Stay Classy West Virginia.......

I issued a stern warning months ago that West Virginia would be a Final Four team if for no other reason than the presence of their style cat head coach. While the Mountaineers have some talent, specifically in their floor leader Da'Sean Butler, the real draw in Morgantown is their head coach. Just when you thought the mock turtleneck look might be getting just a little bit stale, Robert "Huggy Bear" Huggins decided to step his game up a few notches, in the form of a velour WVU tracksuit. Some may consider Huggy's devil be damned attitude as somewhat defiant, however most of us realize its just H Bear's way of saying- I can look cool in anything I choose to wear. Without knowing the man, I would venture to guess that throughout the years, Huggy's flippant attitude has landed him quite a few notches on the old bedpost but I digress.

Tonight's matchup between the sixth ranked Mountaineers and the surging Hoyas provides a neccesary insight into the mind of the professional handicapper. Upon seeing West Virginia -2.5 I initially thought the oddsmakers nailed this one. Within a few minutes of studying the line this morning, I was bombarded with text messages from my devout base of supporters informing me that "vegas has lost its collective marbles". Why? Without question Georgetown has been more impressive in its tournament run. After all, the Hoyas defeated the class of the Big East in Syracuse, before dismantling a gritty Marquette team last night. That said, the hoyas have played an additional game in the tournament and are facing a defensive juggernaut in West Virginia. Despite barely defeating the Bearcats of Cincy and Notre Dame, the Mountaineers have played stout defensively. Furthermore, their style will fustrate a Georgetown team that is clicking offensively.

The contest tonight is less about these two formidable teams than it is about a longstanding gaming discipline: Smart $ vs. Dumb $. The public will be jumping all over Georgetown tonight and on the surface that looks like the right thing to do. Once again, the public will be proved wrong. Just ask all the John Q. Public's who bet Maryland, Syracuse, Villanova, etc. only to shake their heads in disbelief as each one of these teams lost. Georgetown has become the new darling (and rightly so) this is a team that no one wants to face in the Big Dance. However, after watching enough of these games over the years, my head says its Huggytime. Not only will huggy Bear add a Big East Conference Title to his ever growing list of accomplishments, he will do so in Style.....Stay Classy West Virginia! Tonight's Play -West Virginia -2.5 over Georgetown.