. . . the harder they fall.
For the first time since 1976, and only the second time in the history of the program, the Providence Friars defeated the #1 team in America.
This goes a long way to erasing the embarassing blowout loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, and blown leads against UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, and Louisville, but the work is not done yet. This win only puts Providence back on the bubble, not necessarily into the dance.
But let me just say this . . . nobody wants to see this team in March.
February 25th, 2009
Wow, big win!
February 25th, 2009
Congrats to the Friars! BIG indeed.
As a Duke fan, I’d MUCH rather not see UConn, Pitt, Marquette or Louisville, however [or Nova or WVU, for that matter!]. I sorry, but the Friars outside of Providence don’t scare me one bit. No doubt they stepped up and played great – I’m not taking ANYTHING away from their huge win over an outstanding Pitt team [Blair is an ass saying that Pitt "gave [Prov] the game.”] But that said, the Friars’ best wins all year before this were Cuse at home, and Cincy both home and away. And only Cuse is a Top 50 win. They don’t shoot the 3, and aren’t big. Their guards are good and are very balanced, and that can carry a team a ways in tournaments, but they’re not a matchup challenge for anyone.
If PC can beat Rutgers on the road, and then not get shellacked by Nova in Philly, I think they’re IN the Dance – so long as they don’t have a major implosion against a bottom-tier team in the BE tourney – i don’t know how the byes and seeds set up, so i have no idea who they’d play in Round 1/2. But I don’t think they necessarily even have to win one BET game. A 18-12,10-8 BE regular season record should do it. They’re in the top half of the BE, and that should be enough. I see 7-9 BE teams getting in, with 8 being the likely number. Prov is still on the Bubble, as are Cuse and Cincy, but at least one of those 3 gets in (to make 7, with UConn, Lvlle, Marq, Pitt, Nova, and WVU as locks). And likely another one to make 8. Cuse still has some work left to do after going 4-7 in their last 11 with only one quality win (WVU) during that stretch, but is likely that 8th (they can thank Gtown and ND for going in the crapper and making those wins nearly worthless). But they MUST beat Cincy and Rutgers at home – and upsetting Marquette on the road to end the regular season wouldn’t hurt!
February 25th, 2009
Matt, I certainly wasn’t suggesting that anybody would rather face UConn or Marquette than PC. My only point was that they could very well be a dangerous 10-12 seed that could upset 1-2 teams in March. They DO shoot the 3 VERY WELL in spots. Just look at the first half against L’Ville, and this exact same roster’s win over UConn in Hartford last season. When they are on, they can fill up the stat sheet. I think they are 3rd in the BE in scoring.
The difference last night was defense. Yes, our bigs went right at Blair and got him in foul trouble, but they also played very nice interior defense against Young and Blair, while still be adequate stepping out to defend Fields at the 3-point line. If they can play ANY kind of defense, they can make a run.
February 27th, 2009
I really like seeing this kind of move – a mid-tier team in a power conference, especially a VERY GOOD conference – making a late push. So long as it’s outside the ACC when Duke’s on top, it makes for a more intriguing conference tourney. Would be great to see PC knock off UConn, Pitt, Marquette, Louisville, or Nova in the quarters and/or semis of the BE Tourney. So long as it’s not UMD or NC State getting uppity and knocking off my Blue Devils, go PC! I really tried to watch Cincy-WVU last night, but I just couldn’t get into it – but I’ll certainly be watching most/all of the last 3 rounds of the BET!