latest beating, 93-68 at Iowa State | WV MetroNews
Three takeaways from West Virginia’s 93-68 loss against No. 20 Iowa State in Ames on Wednesday night, a defeat that dropped the Mountaineers to 1-7 in Big 12 and 9-12 overall

West Virginia plauged by turnover, depth troubles in 93-68 loss to Iowa State | Times West Virginia
All year Bob Huggins has been dejected by the way his team has played. So why not get ejected as West Virginia lost its third straight game to No. 20 Iowa State, 93-68.

Cyclones' version of 'Country Roads' sounds like same ol' song for struggling WVU | WV MetroNews
It came from the student section Wednesday night, beginning in the first row, then catching on with the next and so on. They sang in unison, the Iowa State student section’s mockery of another shoddy defensive performance by the Mountaineers just may have been the low point this season.

West Virginia Athletics

Mountaineers Rank No. 2 - West Virginia University Athletics
The West Virginia rifle team continues to rank #2 in the College Rifle Coaches Association Rankings.

Hill Named to Preseason All-Big 12 Team - West Virginia University Athletics
WVU baseball senior outfielder Darius Hill has been named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Around the Big 12

Oklahoma makes Lincoln Riley among top 10 highest-paid coaches | ESPN
The University of Oklahoma regents made Lincoln Riley one of the top 10 highest-paid coaches in college football on Wednesday, bumping his 2019 salary to $6 million.

Kansas vs. Texas score: Longhorns take down the No. 11 Jayhawks and the Big 12 is officially a mess - CBSSports.com
After losing to Texas, the Jayhawks are off to their worst start in league play since 2015.

College Sports: The 5 best Big 12 linebackers for 2019: Why Kenneth Murray can't be ignored despite Oklahoma's maligned defense | SportsDay
The Big 12 may get a bad rap for the so-called lack of defense that's played, but that doesn't mean the league doesn't have its fair share of talented individual defenders, including at the linebacker position.

Las Vegas casino puts better odds on KU not winning Big 12 | The Kansas City Star
The Kansas men’s basketball team has won 14 consecutive Big 12 conference championships. But the Jayhawks are third in the standings, and the Caesar’s Palace casino has put odds on KU not winning another title.

Around the NCAA

College Basketball Bracketology 2019: Bubble trouble from coast-to-coast - SBNation.com
While it’s easy to put the top of the bracket together in late January, many teams near the cut line don’t seem interested in making cases for themselves.

All 50 states, ranked by 2019 blue-chip football recruits - SBNation.com
Here’s how the 382 blue-chip recruits (rated four or five stars on the 247Sports Composite) are distributed in 2019, based on their home state.

Indiana basketball is wasting its one season with Romeo Langford - SBNation.com
The superstar freshman has been as good as advertised, but his team could potentially miss the NCAA tournament.

Here’s a better way to measure 2019 college football returning production | SBNation
The teams at the top of this list are likely to improve, recent history shows. Let’s go deeper than returning starter counts.

Which teams should leave FBS? Here’s a serious answer | SBNation
Plenty of schools might be best served by dropping down. Let’s make a rough plan for how it could work.

WV MetroNews Original Mountaineer mascot muzzleloader being auctioned for charity - WV MetroNews
Marvin Wotring's first custom made rifle for the WVU Mountaineer to be auctioned at the Bob Huggins Fish Fry.

Super Bowl 2019 prediction: The advanced numbers that tell us who will win - SBNation.com
Call it the Patriots Effect. Los Angeles grades out better heading into Super Bowl LIII in basically any predictive metric you can find, but oddsmakers installed the Pats as a one-point favorite out of the gates, and the line has since grown.

Super Bowl 2019: Tony Romo predicted the Patriots vs. Rams final score - SBNation.com
CBS color commentator Tony Romo won’t tell us who will win Super Bowl 53, but he did say exactly how the game will end.

Every Super Bowl starting quarterback in NFL history, ranked - SBNation.com
From the forgettable (Earl Morrall and Chris Chandler) to the GOATs (Tom Brady and Joe Montana).

Actually, EVERYONE believes in the Patriots | SBNation
The media stuck by New England despite losing streaks, Vegas knows never to doubt the Pats, and bettors love to dump money on them. Spare us the underdog narrative.

In St. Louis, former fans aren’t just rooting against the Rams — they’re suing them | SBNation
There’s a lot of bad blood between this Super Bowl team and their past town.

Maroon 5 Is Agreeably Bland Enough for the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show | The Ringer
Prominent enough to qualify for the Super Bowl gig, but inoffensive enough to risk taking it, the band will offer a handful of recognizable songs—and likely few memorable moments—when they take the stage this Sunday

Roger Goodell Emerges From Hiding to Say … Absolutely Nothing | The Ringer
Welcome to the NFL commissioner’s annual Super Bowl press conference, where the jokes aren’t funny and the answers are maddeningly vague

Barnwell's Super Bowl LIII preview - What you need to know for Patriots-Rams 2019 | ESPN
Brady, Belichick and Gronk. Gurley, McVay and Goff. There are plenty of stars who could wreck Super Bowl LIII. Bill Barnwell covers every angle.

Did Sean Payton wear a Roger Goodell clown shirt from Barstool? | SI.com
Internet sleuths are investigating whether Sean Payton is wearing Barstool Sports' Roger Goodell Clown shirt.

Taking the Toronto Raptors’ Temperature | The Ringer
Things are going better than ever for the Raptors, but it’s hard to quell the anxieties wrought by the past, the franchise’s place in Canada’s sports hierarchy, and its perception in the States. Our intrepid reporter braved the subzero conditions to get a glimpse of a city and a team on the precipice of greatness.

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