Best Tournament Ever - AthlonSports.com

Sports Briefs
Best Tournament Ever - AthlonSports.com:
"West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnoggle gets a bloody nose in the final minute, shoves some gauze up there, comes back in (still bleeding), grabs the ball and hits a fadeaway three-pointer with five seconds left to tie Texas. Pause your Tivo right there and you have a moment that the NCAA Tournament is all about, a senior who refuses to go down, hitting a three-pointer when all appears lost."

Sportsnation
Which sports franchise would you most like to see return to glory?
Celtics 42%
Browns 23%
Pirates 14%
Royals 13%
Oilers 9%

This poll is being prompted by the no.8 seed Oilers attempting to sweep the Western Finals and land in the Stanley Cup this season.
The Pirates won both Pa. and W. Va. The Brownies won Ohio and somehow Wyoming. The Royals took the midwest and Boston everywhere else. Clearly if this would have been an international poll the Oilers would certainly be no.1
I never realized the Royals ever had glory and the BROWNIES HAVE NEVER WON OR BEEN TO A SUPERBOWL.

Sportsnation Part II
Which one of these coaches do you consider to be the most innovative.
Urban Meyer 27%
Pete Carroll 24%
RichRod 22%
Mike Leach 16%
Bobby Petrino 11%

This voting was done strictly along state lines and Urban had the benefit of carrying the Utah region and Florida. RichRod is the clear choice for this question because even Urban is coming to Morgantown to learn a thing or two. RichRod had a good portion of the Atlantic seaboard including the Carolinas, the Virginias and Maryland. Rich Rod won the international voting as well.

Mountaineer Football
Folks in Morgantown are gearing up for what should be the most anticipated and biggest college football season in university history. At the very least its up there with '88 and '93 for one of the best buildups. Sunnyside and the rest of campus should be buzzin around August and during game weekends the town will be absolutely live.
Heres some early preseason polls.
AthlonSports.com
No. 6
They put the kibash on the Mountaineers back in 2004 with an identical ranking. This one just like '04 was based on the upcoming schedule.
Fresh off an 11-1 record and rousing Sugar Bowl win, the Mountaineers have a made-to-order schedule in 2006.

Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
No. 3
If you think the Mountaineers peaked in the Sugar Bowl, then you'll dismiss them. But they've shown what they can do. West Virginia's biggest obstackle is ego expansion.

Pat Forde
ESPN.com
No. 1

AutumnSpectacle.com
No. 11
You think they're a shoo-in for a national title run because of eight offensive starters back and a weak schedule? Think again. Last year, the Mountaineers survived Louisville at home in 3 OTs. This year they’ve got the Cardinals on the road for a Thursday night showdown, November 2. Two weeks later, they’re at Pitt for the Backyard Brawl - and they won’t sneak up on anyone in a bowl game this time around.

Breaking news
My sources tell me that the much anticpated battle for the Toothbrush and college football opening game for West Virginia and Marshall will be moved to Sunday September 3 to accomadate ESPNs new Sunday Night Football lineup.

Bowl Games
The Pointsettia Bowl will now open bowl season on December. 19
The New Orleans bowl which has had that duty is now the fourth bowl of the bowl season on Dec. 22
The Birmingham bowl sounds like a bad idea but it will be one of three on Dec. 23 and include a Big East team possibly.
No bowls on Christmas
The Sun Bowl carried by CBS has a chance of landing either a Big 12 team or a Big East one.
The Insight bowl will now be played on Dec. 29 and air on the NFL Network. They dropped the Big East for a Big Ten school.
The Peach Bowl is now the Chick-fil-A bowl
New Years Day returns to glory with the Gator, Cotton, Outback, Capital One, Rose and Fiesta Bowl all being played on it.
Orange Bowl on January 2
Sugar Bowl on January 3
Random International Bowl in Toronto on January 6 featuring a 4 or 5 Big East Team
And then the still unamed BCS Title game January 8 back in Glendale Arizona.

Thats all for sports briefs
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14 days til the World Cup

-n