Projo College Hoops

The Friars are here in Madison Sqaure Garden, getting ready to play West Virginia in the first round of the Big East tourney. A few weeks ago, this did not seem possible.

PC won two games down the stretch that the rest of the league didn't expect and that punched the team's ticket to New York.

A lot going on here, needless to say. Villanova just beat Syracuse, 82-63. The Orange led big early but couldn't stop Nova's shooting. They canned 11 threes, 8-of-10 in the second half when they exploded for 55 points. The win moves Nova a step closer to an NCAA bid. Syracuse, however, may just end up at home for the second straight season. If that doesn't tell fans just how hard it is to make the NCAA Tournament, nothing will.

There is nothing like the scene here at MSG. Fans from all over the league get into the games but a large majority sit, watch and judge. Fans of the teams playing certainly make plenty of noise when their players do something snazzy. PC has its share of fans here, as does West Virginia, but nothing like the contingents from Villanova and Syracuse.

The Friars are finishing their warmups. No referees around so Greedy Peterson is doing a few windmill jams. Nice touch.

3 minutes and counting....

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