Wayns, Cheek play McDonald's A.A. game tonight

Even though the 2009 season is gloriously still ongoing for Villanova, Wildcat fans can get a sneak peak at two of the team's best incoming players for next season in the annual McDonald's high school all-American game tonight.

Guards Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek, both Villanova commitments, will play together on the East squad.

The game airs live tonight at 8 p.m. from the University of Miami, and will be broadcast nationwide by ESPN.

Wayns and Cheek join fellow high-school stars Dexter Strickland, Lance Stephenson, Kenny Boynton, and Derrick Favors to face the all-stars from the West.

Memphis recruit DeMarcus Cousins, whose matriculation might now be in jeopardy with John Calipari leaving for Kentucky, is also a member of the East squad.

The West team is led by Memphis-signee Xavier Henry, generally considered the top player in the country. The North-Carolina bound Wear brothers, David and Travis, are also on the West team.

The official site uses annoying-as-hell Flash, horrible music, and (no joke!) floating cartoon bubbles spewing Dick Vitale's voice on every page, so here is a screenshot of the rosters, for your sanity:



Wayns and Cheek will join forwards Mouph Yarou, Isaiah Armwood, and Taylor King as Villanova's fab five in 2009-2010.

With the possible dissolution of Memphis's unheard-of-good recruiting class (Cousins, Henry, and likely John Wall), Villanova's four freshmen might be the very best class in the nation next season.

Wayns to play live on ESPNU tonight

Maalik Wayns, a top high-school point guard and Villanova signee for the class of 2009-2010, will play on national television tonight in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 exhibition.

The game will air live from Rucker Park, Harlem, New York on ESPNU tonight at 8 p.m., and will re-air on ESPN2 at midnight on Tuesday, Aug. 26 (late night after Monday).

Wayns, playing for a team called The Goat, will face Villanova's top recruiting priority, the guard Dominic Cheek, who will suit up for the opposing squad Skip to my Lou. The full roster includes several other high-profile high school stars.

New York locals can attend the game tonight for free. Rucker Park opens at 6 p.m. and admission is free, but first-come, first-served.

TV coverage map for Villanova-Kansas

A coverage map for CBS's broadcast of tomorrow night's Villanova-Kansas Sweet 16 game is now available.

Villanova-Kansas will be the preferred game for most of the nation, including all of the Northeast. The game will be given "constant" status in southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, Delaware, Kansas, and Missouri.

If you live in New York City, you should see the game unless CBS decides the Memphis-MSU game is more compelling.

The game can also be viewed online for free via March Madness On Demand.

See below for the coverage map. You may click on the map to enlarge it.

'Nova-Clemson coverage map

CBS has released its coverage map for the late games on Friday.

Villanova-Clemson is the preferred game in the Northeast, meaning the game will be shown on CBS affiliates there unless the network deems another game is more compelling.

As expected, the game is given "constant" status in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and South Carolina. In these markets, the game will be shown in its entirety regardless of the score.

See below for the full map. You may click on the map to enlarge it.

If you'd like to see the Villanova-Clemson game or any other NCAA tournament contest, you can watch for free online via "March Madness On Demand."

'Cats return to campus tonight vs. Hartford

Villanova basketball returns to the Pavilion for the first time in nearly two weeks tonight, when the Wildcats will take on the Hartford Hawks at 7 p.m.

The game is not available on television, but will be shown on Villanova.com as part of the "All-Access" option, which is $9.95 billed monthly.

Be warned, however, that the video quality of the last game shown on All-Access (Bucknell) was terrible -- borderline unwatchable, in my opinion. Additionally, Mac users will have to revert to the Safari 2 browser to watch the game. (No Firefox or Safari 3; dust off your Tiger DVDs.)

Hartford, a member of the America East Conference, is 5-6 and fresh off a win over a mascot mate, Monmouth University.

Hartford lost to Louisville by a relatively respectable 35 in Freedom Hall last month.

KenPom gives the 'Cats a 96 percent chance to win this game. In reality, it's probably close to 99 percent on paper -- but that's why they play the games, right?

Villanova by the Numbers runs a statistical preview of the game.

Crazy upsets aside, this should be a good chance for the Wildcats to let their offense fire on all its cylinders, at least in the first half. Don't be surprised to see hefty minutes for the bottom part of the rotation and the reserves in the second period.

The game may not be a blowout, however. According to VBTN, the Hawks have a decent backcourt, and it may not be easily overwhelmed by the phalanx of Villanova guards.

If you'd like to take part in the ongoing LetsGoNova.com prediction contest, take a shot at forecasting the final score of the game in the comments section below. Winners will receive their names in bold text on this very Web site!

How to watch the Penn game

On Saturday, Villanova takes on the University of Pennsylvania Quakers at 7 p.m. in the Pavilion. The game marks the opening of the Philadelphia Big Five city series for the Wildcats.

The last time Villanova lost in a Big-Five round-robin game was nearly three years ago, in a one-point defeat versus Temple in the Palestra on Dec. 4, 2004.

Satruday's game will be broadcast on the Web "network" ESPN360.

Only a select few Internet service providers subscribe to ESPN360, so if your ISP is not on the list, you will need to use a backdoor link to get in and see the broadcast. ESPN360 backdoor links are easily found on the Google.

The backdoor above works as of today on both Mac and PC.

As for the game itself, Villanova by the Numbers runs an especially lengthy preview.

You may also predict the final score of the Penn game in the comments section below for the ongoing LetsGoNova.com prognostication contest.

'Cats reach Old Spice final vs. N.C. State

Tonight, Villanova will take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the Old Spice Classic championship in Orlando, Fla.

The game will air live nationwide on ESPN2 at 6:30.

The match-up vs. N.C. State is an interesting one, as the Wolfpack are very talented down low, while Villanova looks to have by far the better backcourt.

GreyCat at Villanova By The Numbers pens his usual preview, and Chris at I Bleed Blue and White takes stock of his pre-game thoughts.

A win for the Wildcats tonight gives them another solid out-of-conference win for their NCAA resume. Taking home the Old Spice championship would almost certainly vault Villanova into the top 15 in both major polls, and likely even higher given some of the high profile losses this week.

If you'd like to take part in the official LetsGoNova.com prognostication contest, post your prediction for the game's final score in the comments section below. Your potential prize: your name in bold on this very Web site.

Radio for tonight

Video for tonight's game vs. Bucknell is only available for a fee from Villanova.com, but you can listen to the 'Cats and the Bison on the Web for free.

Internet radio for the 5 p.m. game is available for live streaming from WPEN Philadelphia. Update: As of 5:05 the Internet stream on WPEN is not playing the game. Try back or try the Bucknell link below.

The Bucknell radio broadcast is also available online, but I haven't been able to get the feed working in my pre-game tests.

TV for tonight

Tonight's game vs. Stony Brook will be televised!

The game will air on Fox Sports Net (FSN) in the Atlantic region.

This means you will be able to see the game on basic cable on FSN if you live in the NY/NJ/PA area, or anywhere on digital cable if you get FSN-Atlantic. Check your local listings; the game is at 7 p.m. Villanova time.

TV for tonight

Villanova's conference opener against #25 West Virginia will be televised tonight live for a lot of Wildcats fans.

The game is being produced by ESPN+ and was picked up by several local networks.

In Philadelphia, the game is being shown on WPHL, channel 17. In New York, you can find the game on the Fox Sports Net New York network. The game will also be aired by Comcast and Cox in several of their local areas throughout the Mid-Atlantic and South.

In short, check your local listings.

Boston residents, unfortunately, will be out of luck tonight, unless they have DirecTV with a sports package. If you're in Boston and want to see the 'Cats, try a sports bar with a satellite dish.

DePaul TV status resolved

[UPDATE, Jan. 4, 6 p.m.]

WFMZ, Philadelphia's local channel 69, will air the game live at 2 p.m.


Rain this past weekend in Philadelphia led to the postponement of the annual Mummers Parade, forcing the event to be rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 6.

What does this have to do with Villanova basketball? Everything, my naive friend. WPHL, the Philadelphia local network slated to show the Jan. 6 game against DePaul, will also air the parade that same day. The parade begins and 9 a.m. and ends sometime around 7 p.m., while the game tips off in the Pavilion at 2 p.m.

This creates a time conflict. What will WPHL do? Villanova fans pondered this question for literally several days.

It seems we now have an answer. I talked to a station manager at WPHL today, who informed me that the game will be shown on tape-delay immediately following the conclusion of the Mummers Parade.

This places the broadcast around 7 p.m., well after the actual conclusion of the game (barring a record number of overtime periods).

The WPHL representative also told me that ESPN was considering showing the game without a local blackout on its ESPN Full Court network.

ESPN Full Court is having a free preview period from Jan. 5-12, both online and on television. If ESPN picks up the DePaul game, anyone with broadband Internet access or digital television should be able to watch the game live for free.

TV for La Salle

[Update] For those without TV, an Internet radio link is available HERE. This stream can be played in iTunes among other programs.

Villanova takes on Big 5 rival La Salle today at 4 p.m. The game is available on television on two channels.

Those in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, and Boston with Comcast cable should see the game on the regular Comcast SportsNet network.

DirecTV subscribers, on the other hand, have the game on the SNY (Sports New York) network.

There also may be an Internet stream of the Comcast broadcast if you need it. I'll check tomorrow during the game and update this post.

Remember, the game has been moved up to 4 p.m., two hours earlier than the originally scheduled tip time of 6 p.m.

La Salle game moved up

According to the official Villanova schedule, the Wildcats' game against La Salle on Dec. 23 has been moved up to 4 p.m. The game had originally been scheduled for 6 p.m.

Everyone planning to attend the game, make a note of it.

The move also will likely allow the previously non-televised game to be picked up by a Philadelphia and/or NJ-area TV station. Check back for more details on the television status.

TV for tonight

Watching Villanova's biggest game of the year (so far) is not going to be difficult. Unlike these posts for previous games, which often contained sketchy Web streams and complicated DirecTV regional information, this post is going to be simple:

Villanova at Oklahoma, tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, on ESPN.

Though the game will inexplicably not be broadcast in HD, ESPN's broadcast tonight will give many 'Cats fans their first chance to see the team this year.

The game should be close. The Sooners are a good, solid team who have won 49 straight non-conference games at home, and they are currently favored to extend that streak to 50.

The Las Vegas and offshore oddsmakers are setting the game at OU -1, which is actually a sign of respect for Villanova. Typically in college basketball lines, the home court advantage is worth ~ 3 points, so this line implies that on a neutral court, 'Nova would be favored.

In any event, this will prove an excellent road test for the Wildcats, and a convincing win could vault them into the top 25.

TV for tonight

[update 7:41 p.m.] This stream is not working for anyone. Blame Comcast.

For those of you not heading to the Palestra, you will be able to see the game tonight.

If you are a Comcast cable subscriber, the game is probably on the CN8 network in your region.

If not, try CN8's live Web stream, which should carry the game tonight at 7 p.m. The stream requires Windows Media Player but works with Mac or PC.

Pena to redshirt

Let'sGoNova has learned that freshman Antonio Pena will likely take a redshirt this season.

This is a surprising move considering Pena already prepped last year. This will make Pena 25 years old as a senior, assuming he doesn't leave early. Physically, Pena already appears ready to contribute. Perhaps Jay feels Pena just needs more time to mature mentally and learn Villanova basketball.

[update by Pete at 5:20 p.m.] Expect no official announcement on this anytime soon, as Pena could join the team this year if we suffer some injuries. As of right now, however, it is looking like he will indeed redshirt the year.

Scottie Reynolds: how good will he be?

I have very high hopes for Scottie Reynolds, our freshman guard from Herndon, Va. Of course, expectations are always lofty for McDonald's All Americans, but I think that Scottie can have an immediate impact as one of the best guards in the Big East.

After a slow start in the exhibition game against Holy Family, Scottie lit it up against Rollie's Northwood University Seahawks. Reynolds was 6-6 from the field, including one 3-pointer, pouring in 13 points in just 16 minutes. Scottie also contributed 4 assists and 3 steals.

Granted, the competition may not have been up to snuff, but what I have seen and heard of Scottie so far leads me to believe he may be a truly special 'Nova guard.

Time will tell, of course, but I'd say that right now, Scottie Reynolds may well help us get deep in the Dance this year.

Click "read more" for a ridiculous 6-second clip of Scottie losing his defender in high school.