Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which looks up and sees the ball beginning to drop as we approach FF100. Compose yourself, please.

Crazy time descending upon us. I like to call it the greatest time of the year. Can’t top conference tournaments and, despite what the NCAA insists, you can’t screw with the NCAA Tournament. I’m delighted. I even decided to reduce blog insults by 34 percent in honor of the at-large field … which may be the worst ever. I’m not even being dramatic.

I watched Wednesday as Maryland beat Duke, which every year seems to drop a conference game that somehow legitimizes another team or the conference as a whole. The Terps — ~dangerous~ — were already in, but now the ACC looks markedly better.

So I dug in and first thought off the top of my head “Who from the ACC is in?” Duke, Maryland, Clemson. I like Wake Forest, too. So four. Then, stupidly, I looked online. The ACC is widely projected to get seven teams. Seven! Add Virgina Tech and Florida State — 20 win teams — as well as Georgia Tech, which is actually above both in the RPI.

Virginia Tech, for no real reason, became my circled team. So-so RPI, weak strength of schedule. I searched around and really had no problem with the Hokies getting in, if for no other explanation than I couldn’t answer this question: Where are the other at-larges coming from?

The Big 12 and the Big East are tough and honestly deserve whatever they get.  The ACC is down. The SEC is down. The Big Ten is top-heavy. The Pac 10 is atrocious and may only get one team if Cal wins the conference tournament … and if Cal doesn’t it must be asked if Cal is any good.

So not a great year for the Big Six. Here’s the kicker: The mid-majors are not good. They’re not. The exception is the Atlantic 10. It’s No. 6 in the RPI … two spots above the Pac 10. I’ll take Temple, Xavier and Richmond, but Rhode Island is 2-3 in its past five and lost last week at sub-.500 St. Bonaventure and Dayton is 5-6 in its last 11 with a loss at .500 Duquesne and a giveaway loss last night against Richmond.

The Mountain West (RPI No. 7) has New Mexico and BYU and … well, I guess San Diego State. The Missouri Valley gets Northern Iowa no matter what, but if that’s the tourney champ that might be all. Same for the WAC (Utah State), Colonial (Old Dominion), Horizon (Butler) and Metro Atlantic (Siena) in the conference RPI top 15. Conference USA and the Mid-American are winner-only leagues. The only mid-major from the RPI top 15 to get two bids no matter the outcome of the conference tournament — meaning possibly three total — is maybe the West Coast, which has Gonzaga and St. Mary’s, but is otherwise forgettable.

So, using very jagged math, I totaled up the teams I thought were in — from the Big Six, I took locks no matter what happens in the conference tournament because I figured one of them would win it — and added what I outlined from the mid-majors and then added the winner from the 17 conferences outside the RPI top 15. I came up with 54 teams. You need 65.

Just figure I was being lenient on some — I had UConn and Virginia Tech in, for example, because they’re better than alternatives — and account for some wiggle room. You’re looking at 10-15 marginal teams – likely both, definitely one of the two I mentioned — that are going to get in because someone has to.

All of which makes me think this: It’s an excellent time to at least have the debate about expanding or altering the NCAA Tournament.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, don’t monkey around.

ccteam said:

Huggs credited Bryant for the offense looking much better last night. Good for him. Hope he keeps it up. I think the double bye is advantageous for this team. They are not consistent enough to win 4 or 5 in a row in the post season.

Truck was very good, but he wasn’t on the floor when WVU needed baskets. That was Butler, instead. Point guard play is key. As for the bye, I really don’t think it matters for WVU. Even if they were to blow out Villanova and look really dangerous in the process, it’s not as if the Mountaineers are in some sort of a rhythm they don’t want interrupted. Rest, practice and preparation won’t hurt this team.

overtheSEC said:

Yeah, bye vs double bye is completely in the eye of the beholder. It’s just like the scenario we’ll inevitably see come conference tournament time when two teams will play for the third time this year. This won’t stop blowhards from arguing how hard it is to sweep a team three times in a season.

It’s not hard. If you’re better, you’re better. If you can beat someone twice in a row, why not thrice? Maybe the most overrated hypothetical in sports.

NCMountaineer said:

I think Mazzulla is catching up to WELLS for the “fouls from 40 feet away from the basket” crown….followed by a pass to Jay Jacobs on press row…he’s had better days that’s for sure.

Every year I get to some point in the season when I say, “Damn, I wish I’d kept track of (such and such).” This year, it’s this stat … and it edges “Truck Bryant’s Free-Throw Shooting in Final Three Minutes” but only because I can track that one. By the way, Truck’s money when it’s late.

Sam Wikinson said:

It can’t help that bench players get yanked out of the game for minor infractions. Kilicli got pulled the other night because the guy receiving his pass didn’t bother to catch it. It hardly seems reasonable to expect any contribution from bench players who have no idea when they’re getting in, how long they’re going to stay in, and what infraction it will take to get them yanked right back out.

Eh, that was about matchups. Huggins said the pass was good and should have been caught, and maybe that’s true, but the bigger point was on the dead ball Georgetown subbed in and went small and Kilicli wasn’t going to be fast enough to chase his guy on defense.

Dave said:

Given our starting lineup, it would not surprise me if there were not more hooks given that appear to be because of reasons other than mismatches that the other team creates or that we bring on ourselves. Kilicli is one, we know that no one really guards Mazzulla past a certain point on the floor, Flowers is a mystery depending on the night and Mitchell is hot/cold. We switch with the intention that the two can keep up with who the other was guarding, but throw someone who’s not as tall, athletic or consistent and it is an exploit for the other team.

Absolutely appropriate way to put it: “mismatches that the other team creates or that we bring on ourselves.”

Dave said:

Is this kid looking at everywhere except WVU now? At one time, I read where he “tweeted” (sic) that it was WVU and that he loved WVU. Then USC came along and went. And Ohio State stopped the pursuit.

So a 5-star is down to either WVU or just about anyone else, and he’s still considering anyone else.

Either everyone is content with who they have and not looking for another 5-star to add, or this kid has major baggage that is keeping people away.

Ah, Latwan Anderson. I don’t know enough about him to apply any labels, but I’d say there are red flags. I also think it’s fair to expect and accept a kid will look around. You work long and hard to get this attention. Ride it … but don’t complain about how hard it is or how much the process bugs you.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

The last time we had a kid who kept WVU waiting like this was Noel….that has turned out pretty good didn’t it. That said, the kid must have some stuff that he is carrying. Transfer as a Senior and Tressel flatly rejected an “addition” beyond signing day. You dont do that on a 5-star unless you wonder about the team aspect…..

Hope he signs and is another Devine addition.

Yeah, Noel turned out OK. Pat Lazear signed late, too. In both instances, WVU did a lot of homework and Oll Stewart was at the front of the Lazear project. I’d say he knows his way around this and, as far as I can tell, no one’s running away from Anderson. Let’s at least let him get here and drop off his baggage before we bang the gavel.

Dave said:

Maybe it should be pronounced, “Late-one”?

Definitely!

JP said:

Yeah that’s a tough decision, Morgantown or Miami. South Beach or High Street? At least Morgantown’s much closer to home!

You said it, not me.

Country Roads said:

FWIW, Pat Forde once called Morgantown “the South Beach of Appalachia.” That has to count for something, right?

I think Pat Forde’s pretty cool. Down the middle. Swings a hammer. Gives me an occasional laugh. No issues with him whatsoever. It occurs to me, though, he is perhaps the favorite national personality of WVU fans … and that he’s been the friendliest. Let’s add “Smart guy” to the above compliments.

The 25314 said:

Doug Gottlieb is unimpressed by a win over Georgetown in which Austin Freeman and Darren Collison did not play.

And then there’s Gottlieb. That joke has 100,000 miles on it with no signs of stopping. Outstanding.

gordo said:

How can you not love Bill Raftery?? He has a great vocabulary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcQC0fBAbvY&feature=youtube_gdata

I’m not the only one who starts to incorporate Raftery into daily conversation this time of year, right? I mean, man to man, you can’t admit to this? Hello? 

overtheSEC said:

Ask me about defensive game plan against the run! Defensive game plan against the run.

One of these days we’ll get through a Feedback without this popping up. I hope it’s not soon.

StraightOuttaNorthCentral said:

2) Who replaces Pastilong?

Cam Payne. That’s why he decided not to return next year.

That’s not true.

Karl said:

I would like to see Gale Catlett receive some fair consideration for the position.

Is there room on that bandwagon? Yes? Surprising.

glibglub said:

I can just picture Cat in his leather sports jacket heading for Big East meetings and getting turned away at the Newport, RI city limits.

I see traction!

Jeff said:

 Mike Casazza 4 AD

And now we’re getting silly. You know I’m waiting for the Coliseum audio gig.

Josh24601 said:

Sorry, Jeff, Dave Hickman’s goatee will never permit a Casazza AD-ship.

I don’t know what that means. But I agree.

rekterx said:

Mike Garrison needs a good comeback story in his life.

That he does. Oh … here?

Erinn said:

Heather Bresch?

Does she know the right people?

glibglub said:

As long as we’re joking, Bill Martin needs work.

And pizza.

The 25314 said:

This is not good news for Verronica Hammersmith.

OK, moving on …

StraightOuttaNorthCentral said:

um, wasn’t enabling Geno to participate the primary reason for moving spring practice back to late April?

Abnsolkutelty npot! Hey, I can type with my fingers crossed.

Mack said:

I think that’s true, but . . . who cares? I’m all for mixing things up a bit. I understand that there are some people who will not be able to go to the game now. To them I say, do something that weekend other than go to a spring football game and watch two quarterbacks who won’t even be on the quarterback depth chart in the fall. You can still make a donation to the children’s hospital, if you want to.

What he said.

JP said:

Not good. Hope we can pound the rock early and give Geno time to get up to speed during the season.

You say “Not good” where others might say “Not bad.” The very obvious detraction is Eu misses spring ball, or at least the most meaningful portions — unless this is a rouse and he’s back healthy come April 6 and some media finds itself fawning and falling over the kid’s recuperative powers and he is, therefore, held in different regard. Let’s just take everyone at their word and assume he’s out for the big stuff. At the very worst, Daquan Hargrett, Shawne Alston and Ryan Clarke are going to get reps. Noel and Jock are to be sharpened and then put back in the drawer in the spring so their bodies are preserved. Give the new RBs the reps, give the OL extensive work and call the spring a salvaged success.

jtmountaineer said:

What am I missing? It’s March. This is basically playbook and conditioning time. If June rolls around and we have no starting quarterback, I’ll jump on the worry wagon.

OK, I’ll allow this. The value of spring practice only goes so far. It, in essence, is a bridge between the bowl game and the season opener. It knocks rust off, gets guys going and gives coaches and players an idea of who’s worked to improve and who can/could be better next season. Along those lines, what’s a QB to do? The fall camp is much, much more meaningful. I’m in. But this is two springs he’s missed now. And he absolutely needs to be the guy and have everyone’s confidence. Everyone can say they have his trust — and they’ll say that — but what’s spoken is just different than what’s felt. And, very simply, if the QB misses the spring (and a sophomore, first-time-starting QB misses the spring) it naturally jeopardizes you having a QB in June.

Jeff in Akron said:

Look at it this way, at least for the spring game WVU’s starting QB will be named White. Historically not a bad thing for WVU.

However, certainly a bad thing for WVEu.

Sports marketing would like to speak with you…

StraightOuttaNorthCentral said:

Well said … er, well written, Mike. I think you’ve captured the essence of the thing perfectly. Lots of variables here, and it’ll be interesting to see which of them are most important to JC.

So, my question is, regarding “Right away, there’s one person who satisfies both these categories.” Is this person one of those named above, or one of the nameless in the same category as the person you know?

Yes.

Foul Shot said:

Seems like a nice golden parachute. What exactly are the duties of Emeritus? If the guy is retiring, let him pull from his retirement pension, funds. Why the payouts over a couple of years? Just does not go over well with the way things are in the real world currently. Nice contract. Tell that to the guy who just got let go from Giant Eagle.

The Emeritus is, as best as I can gather and explain, a valued and privileged advisor. I don’t believe there to be any day-to-day responsibilities critical to the functionality of the athletic department. And I wouldn’t hold that over the head of anyone in the position right now to explain such an arrangement.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

We have to scrimp, save, beg, etc. for money to build a practice facility for basketball and a guy who’s retiring gets nearly 3/4 of a million dollars as a going away present…..what a country.

Sometimes your country is great. Sometimes you, um, have the, uh, wrong president.

Jeff in Akron said:

Okay, one of the candidates, Babcock, has ties to P-Rod. He may be an excellent individual. I’d prefer to find out with him working at another school. Enough of the P-Rod drama.

Another, Safety, is currently part of the LA Clippers. Is any member of the Clipper organization, at any level, the direction WVU truly wants to go? In my humble opinion, leave the Clipper staff intact.

Luck, Schaus, and Mike’s “Deepthroat” candidate are enough for me. By the way Mike, did you quote this individual during an interview in a parking garage?

I don’t think Whit is tied to The Product. Not in the bad way, at least. Plus, Stewart Hall has virtually no connection with that guy. I think that debris went out with the tide. And the “Deepthroat” candidate isn’t necessarily a candidate. Said person is just a person who would be interested and I’m sure the feeling would be, at the very least, mutual. I don’t want to string this along to be more than what it is, but the point is there are people out there who are interested and who would be interested and WVU is capable of getting a tremendously tremendous candidate.

JP said:

It won’t hurt my feelings if the Big 10 takes Rutgers. I don’t think they pull big numbers in the New York market, though, so that’s probably not their first choice. The problem is where does the Big East go to replace another missing team? UCF? Memphis?

Well, when you look at the last several years when the reconstituted Big East rose and took a more favorable form in the national picture, Rutgers has meant a heck of a lot more to the NYC demographic than Seton Hall and St. John’s. Neither of those two, without a football program, can carry that market. As for who’s next in the Big East, I figure there’s a mindset to cross that bridge when they get there, but have they looked at the map to determine if/when they might arrive? You’d hope so, right?

Mack said:

The Big East gets no respect as it is. . . so who cares if the Big Ten takes another team. Since Miami and Virginia Tech left, the Big East doesn’t have anyone else that it couldn’t do without. . . unfortunately, this includes West Virginia.

There’s a lot of truth in that. The Big East is not in such a position where a defection would bring the whole thing crashing to the ground. It would hurt, but a replacement would be at least comparable and restore a good amount of what was lost. 

SheikYbuti said:

I would like to see Villanova take the UConn route in football and have the league add 3 of the following: UCF, Memphis, Navy, Marshall, and/or Southern Miss. We then wave sayonara to the remaining BE basketball schools and pay them off for the rights to the league name, the automatic NCAA basketball bid, and the MSG dates for the postseason tourney. With the chunk of change they’ll receive, the castouts can call themselves the “Blessed 7″ (Georgetown, Seton Hall, DePaul, St. Johns, Providence, Marquette, and Notre Dame) and move their tourney to the Verizon Center.

Good thinking, but three issues: 1) Villanova could not make the financial commitment to make the move. 2) You’re not getting MSG away from the Blessed Seven. 3) A basketball conference has to have nine teams, at least.

Dave said:

Adding UCF, Memphis, Navy, Marshall or USM, will do nothing on the major side of the revenue coin, which is football.

Is there any government within the NCAA to prohibit schools from joining conferences? With the television contracts, conference networks, and shear size, I can see the Big Ten, SEC, Big12 and possibly the PAC 10, squeeze the ACC and BE out of the BCS, especially with realignment taking any current members from either of those two. As it stands now, the BE will likely rarely, if ever, get two BCS bids because one of those schools will get the bid based on attendance alone as long as most of the schools only draw <40k to the football stadium.

Once you get past the conference champion, the placement in those high-dollar games has almost nothing to do with on-field performance.

The answer to your question is “No.” Conferences do have liquidated damage clauses — buyouts, exit fees, whatever — that can be steep, but they’re going to be litigated into a settlement. The Big East/ACC did that years ago and handed out non-conference football series as part of the deal.

oklahoma mountaineer said:

How would you like to be the Big East Commissioner?? You have no obvious alternatives out there, other than ND, who would be value added from a TV or tradition perspective and your group yields the most logical candidates for expansion.

I think if I were king, I’d hold my nose and go after BC, UVA, VA Tech and Navy. This also means a split off of the basketball only schools into a separate conference.

BC is the one who stinks — I have and always will understand Tech’s reasoning about joining the ACC.

Let’s face it, I’m guessing has it been WVU instead of Tech, we would have gone as well. No grade A choices, but this would be making the best of a bad situation.

The answer to your question is “Not at all.” If the Big East is hit again, it has to swing for the fences. If that doesn’t work, leg out an infield single. You can’t strike out looking. It’d really help to know what pitch was coming.

rekterx said:

The great irony is that the Big East sits squarely in the most populous part of the country. Yet it is the most fragile of all conferences in the NCAA. And frankly, if some serious realignment were to happen, WVU could find itself athletically in a place that is more in keeping with the general nature of West Virginia, which isn’t exactly near the top of the list of many things desirable. I know it would be difficult for many to accept. But since when has reality been a big concern to a lot of West Virginians?

Yet another aspect in all of this is to keep in mind the long range possibility of the BCS schools withdrawing from the NCAA. Wouldn’t that be something? Imagine an expanded Pac 10, an expanded Big Ten, the ACC, the SEC, and the Big 12 all saying, “See you later NCAA. Thanks for letting us visit. Maybe we’ll occasionally schedule some of your schools if you’ll let them play us.”

The defection point is interesting and I think there is some practical connection to this NCAA Tournament expansion. The BCS exists separately from the NCAA. There is no NCAA national champion in football. It’s BCS. There is a NCAA national champion in basketball. Nearly all of the revenue from NCAA athletics — and I’m talking about 95 or so percent — comes from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The schools see very, very, very little of it. So for many of these schools that don’t have programs on the level to consistently compete for a BCS bid — which gets schools a good deal of money — there may come a time when they ask themselves if the current situation – getting little or nothing from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — is worth it. A situation similar to what you proposed — an establishment/tournament that’s free of the NCAA’s reach — would solve a lot of those problems. It’s actually very interesting.

Chris in DC said:

Here’s what I see happening:

Big 10 and Pac 10 exand. One of them will decide to expand past the 12 team limit. They’ll see that this will make more them more money, and make scheduling a ton easier. Once that happens, the ACC, Big 12, and SEC will follow. Most of the teams from the Big East will be swallowed up by this expansion. Will WVU be okay? I think so…

What people are mistaking is that the BCS knows they have to be more inclusive. Granted, they don’t want to, but they have to. They will face so much public and political scrutiny over making it MORE exclusive that they won’t be able to handle the pressure. Will teams like Marshall or ECU be included? Probably not. Will programs like WVU and Louisville be left out? I doubt it…

Just my best guess….

Nothing wrong with that, though I’d ask you “Does WVU want to be OK?” I could argue they’d want to be included in the swallowing up process. Also, I could see Texas heading to the Pac 10. The Pac 10 is the best conference for Olympic sports. Texas would love that as opposed to swim meets in Colorado, volleyball matches at Iowa State, so on and so forth. The football and basketball schedules would be very good and there’d be no trouble getting non-conference games against Oklahoma. That rivalry is too big to die.

SheikYbuti said:

“WVU rallies for Haiti?” I must have missed this, but I’m guessing we were down 15 in the first half again.

Enjoy the weekend!