Game #96.  RTC Live visits the RBC Center for the first time this year as Wake Forest travels east to play its old-time rival.

Wake Forest is traveling to the RBC Center to take on in-state rival NC State in the conference opener for both squads.  NC State has had a difficult season so far, largely thanks to the untimely injury to senior star Tracy Smith.  The good news for Wolfpack fans is that this is Smith’s third game back, so he should steadily be returning to his pre-injury form.  Freshmen studs CJ Leslie, Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown alongside sharpshooter Scott Wood round out the rest of NC State’s starting five.  I think Smith’s impact will probably be more indirect, as he will force Wake’s defense to collapse and double team him in the post, leaving State’s shooters open from the perimeter.  So far Brown, Leslie and Harrow especially have struggled from beyond the arc, but I suspect Smith’s presence will get them much easier shots.  On the other side of the floor, Wake Forest is having a nightmarish season.  The Demon Deacons have looked absolutely horrendous coming out of the gate, and coach Jeff Bzdelik will need a phenomenal game out of JT Terrell if Wake wants to have any chance at all.  Right now they’re struggling to win at home, much less in a hostile environment.  But conference rivalries tend to bring out the best in down teams, so I fully expect this to be a better game than it looks on paper.

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Game #95.  Everyone’s favorite Big East Team That Could visits Pitt on a chilly winter day in Three Rivers City.

Welcome to a snowy January Saturday in Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center, home of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Today’s Big East matchup should be like most of the others these days: A battle down to the bitter end. Pitt at home is almost impossible to beat, but Marquette isn’t going to just lie down. Their four losses are by a combined 14 points, including a five-point loss to Duke and a one-point nail biter to Vanderbilt. Pitt is almost unbeatable itself; one of the best performances of the year by Tennessee upended the home court winning streak by the Panthers. Sit back and relax, because one thing is for sure, you can be guaranteed a great game between two teams that have a lot to prove in the Big East, and they will be putting everything on the floor they have today. Plus, it’s cold outside, there’s no better place to be than watching college basketball right now.

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Game #94.  RTC Live is back at the Rock to see what the Orange are made of traveling on the road in the Big East.

What a difference seven weeks can make. Seton Hall brought back a roster packed with talented veterans and a disciplined head coach. They may have dropped a close road game to A-10 powerhouse Temple, but they played to the last possession and followed it with a huge home win over 2010 Ivy League champion Cornell. Then things started to go bad for Coach Kevin Willard, in his first year at the head of the Seton Hall program. A broken wrist sidelined “anytime, anywhere” scoring threat Jeremy Hazell, a longer than expected rehabilitation period limited all purpose forward/center Herb Pope’s effectiveness and the unexpected transfer of promising sophomore forward Ferrakohn Hall thinned the front court reserves even further. The Pirates could not hold halftime leads over A-10 teams Dayton and Richmond at the end of December, and have stumbled to a 1-2 start in Big East Conference play, leaving the rookie head coach with many more questions than answers. For Syracuse, the season started with a rookie of the year whose learning curve was far longer than anticipated, a slew of complementary players who would be tasked with filling the leadership (and scoring…) roles vacated by the departed Wesley Johnson, Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku. Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson, Brandon Triche and Kris Joseph had prospered in Coach Boeheim’s team-oriented 2-3 zone defense and in the offensive shadows of the departed stars, but were they ready to step up? The Orange swept Michigan and Georgia Tech aside to win the Legends Classic in Atlantic City and then beat (then) #7 Michigan State in the Jimmy V. Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Orange have charged out to a 2-0 start in Big East Conference play, heading it seems, in a very different direction than the Pirates. Seton Hall, led by Herb Pope, Jeff Robinson, Keon Lawrence and Jordan Theodore will try to turn their season around as they face off against Rick Jackson, Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine. Join RTC Live as we blog Syracuse at Seton Hall, Saturday at noon from the Rock in downtown Newark, New Jersey.

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Game #93.  RTC Live returns to the Verizon Center in downtown DC for a Big East tilt involving two teams needing a win.

Georgetown and West Virginia square off here at the Verizon Center in an early morning (well, early for a Saturday morning) tip. Both the Hoyas and the Mountaineers come into this one on a bit of a slide. Georgetown is just 1-2 in Big East play. To be fair, they have lost on the road to Notre Dame and St. John’s, neither of which look like bad losses right now. But throw in the loss to Temple from November 30th, and the Hoyas have not looked like the team that I saw cleverly called the best in the Big East two weeks ago.  West Virginia, on the other hand, just has not looked like the team we expected. They are also just 1-2 in league play, that win being a two point victory at DePaul. The Mountaineers have also lost at home to St. John’s and Providence. Its not necessarily a talent issue with WVU as much as a chemistry problem; this team doesn’t look like they understand how to play together or what exactly Bobby Huggins is asking of them.  This should be a dandy to start your day off with. No one whats to go 1-3 to start the Big East season.

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Behold — The Crosstown Shootout. The very words send a blast of adrenaline into our bloodstream that gets our heart racing…or maybe that’s just a result of the chili dogs we always eat too many of while we’re in Cincy. Nah, it’s the game. Along with so many other college basketball freaks, this is one we circle on our hoop calendar as soon as we see the schedules. Hey, maybe you haven’t noticed or heard, but Cincinnati is undefeated. Given how much these two teams love each other, can you imagine the frissons of satisfaction that would wash over Xavier backers everywhere (not to mention every single one of head coach Chris Mack’s players) if the Musketeers were the ones to put the first blemish on Cincinnati’s season? The Bearcats, of course, would love to flick Xavier aside as conquest #15 and pay them back for the double-overtime loss they suffered at the Cintas Center last season. We made the trip there last year and it was one of the highlights of our season. If you can’t get fired up for this, go find another sport to love. Fifth Third Arena. 7:00 pm ET. We’ll start the conversation about 15 minutes before the tip, and we can’t wait.

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Game #90. RTC Live is back in the Mecca for a Big East tilt between two old-timer programs.

St. John’s and Steve Lavin are off to a 2-0 Big East start after defeating West Virginia and Providence last week, both away from home. The Johnnies return home to Madison Square Garden this evening to face venerable Georgetown in a classic Big East matchup. The Hoyas have won four of five after slipping up at Temple in early December, including a dismantling of a young Memphis team eleven days ago. Georgetown has won six games away from the Verizon Center while dropping only two, Temple and Notre Dame. Unlike most Georgetown teams of the past, John Thompson III runs his offense around an experienced and talented three guard attack led by preseason Big East Player of the Year Austin Freeman. The senior’s numbers up essentially across the board while teaming with Jason Clark and Chris Wright, the key players on a team that shoots 40% from deep. St. John’s has been shooting the lights out of late, 54-96 FG (56%) over their past two games, not even including the 80% shooting performance in the second half against Northwestern before that. Coach Lavin has created some buzz in New York City by signing a top ten recruiting class for next year and he’ll look to build on that by putting a winning product on the floor this winter. Getting a win tonight could increase the level of excitement to a new level. Join RTC Live tonight for a great Big Monday matchup from the Big Apple.

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Game #91. RTC finds its way back to one of the cathedrals of the sport as one of the Ivy’s best ballers comes to town.  

Kentucky is coming off of a big New Year’s Eve win over Louisville and has one final matter to attend to before they begin conference play, and that’s to host Zack Rosen and Pennsylvania on Monday night. Rosen led the Ivy League in scoring last season, is at the top so far this season, is on course to lead the Quakers in assists for the second straight year, and may take home the conference’s Player of the Year award at season’s end. He’s almost certain to get a steady diet of DeAndre Liggins, a 6’6 and 210-pound marble block of a swingman who has begun to relish his role as the Wildcats’ designated defensive stopper. 7:00 pm ET is the scheduled start from Rupp Arena for this one, and we’ll open things up here about 15 minutes before the tip. Hope to see you there as we turn the calendar to a new year, and begin the second act of the 2010-11 season.

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Game #89.  RTC Live returns to Chapel Hill for a tuneup game prior to the ACC kicking into high gear.

North Carolina and Saint Francis are opening the new year today in Chapel Hill.  While Tar Heel fans probably weren’t thrilled with a 4-3 start, the Tar Heels have bounced back to win five of their last six (only losing by a hair to Texas).  Saint Francis has had no such turnaround: the Red Flash are currently on an eight game skid, most recently being pummeled by Cincinnati (although they did give Drexel a game).  Continuing the differences between the two squads, it’s also fair to say that the two programs have had opposite historical arcs.  Saint Francis has one NCAA Tournament appearance (1991), while North Carolina has two national championships in the last ten years.  Things have been especially rough for the Red Flash the past couple of seasons, as they’ve finished 6-23 both years under head coach Don Friday.  The Red Flash are led by a strong sophomore class which accounts for four of five starters.  Umar Shannon is their most important player and leading scorer, averaging just over 13 points a game.  The Tar Heels should dominate this game in the post, with three players taller than the tallest Saint Francis starter.  Even if the Tar Heel backcourt of Larry Drew II and Dexter Strickland continue to struggle, Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller should be able to score at will against the overmatched Red Flash.  This will be a crucial time for Roy Williams to work out kinks in his offense before starting conference play later this week.  This is the first meeting of the two teams.

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Game #88. RTC Live returns to Philadelphia for another compelling Big East matchup on the Main Line.

Both Rutgers and Villanova open their Big East season Sunday at noon when the Wildcats host the Scarlet Knights at the Pavilion, Villanova’s on campus arena. Rutgers’ new coach, Mike Rice, gained a measure of fame last March when his Robert Morris University team took Villanova to overtime in the first their first round NCAA game. Rutgers brings a 9-3 out of conference record, identical to their mark last season, into the opener. Their last game was a 78-55 loss to North Carolina in Madison Square Garden. They will be led by seniors Jonathan Mitchell, Mike Coburn and sophomore Dane Miller. Villanova, 11-1 and ranked #8 by the AP, ran their winning streak to six games with their 78-74 victory over #25 Temple at the Pavilion on Thursday night. Seniors Corey Stokes, Corey Fisher, Antonio Pena and sophomores Maalik Wayns and Mouphtaou Yarou have each posted the team-high points in at least one game this season, but the Nova Nation knows the team’s fortunes hang on the speed of their back court duo, Fisher and Wayns, and Stokes’ ability to hit the three consistently. That combination led the Wildcats over Temple and failed them in their lone season loss to Tennessee. Join RTC Live at the Pavilion on the Main Line as Villanova hosts Rutgers.

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Game #87.  It’s the end of an era in Eugene as Oregon closes down venerable old McArthur Court with visiting Arizona State.

Arizona State comes into Eugene trying to drown its sorrows by feasting upon the Ducks, and Oregon looks to close McArthur Court with a victory against the Sun Devils. Both teams started out their Pac-10 seasons with blowout losses and are looking to rebound from them Saturday; Oregon lost by 19 at home to Arizona, while Arizona State lost by 22 at moribund Oregon State, although the Sun Devils were missing leading scorer Trent Lockett, who will likely miss this contest as well. The Ducks’ lack of depth and inability to stop teams from shooting well was exposed by Arizona, which limited Oregon big man Joevan Catron to nine points in 11 minutes before he fouled out. The Ducks missed their last 16 three-point attempts after making their first of the game against the Wildcats, and shot 36 percent from the field. Arizona State has a perimeter-oriented offense, but it struggled to convert shots inside and out and could not contain Oregon State center Joe Burton, who had 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting. The lack of effective size and depth for both teams makes this an intriguing matchup, and the backdrop of the final game at The Pit will make for an interesting game.

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