Translating the word Wahoo

College towns are insular places. They feel like the world entire to freshmen. They start feeling cramped to seniors. Charlottesville is one of these towns. Tucked between the Shenandoah and Richmond, the town possesses a hint of Washington Irving’s narrative fiction—ghosts abound in Charlottesville. Thomas Jefferson is over one shoulder. Ralph Sampson is over the other. Somewhere on the Lawn is a room where Edgar Allan Poe toiled away, most likely in misery, or at least anticipating misery. Perhaps Sampson is nothing more than Poe’s imagination stretched so thin on a rack that his knees buckle and break. Oh! The misery!

Draft Decisions: On JP, Justin, and a Culture Where College Players Can't Win

Brendan Brody reflects on some of this year's early departures from college basketball to the NBA:

In perusing NBADraft.net, Facebook accounts, and media tweets, everyone likes to make their opinions known on who is making a good decision and who isn't when it comes to entering the NBA draft. I used to be guilty of this judgmental activity, as I became a little kid having a temper tantrum any time someone from UNC had the audacity to try and make basketball a professional enterprise without first earning a degree. This angst was based on a very selfish ideal. I am an unabashed college basketball fan who only pays attention to the NBA once the playoffs start. Yet I've had a recent epiphany. And I'm coming to grips with my old selfish ways.

LCB Picks: SEC & VA Games of the Week

Editors Note: I'm back, picking the best games on the SEC and Virginia D-1 slate. Sorry for missing last week, times are crazy. Work, school, wedding prep and three dogs make free-time a commodity.

SEC Games of the Week

(24) Florida v Texas A&M @3:30 on ESPN:
One of the LCGs best friends is an A&M grad. We had dinner the other night and talked about the upcoming season. She is extremely happy about their move to the SEC. She is even prouder of her school. With plenty of reason. The fans are great, teams competitive and have some of the best traditions in college football. Texas A&M is a fantastic addition to the SEC. However, it may be a while until there ready to compete. Sumlin will need a couple of years to transition from the predictable ground-and-pound offense of Mike Sherman to his spread. They should be competitive. They may even beat Florida today (Muschamp seems like Zook 2.0 and the offense isn't helping), but the SEC West can be a murderers row for a new head coach. The Aggies may have added two conference championships and two national titles this offseason, but I don't see '12 being added to the exterior of Kyle Field any time soon. Florida 28, Texas A&M 24.

Washington v (3) LSU @7:00 on ESPN:
This game is getting a lot of push from the networks. I have no idea why. While the team from Seattle has been prepped for Mike, they aren't ready for the Tiger defense or Tiger Stadium. LSU 35, UW 17.

(7) Georgia v Missouri @7:45 on ESPN2: 
Mark Richt just cannot catch a break. First Crowell, Commings and Vasser; and now Ogletree and Rambo piss dirty. The former is now playing FCS football for HBCU Alabama State. The latter four, all defensive starters, have been rumored to be suspended for this game. Despite the suspensions and their "old man football" style, the Dawgs are good. Aaron Murray is probably the best quarterback in a great group of QBs in the SEC, though the Tylers -Wilson and Bray- have pretty good arguments. And I like him to lead the Dawgs to a victory in Columbia, with a little help from John Jenkins and the defense. Pinkel's team will be more competitive than Sumlin's in the first year but I think today they struggle with the difference in size and speed from the top-heavy Big 12 to the loaded SEC. UGA 24, Missou 21.

Virginia Game of the Week
Penn St. v Virginia @12:00 on ABC:
This is the only "good" game in the state of Virginia today. The Dukes play host to Alcorn State, who haven't been relevant since Steve "Air" McNair was suiting up for the Braves. The Monarchs travel across the bay to play Hampton, a team who hung tough in Norfolk in 2011. However, Legree has graduated and taken any shot of an upset with him. The Tribe plays Louisiana-Lafayette, a patriot league team that should be destroyed at Zable. Though, if there are any upsets, it will be in Williamsburg. The Hokies have their annual bodybag game. This year's opponent, Austin Peay. It will get ugly. UR takes the weekend off to recover from their trip to Charlottesville with a game against Gardner Webb. Finally, Liberty plays Norfolk State. It should be a good game between two quality opponents. But neither team is good enough to warrant further mention here.

As for the Cavaliers and their game against Penn State. I think it will give us a good read on how much the Cavs have improved from last years bowl run to now. The Cavs struggled to put away FCS Richmond last week. The reason, starting quarterback Michael Rocco. Some may even call him a game manager. But when the game manager was lucky to not have multiple interceptions in the first game against a bad FCS team, that's not a good start. It doesn't help Rocco's future as a starter to know that the uber-talented Phillip Sims is waiting in the wings. I think, if Penn State can rebound to make Rocco pay for his mistakes, Sims plays the second half. But that's a big if. The Nittany Lions got beat by a good (better coached) but less talented Ohio Bobcat team last week. And the score was a lot closer than the actual game, leading me to believe the Wahoos win this one ugly. Hopefully, for the Cavs sake, this is Rocco's last start. It's time to unleash Sims on the ACC. UVA 24, PSU 20.

LCB Picks: SEC/VA Games of the Week

Editors Note: This season, on top of the usual SEC picks, we will be picking the best games on the Virginia D-1 slate. We, as in the LCB, all spent our formative years in Virginia. So, we probably should have been doing this all along. 

Last weekend, around 22:00 EST, for the first time in my life I was joyous due to a UT win over Vandy. Over the years, the game was a mortal lock. The hiring of James Franklin appeared to have ended all of that. Vandy started turning teams over, hitting harder and playing four quarters; they finally started making teams earn a W over them. They thumped Ole Miss, Kentucky and all of their OOC opponents. But more importantly, they took Arkansas, Georgia and Florida down to the wire; inspiring many to claim that Vandy had surpassed the Volunteers. It even led Clay Travis to gather his followers, pitchfork in hand, to come for Derek Dooley's head (a man he claimed just last year would lead the Big Orange back to the promise land), so he could be replaced by Franklin.

This reasoning is clearly idiotic and the reason Tennessee got itself where it is today. The "time is now" attitude is what led UT to fire Phil Fulmer and hire Lane Kiffin. Which, of course, led UT to brash statements, back-alley dealings and even more resentment throughout the SEC. Even worse, that hire jeopardized the very future of the program. It's also why they hired Derek Dooley. Saddled with an uncertain future and a recent history of voluminous player arrests, the program needed cleansing. Derek Dooley has succeeded in that aspect in just under two seasons. They've dropped off the radar of the AP rankers, but, they too, have dropped from the Fulmer Cup standings. Now, that the tarnish is finally starting to dissolve, Clay Travis wants to fire Derek Dooley, who hasn't even finished his second season. To jump the gun and fire him now would be a bigger mistake than hiring Lane Kiffin ever was. It would set a precedent in Knoxville, one Raider and Redskins fans have become accustomed too; win today or you're out. We all know how well that mentality has treated both teams over the past decade.

Mark my words; the Vols will be back. It might not be under Dooley, but he will have a hand in their resurgence. Four years is what he deserves and what he must get. If he doesn't, the gap will continue to shrink between Nashville and Knoxville. And, for someone who is finally glad UT beat Vandy, I can't think of a worse thing. Now that I got that off of my chest, lets get to the picks.

SEC
(3) Arkansas v (1) LSU @ 2:30, Friday on CBS:
As a fan, there are two ways to look at this game. You can root for Arkansas to win, in order to create a three-way tie in the SEC West. This would, I believe, send Alabama to the SEC Championship, thanks to the weird tiebreaker rules in the SEC. This would end with the SEC possibly definitely sending three schools to BCS games, causing the ADs of non-SEC schools into a mode of jealousy driven panic and hopefully it would be the final straw to bring the playoff system we all desire. Or you can root for LSU to win, go to Atlanta, beat the Dawgs, and play Bama in the BCS title game. It all depends on how much chaos you'd like the BCS to deal with. For me, chaos reigns supreme and I'll be pulling for the upset. Arkansas 20, LSU 17.

VA
(6) Virginia Tech v (24) UVA @ 3:30 on ABC/ESPN2:
I spent Thanksgiving with my fiancee's family in Charlottesville. The main topic was, of course, this game. I asked them what they thought were the keys to the game. The answers I got were well thought out, concise and thoroughly pessimistic. The keys according to her family, who have been to every home UVA game this season, are as follows: UVA needs to shorten the field/win the field position battle, protect the ball, score on the few opportunities they will get from Tech, keep it a low scoring affair and find a way to make Logan Thomas uncomfortable. These are of course important to every team (outside of Arkansas and the low scoring aspect), every game. But these keys are even more important when it comes to this game, as UVA is clearly outmatched talent-wise (Directly attributed to the Al Groh era). If they can keep VT on the right side of the 50 and maybe even turn them over, UVA stands a shot. I hope. I'll be pulling for the upset. I'm just not sure how much faith I can put in a team that needed OT to beat Idaho and lost to Southern Miss at home. VT 24, UVA 17.

Elsewhere in the Commonwealth:
The 17th ranked Norfolk State Spartans travel the six miles to play the 9th Old Dominion Monarchs at the Spartans old stomping grounds and ODU's home field (Foreman Field). They'll bring the Legion and 1600 of their fans. The Monarchs will be hosting with 17,500 of their fans and the best mascot in all the land. It's going to be loud. It's going to be fun. It's even being referred to as the "Battle of Norfolk" and is clearly a rivalry in the making. This will be the first FCS playoff game for both teams, though it's taken NSU much longer to make it than it has the 3 y/o Monarchs. The game is sold out and should be a dandy. I'll be there, clad in blue and silver. I won't pick a winner. But I will say this, a MEAC team hasn't won a playoff game since 1999 (knock on wood).

Also, JMU (for some reason) travels to Richmond, Kentucky, to play EKU. The Dukes should roll, but they should also be hosting this game. So, who knows what'll happen? You can watch this one on ESPNU (the rest of the FCS games will be on ESPN3). Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend, everyone.

LCB Picks: SEC/VA Games of the Week

I'd love to talk to about this past week; the Cyclones upset, National Unfriend Day, Gary Pinkel's arrest, the rumors of Urban Meyer and Herbstreit to Ohio State, etc. But we're running out of time. So, lets just get to the picks.

Editors Note: This season, on top of the usual SEC picks, we will be picking the best games on the Virginia D-1 slate. We, as in the LCB, all spent our formative years in Virginia. So, we probably should have been doing this all along.



SEC Game of the Week
Vanderbilt v Tennessee @ 7:00 on ESPNU:
This week is the annual SEC/SoCon challenge. Four games where teams pay an FCS team to come play so they can pad their bowl resume. This leaves us with slim-pickings when it comes to SEC football. Georgia hosts Kentucky, in what is likely to be a beatdown of the Cats. LSU visits Oxford,  essentially an extra bye week for the Tigers. Mississippi State goes to Arkansas, where they will get rolled. That leaves us with the biggest game in Tennessee, Vandy versus the Vols.

It has been 6 years since the 'Dores left this match-up with a W. But for the first time in the rivalry's long history, Vandy is favored to win at Neyland. Although they're favored by just one point, that they're favored at all, says a lot about how far the Volunteers have fallen and how much Vanderbilt has improved under James Franklin. If Vandy wins, they clinch a bowl birth, knock UT out of the bowl picture and likely force UT to hire a new coach. If UT wins, they can keep their bowl hopes alive for at least one more week, while returning the football balance in the Volunteer State back to Knoxville.

This game will come down to the QBs, Tyler Bray and Jordan Rodgers. One is a future great, the other's brother is an NFL great. One is healthy, the other is returning from a hand injury. One is 7-2 as a starter, the other is 2-2 (with wins coming against UK and Army). One has a big arm, the other struggles to complete passes past 20 yards. That's enough for me to take the Vols with the upset. They may not be as deep as Vandy, but as long as Bray is healthy, they're better. Also, if the Mannings and McCoys are any indication, there can only be one great QB per generation when it comes to brothers. Sorry, Jordan, but it appears as if Aaron soaked up all the talent in this gene pool. UT 24, Vandy 22.

Virginia Game of the Week
Virginia v (25) Florida State @ 7:30 on ESPN2:
Mike London is a miracle worker. He has UVA, in his second year, just a game back from the mighty Hokies. If they can win the next two games, they will supplant the team from Blacksburg as the Coastal representatives in Charlotte. Which could end up being the first domino to fall in UVA taking back the Commonwealth. Which would make perfect sense; they have the better school, town, campus, facilities and it's not in the middle of nowhere. But for all that to happen, they need to beat FSU in Tuscaloosa. Which won't happen. Since FSU blew a 4Q lead against Wake Forest, they've won five straight and outscored the opposition 177 to 58. The Noles are rolling and UVA just isn't quite ready to take back the Commonwealth, yet. FSU 31, UVA 24.

LCB Picks: SEC and VA Games of the Week

It's week three of the college football season and I finally feel like I'm getting a good feel for the teams in the SEC. But I once defended the hiring of Lane Kiffin as the UT coach, so, take it with a grain of salt. As a way of deflecting that reminder of my lacking of judgment, lets get to the games.

Editors Note: This season, on top of the usual SEC picks, we will be picking the best games on the Virginia D-1 slate. We, as in the LCB, all spent our formative years in Virginia. So, we probably should have been doing this all along.



SEC Game of the Week
Tennessee v (16) Florida @ 3:30 on CBS:
Those pants are filled with magic (insert Michael Scott here), almost enough to pull off the upset. Just not enough. But that's why UT has Tyler Bray, who as Clay Travis points out is the best QB in the SEC and the reason why many NFL teams will try to lose games next year in order to draft him, he's just that good or he has been against some mediocre to average (at-best) opponents. Da'Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter force Dan Quinn to make a tough decision; go zone and get torched through the air, blitz and get burned across the middle, or go man and get ran all over. Either way he goes, it spells doom for a team that has had trouble getting to the QB (2 sacks total against shitdeous squads, FAU and UAB). Florida has the homefield advantage and the edge in the talent department, but the trio is just too good to keep pace. The Swamp is made silent and UT wins 38 to 32.

VA Games of the Week
Virginia v UNC @ 3:30 on ABC:
Virginia goes to Chapel Hill for the next chapter in the "South's Oldest Rivalry." After confidence builders against W&M/JMU and Indiana/Rutgers, both teams come in at 2-0 . UNC is just weeks removed from the firing of Butch Davis, but their defensive front seven might be the best in the ACC. They're big, fast, and relentless. UVA's offensive line will have to step up big for the Cavs to win this one. However, if they can somehow hold the Heels d-line back, the Hoos have a chance to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2005 (which is also the last time they went 2-0). It won't happen. That defense of the Heels is fierce. The pick: UNC 35, UVA 14

James Madison v (19) Liberty @ 7:00 on ESPN3:
Not knowing much about either team, apart from Jerry Falwell's affiliation with Liberty and that Mickey Matthews career is reminiscent of a roller coaster, I decided to check out JMU's message board to see their thoughts on how this game will play out. What I found was a largely dejected fanbase. But who can blame them after the woeful performance against Central Connecticut State. QB Justin Thorpe went 5-11 for a net of 47 yards (his long was 28 yards), with two of those incompletions going to the other team (If I replaced Justin Thorpe's name in this sentence with Jamarcus Russell, would you even call me out?). The feeling on the message board is that with how bad the Duke offense is playing, it won't matter much how good their defense is playing.

I'm with the Dukes' posters on this one; Liberty QB Mike Brown goes HAM (he's a lock for 250 yards through the air and 70 on the ground), leads his squad to a 35 to 21 victory, Mickey Matthews' seat gets hotter, and Liberty gives a moment of release for one of the most depressing cities in Virginia. Seriously, Lynchburg could make Richard Simmons sad.

Elsewhere in the South:
Auburn tries to continue their magical run with a trip to the other "Death Valley." Should be a good game, but Auburn still hasn't been able to rebound from the loss of Nick Fairley and Cam Newton. But how can you replace two of the most dominant SEC players of the last decade? You can't, at least, not cheaply. Even with losing those two, I still like Auburn as teams that get this lucky seem to put it together more often than not.

Old Dominion and Hampton play in Norfolk. Both teams are 2-0. Last years meeting resulted in a 28-14 win for the Monarchs. ODU should have no trouble in their last tune-up before starting conference play in their inaugural season as a member of the CAA. W&M, Virginia Tech and Richmond get to play patty cake with New Haven (Division II), Arkansas State and VMI. All three teams are a lock to move to 3-0.

A Ship Lost at Sea: ACC mid-season report.

Deny thy Commissioner and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Blogger.

Tis but thy losses that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a crummy league.

What's crummy league? it is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to college basketball. O, be some other name!

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So ACC would, were he not ACC call'd,

Retain that dear perfection which it owes

Without that title. ACC, doff thy name,

And for that name which is no part of thee

Take all myself.

Wait seriously, ACC, where are you?

With bated breath, we here at LCB watched the beginnings of the fledgling ACC schedule with great expectations. For all we could tell, the out-of-conference tom-foolery and skullduggery was exactly that; upsets and upsetting early losses would be of no consequence come conference play. The rightful order and suprememcy of ACC teams would again come flying out of the ashes of early season missteps and the power players in the league would come out swinging.

Oops. Not exactly happening is it? UNC, taking by far the biggest fall of any team in the league, is now an 8 loss team and no longer in the top-25. This team is so stacked with young talent, it practically oozes upside, but the McD's AAs haven't gelled and consequently the Heels have suffered. Things are not quite so baby blue anymore on Franklin street.

Then lets focus on their 15-501 rival: Duke. Considered the league favorite, Duke can't buy a win on the road. They've lost to NC State and GA Tech, which are not in-and-of-themselves bad losses, but more a telling sign of the great fragility of Duke's offensive abilities in rowdy arenas. All of that aside, Duke has looked like a strong ACC team of old. That is, until this past weekend. Playing at Georgetown in a top 10 ACC/Big East showdown, Duke got thump, run out of the gym and deflated to the point that televisions around Durham began flickering off with more than 10 minutes to go in the second half. Before the game, certain analysts had been touting Duke as the savior of the ACC, that a big win over Georgetown would raise the rest of the ACC out of the dark hole into which it had plunged so quickly.

Oops. That didn't happen either. Duke lost big, getting stomped in the process. But how about the supposed dark horses in the league? Virginia, NC State, Maryland? Surprise of surprises, if there was ever a year that scrappy veteran teams could make a play for an ACC title it would a year like this, when the rest of the league cannot seem to tie their shoes correctly without picking of a foul or getting injured.

Maryland, per the usual Gary Williams magic, has jumped out to lead the league in conference wins and has looked like the big kid on the block. But sadly, in this year's ACC, the big kid is a 98 pound weakling, visciously pounding its fists into other 98-97-96 pound weaklings around it. Sounds like College Park doesn't it?

Virginia, on the other hand, was considered to be the weakest of the bunch, a virtual speed bump come ACC play. But despite LCB's pre-season prediction that Virginia would be terrible, they haven't been. In fact it's been just the opposite, they've been prowling the eastern seaboard like a ravanous wolf, tearing into the flesh of already haggard UNC, NC State, and Georgia Tech squads. Be on alert basketball fans, UVA continues to lurk around corners, waiting for their next surprise victim to come stumbling up the block.

Now, you may presume that I am only speaking to the woes of the "power programs" and inferring that they are the woes of the conference in turn. Perhaps I am regarding the newly found parity in the ACC with a sneering sense of elitism. But this isn't my point. Congrats to UVA, NC State, and Maryland for exceeding expectations. But the real issue that concerns me the most is that the prestige of the ACC is slipping this season. The Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 are all more talent laden conferences full of dangerous teams. And not surprisingly, the ACC's performance against them this season is scary. Duke, the supposed leader of the conference, got slammed by Georgetown, a good, but not fantastic Big East team on Saturday. UNC has now lost to College of Charleston, Texas, and Syracuse. Oh and remember the surprising Maryland squad? They've now been squarely beaten by Villanova, Cinncinati, Wisconsin, and William & Mary.

In conclusion, I'm going to do something I don't often do; I'm going to quote Roy Williams in a non-sardonic manner:

"How can you go any lower? Be honest: How can it be any worse than it is right now?"

Very true, Roy, Dag-snake-it and dog-gone-gummit, you're right. I'm not sure it could be much worse, short of Boston College going on a monster run and winning the conference tournament, I don't think the ACC could sink any lower. The ACC of old, gleaming with the pride of powerful teams, it's sails full of tournament bound winds, now lays in disrepair, in a foggy haze where not so much as a breeze comes flittering past. I for one hope the crews of the respective vessels can find the NCAA waters before the sharp rocks of the offseason come crashing into the hull, but only time will tell.

2009-2010 ACC Previews: UVA

LCB believes that while teams have been playing games since the start of November the real college basketball season does not begin until conference play is in full gear. Over the next couple of weeks, we will preview each ACC team by remembering some of the conference's past players that may have gone forgotten in some circles.

Season Outlook: Last year Barack Obama inspired the nation with his campaign for hope and change, making people believe that we could all be a part of something bigger than ourselves. For the citizens of Charlottesvile, when it comes to their basketball program, they have been hearing news of hope and change for what must seem like eons. This longing was never more true than in 2001, when the Cavaliers had an incoming class of Roger Mason and Travis Watson. This duo was skilled enough to help UVA stay afloat in the talent rich waters of ACC basketball. But they were missing the extra something to make them truly special. That missing piece was Desagna Diop, who the fans of UVA hoped would bring great change to a struggling program. But that's the problem with hoping for change, sometimes it's not enough. Diop couldn't resist the temptation of the NBA, UVA continued to struggle, and the only change that occurred was the name on the door to the head coach's office. Diop could have made UVA an elite program, but it didn't happen; and now they are back at square one, hoping for change.

Key Players: G Sylven Landesberg and F Mike Scott

Top Newcomer: F Tristan Spurlock

Record at Time of Posting: 6-4

Teach's Prediction: 12th in the regular season

Langston's Prediction: 11th in the regular season

Iceman AD's Prediction: 12th in the regular season

Key Games:
L Stanford 52-57
L Penn State 66-69
L @ Auburn 67-68
NC State 1/09
@ Wake Forest 1/23
Virginia Tech 1/28
@ UNC 1/31
@ Virginia Tech 2/13
Duke 2/28
Maryland 3/06