The U.S. News & World Report National Universities Rankings came out today and Georgetown moved up two whole spots to #21!.  Hip Hip Hooray.  Everyone should take this news to their boss and demand a pay raise.

Now I am well aware these rankings are complete poppycock and the Georgetown brand carries more weight than many ahead of it on the list, but the #21 ranking is eerily similar to where some have placed the Georgetown men's basketball team for the 2010-11 season.  This begs the obvious question:

Rush the Court recently ranked the top 20 players in the Big East and determined that our very own Austin Freeman is indeed the cream of the crop.  The blog states:

1) Austin Freeman, Georgetown - I had a difficult time ranking the top six in this list before ultimately settling on Freeman at the top spot for a handful of reasons, notably perimeter shooting, efficiency and basketball IQ. He had the least question marks and negatives to his game than any of the other candidates. Freeman emerged as a sharpshooting weapon in Big East play for an up-and-down Hoyas team. Some may credit his career high three point percentage on defenses keying on Greg Monroe, but 44% is still a fantastic total even shooting alone in an open gym. Freeman utilizes his strong frame to fight around screens for open looks and possesses a picture perfect shooting stroke. One has to be intelligent on the basketball court if you want to play for John Thompson III; Freeman limits his turnovers and ranked near the top of the Big East in both offensive rating and efficient FG%. Where Freeman can improve during his senior year is using that frame to be more aggressive to the rim. Shooting under 100 free throws on the season isn't going to suffice with the Hoyas lean frontcourt depth. Having an entire summer to deal and manage with his diabetes- a possible factor for his fading down the stretch last season- will certainly help to a degree.

I can't really disagree with this assessment, although I am always wary of too much hype going into the season.  Austin has the ability to take over the game, as seen by his remarkable 28 points in the second half against Connecticut, and brings a calm and level-headed demeanor to the court, similar to (dare I say) Jonathan Wallace.

(More after the Jump)

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As the April 25th deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft draws closer with easing passing day, we can't help but wonder whether Greg Monroe is actually considering sticking around for one more year on the Hilltop.  While nearly all of the underclassmen rumored to be bouncing early to start getting paid more than they did in college have given some indication whether or not they are doing so, Monroe has been strangely quiet.  Almost too quiet. 

In a heroic act of actual journalism, we here at THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON contacted an anonymous source close to the 6'11" sophomore to try to get a sense of which way he's leaning.  Our source has seen Monroe play hoops since Greg was 14 years old, and while our conversation didn't provide a definite answer to the question we're all wondering, it did reveal some interesting information that could provide credence to those championing the belief that Monroe will indeed be back at Georgetown for his junior year.

Continued after The Jump:

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All fans know that their respective rituals, superstitions and beliefs are the sole reason why their favorite teams win.  If it were not for that fact that I pounded my head against a wall for the length of every timeout during the second half of the UNC game in 2007, or had taken three consecutive shots of tequila to show support for Jonathan Wallace taking three free throws to tie the game at Marquette in 2008, we would have absolutely lost those games.  So with that in mind, I urge you, loyal Georgetown fans, to do whatever and whoever you normally do while watching the following Big East games to ensure Georgetown has the best possible scenario come Big East Tourney time.

via www.scrappyland.com

(More after the Jump)

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Whacky times in the Big East.  UConn whipped West Virginia, Pittsburgh got molested by Notre Dame, St. Johns choked away a victory against Marquette, Seton Hall tamed the beast that is the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and the mighty Hoyas of Georgetown dismantled Louisville on the road.  The Big East Tournament got a lot more interesting since the last time we did this, oh all of THREE days ago.

After the jump, we take another look at the Big East Tournament, once again using Ken Pomeroy's magic projections, even though his projections are CRAP.

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Our beloved Georgetown Hoyas were sitting pretty for a top 4 seed in the Big East Tournament eight days ago, then they lost to the juggernaut that is Rutgers and couldn't complete a comeback against Syracuse.  Now the Hoyas are in 7th place in the Big East, but still have an outside shot of getting a top 4 seed by beating Louisville and West Virginia on the road.  For a team that hasn't won three straight games in the Big East since 2007-2008, this seems like a tall task.  For now, the GLOBAL PHENOMENON will use Ken Pomeroy to project the rest of the Big East regular season and then lay out the Big East Tournament.

Yeah.... so find out how delusional I really am after the jump (via cache4.asset-cache.net)

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Gotta be honest, when I first looked at the 2006-07 Hoyas schedule and saw Old Dominion, I thought the team was taking a trip to an amusement park.  After forty minutes of watching the Hoyas play like poppycock and listening to horrific chants of C-A-A from the Monarch faithful, I learned that Old Dominion was a lucky team from the Colonial Athletic Conference.  And that Georgetown was not worthy of their #8 ranking.  John Thompson III had this to say after the loss:

"Our group has along way to go, in spite of what people write about you, what people say about you.  I think our group is an honest group. We have questions that need to be answered. We've got a lot that we need to work out, and we're in the process of working through that."

Are there any similarities to this year, when #11 Georgetown plays Old Dominion at McDonough for the first time since that night in 2006 when the Monarchs handed the Hoyas their first on-campus loss in 24 years?  You betcha!  This game has trap game written all over it.  But is it a rivalry?  Is there anything more to the game that should entice students to skip studying for finals and fill the 2,500 seats at McDonough?

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3 days before the season starts and noted prognisticator Joe Lunardi has the Hoyas a 5 seed .

If everything shakes out properly, it'll be tough to argue with the Hoya SOS with Butler and UW as 3 seeds, Duke primed for an early fizzle as a 2, and Old Dominion a 12.

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