Mountaineer Basketball Stuff

Update:The last CFB Weekly is up now. It was nice to be able to end the season on a high note after having to talk about the setbacks we had in December.

So now that football season is over I guess I should wake up and smell the coffee. But before I completely turn my back on the football team, if you were wanting to go to a basketball game but weren't real sure of a game you should go watch at the Coliseum, here is your ticket.

The 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and BIG EAST Champion West Virginia Mountaineer football team will be honored at halftime of the WVU-St. John’s men’s basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 17, at the WVU Coliseum.

Representatives from the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be on hand to present the team with the championship trophy.

After all we've been through, this would be a perfect opportunity to thank the team for lifting us up when we needed it most. And yeah, our basketball team is pretty effin good as well.

Speaking of that hoop team, we've got a fairly big game tomorrow night at Louisville. Not in a sense that this is the game that decides our fate for the tournament, but we still have a bit of a score to settle with Louisville. That loss in the elite eight game three years ago, and then the loss last year that sealed our fate to the eventual NIT Championship and the obligatory West Virgina t-shirts. Yes we did have a win at home against them in between those two losses, but I'm not really satisfied. And I hope you aren't either.

As for Louisville, their old Conference USA nemesis, Bob Huggins, is making his return to Freedom Hall.

So that's why I'm glad he'll be raging on the WVU sideline on Thursday. After their legendary showdown in the Final Eight, Louisville's entry into the Big East meant mixing it up yearly with the Mountaineers -- a chance to build as heated a rivalry on the hardwood as is shaping up on the gridiron. Soon to leave would be Kevin Pittsnoggle, Mike Gansey and Joe Herber. Coach John Beilein made a beeline for the doldrums of Michigan. Now HuggyBear is at the helm, and it's time to start hating the roundball Mountaineers. (link #1 from Cardinal Fan)

I imagine this will be like meeting with an old girlfriend you haven't seen in five years, but I'm confident that when that first unnecessary outburst after an obviously correct call happens, those old instincts will kick-in without any conscious prompting. (link #2 from Card Chronicle)

Yes, there is nothing like a good rivalry. One that we as Mountaineer fans might not fully realize at this point. I guess it would kind of be like if John Chaney took over the Pitt basketball team. I know that's totally hypothetical, but I really hated that guy from day one. Huggins on the other hand has totally won me over and I look forward to seeing what he has up his sleeve for the Cardinals.

And yeah.....