NYE- headlined by #1 @ #10

[stever20]

um, just saw this on ESPN:
Villanova-Creighton will be just the second game in Big East history pitting two teams 10-0 or better.

The last? Georgetown-BC in 1985.

Georgetown was 12-0 in 1985 when they played.
BC was 10-0 when they played

for those wondering- St John's lost to Niagara mid December. Georgetown was 19-0 when they played 1st time in January.

[Bill Marsh]

Front Page WWL, Eamonn Brennan's take:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... challenges

Good analysis as always by Eamonn.

Both of these teams like to shoot the 3. Obviously. But here's the fun fact of the day that Eamonn doesn't mention:

Creighton 3-point FG% = 45% (#1 in the country)
Villanova 3-pt FG% defense = 28% (#8 in the country)

Unstoppable force meets immovable object.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Game day! Hoping for a YUGE BE power slugfest. It will be interesting to watch what each coach tries to take away from the other, and how each plan on attacking the other. More specifically:
1. Who controls tempo? Game in the 70's or in the 90's? Hoping for the former.
2. Hart or Mo? Last year at C-Link Hart had one of his best, most efficient, games of the year. Nova struggles with quick ballhandlers. Which star shines brightest?
3. The Patton factor. Nova can't match his size. Will be interesting if Jay brings in Paschall and tries to lure JP out to the 3 point line.
4. Pressure? Does CU feed off the home crowd or feel the weight of it? Do guys like Mo and Foster try to do to much b/c they are overly hyped? Nova is used to the feeling of being the hunted on the road. Are the Jays comfortable with the high expectations of being a Top 10 team in a big spot?
5. 2nd fiddle. Who has the bigger impact? Foster or Brunson.
6. Steppin' up. Which role player steps up and provides the unexpected spark outside of Hart and Watson? Bridges, Kyri T, Zierdan, Pascall?
7. Nova D vs CU O. Nova biggest wins have always started with a stifling D. But CU's offense is scary good. Let's get it on!

Lastly I'm really hoping that the refs let them play. No ticky tack fouls on guys like Hart, Brunson, Mo and Patton. Let the best players affect the game on the floor, not the bench.

Good luck Jays fans.

[MUPanther]

Both road teams are favorites. Xavier by 2.5. Villanova by 1.

[sju88grad]

Really looking forward to this game but it's such a shame that a huge AAC battle between Tulsa and UConn will be overlapping. Such a difficult viewing decision!

[thebigeXpress]

Fellow BE brethren...the conference is a thing of beauty.

[Bluejay]

Pretty keyed up and its only 9:00! I wish this game was a night game rather than a noon start to give the crowd a chance to get a little more oiled up ahead of time. Downtown sports bars are all opening early this morning, so maybe that will help

[stever20]

I'm glad it's actually not at night. Not tonight with the football playoffs going on. 2nd year of the league they tried to force the NYE marathon against the football and it was a joke. Why have the game invisible to a huge segment of casual fans?

[Bill Marsh]

Both road teams are favorites. Xavier by 2.5. Villanova by 1.

To me, these are both pick 'em games. But that doesn't mean that the game won't be won by a lot of points. I expect the Xavier-Georgetown game to be closer, but I have no idea who'll win the Villanova-Creighton game even though I think it will be by a lot. Does that even make any sense?

[SJUBBALL]

This game has been very low quality