Good stuff from Andy Katz on this year's Big East schedule.  He discusses the five tiers that the coaches poll were broken into and who has the toughest/easiest schedule.  

The Tiers:

Tier 1: Pitt and Villanova

Tier 2: Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgetown.

Tier 3: Louisville, St. John's, Notre Dame, Connecticut.

Tier 4: Marquette, Cincinnati, Seton Hall.

Tier 5: South Florida, Providence, Rutgers, DePaul.

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The WATAUGA DEMOCRAT is reporting that the vaunted Appalachian State Mountaineers will stop by the Verizon Center for a Sunday soiree on December 12th.

For those that don't remember, Appalachian State is famous for beating the Michigan Wolverines football team on a blocked field goal in 2007.  The Mountaineers are coached by 30 year old Jason Capel, a former North Carolina forward and brother of Jeff Capel, a former Dukie who is now coach of Oklahoma.

Other than those tidbits, I got nothing for you.  Just wait for Sleeping with the Enemy.

This is better than playing Mount St. Mary's, right?  I think?  Is this thing on?

The Big East has announced matchups for the 2010-2011 season.  Listed below are the conference home games for Georgetown:

• Cincinnati - Born ready-less
• DePaul - Hopefully this is the Spring Break game, like in 2008-09
• Louisville - Finally get to yell Karen Sypher comments
• Marquette - Revenge for loss at Bradley Center
• Pittsburgh - Always have epic home matches with them
• Providence - Yawner
• St. John's - Home/home, NY alums get to see Garden game
• Syracuse - Praying this is a weekend game
• West Virginia - Embarrassed us in our last home game against them

Georgetown will play home-and-home series with Cincinnati, St. John's and Syracuse, easier than last year's Syracuse, Villanova and Rutgers lineup.

The full home schedules for all teams can be found here: BIG EAST Announces 2010-11 Men's Basketball Schedule Matchups.

At first glance, it looks like Villanova has the hardest home-and-home schedule, facing off against Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers.

In an interview on a local TV station in New Orleans, new Tulane Head Coach Ed Conroy confirmed that Tulane will travel to DC to face your Georgetown Hoyas in Tulane's opening game in 2010. 

Since we already know that Georgetown will open its season on the road at Old Dominion on Friday, November 12th and will also play in the Charleston Classic from November 18th through 21st, that doesn't present a big window for when the game is to be scheduled.

The Hoyas defeated Tulane in Tulane's season opener last year by a score of 74-58, led by Greg Monroe's 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Greg Monroe no longer plays for Georgetown.

The early line is Georgetown -18.5

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Staring at this will occupy at least one hour of my time today

April 8 - Recruiting contact period starts again.  Ends on April 21 and excludes April 12-15.

April 15 - The Capital Classic - Watch recruits Nate Lubick, Markel Starks and Moses Abraham play at Bender Arena on the American University campus

April 20 - Georgetown Basketball Banquet - RSVP by April 16

April 25 - Deadline for players to submit their names for early entry into the 2010 NBA Draft

EDIT: May 8 - Deadline to withdraw name and retain college eligibility (h/t: Vernon Macklin's Free Throw Stroke)

June 14 - Deadline to withdraw names from 2010 NBA Draft

June 24 - 2010 NBA Draft

July 31 - NCAA deadline to opt out of NCAA Tournament broadcast contract with CBS.  Proposed tournament expansion will be settled by this date.

Others:

• Kenner League - last year it started in August, should start earlier this year
• Conference match-ups - Big East should release conference home and road games in July, the actual dates won't be released until September
• Out of conference games - released randomly throughout the summer, other schools will announce before out beloved Georgetown
• Big Ten Expansion - they could take one or more current Big East school.  This will not affect the current season
• Recruiting - going after a number of big recruits for the Class of 2011
• Take Verizon Back - we will be writing about different way to help our home court advantage.  The Hoya Hoop Club is slated to discuss the issue over the summer as well
•  World Cup - analysis, insight and updates from our very own Sir Hoya

Below is the press release from MASN sports regarding locally televised games.

MASN to Televise Nine Georgetown Basketball Games

Georgetown Hoops Tip Off on MASN November 28 vs. Layfayette

(Washington D.C.) - MASN, the local leader in live sports entertainment and the official network of the Georgetown Hoyas, will televise nine Georgetown men's basketball games this season. The first televised game will feature the Hoyas as they host Lafayette at the Verizon Center live at 12:00 p.m. on November 28th.

Throughout the season, MASN will televise Georgetown match-ups with local schools like Mount St. Mary's, Old Dominion and Rutgers - as well as nationally-ranked teams like Big East powerhouse Villanova.

Led by head coach John Thompson III, the Hoyas are ranked 20th in the Associated Press pre-season poll. Additionally, stand-out star and last season's Rookie of the Year Greg Monroe was recently named to Naismith's preseason watch list.

"MASN has been a tremendous partner to us over the past few years, expanding our presence throughout the region and helping us reach even more fans, alumni and potential recruits," said Thompson. "We are looking forward to playing on MASN again this season."

MASN is in its fourth year of a partnership with Georgetown University, which allows fans, parents, alumni and recruits to enjoy the Hoyas on 23 different cable and satellite systems throughout MASN's seven-state territory.

"Georgetown is one of the most storied basketball programs in the nation and a natural partner for the network," said MASN spokesman Todd Webster. "MASN is proud of our commitment to local, live sports action and our extensive NCAA basketball package."

The official cable network of George Mason University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Big South Conference, MASN features hundreds of NCAA basketball games in at least 13 different conferences each season. With over 80 Big East games, MASN is also home to the Big East Game of the Week. Additionally, MASN televises the annual BB&T Classic each December.

The Georgetown Schedule on MASN (link to press release):

via masnsports.com

This completes coverage of all Big East games except the New Year's Eve party against St. John's.  Other games yet to be determined (i.e. tune in on the radio) are: Tulane, Savannah State, American and Harvard.  The home game against Old Dominion will be broadcast from inside McDonough.

Good talk.

It's a Schedule Release Party, baby!  And you're invited!  Special thanks to our friends at ncaapalace.com:

	Opponent	Result	Date	Tipoff	TV	Alt TV	Web	Venue
	vs Tulane		Nov 13	8:00 PM ET				New Orleans Arena New Orleans, LA
	Temple		Nov 17	4:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	Savannah State		Nov 21	1:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	Lafayette		Nov 28	12:00 PM ET	MASN			Washington, DC
	Mount St. Mary's		Nov 30	7:30 PM ET	MASN			Washington, DC
	American		Dec 5	4:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	vs Butler Jimmy V Classic		Dec 8	7:00 PM ET				Madison Square Garden New York, NY
	vs Washington John R Wooden Classic		Dec 12	TBD				Honda Center Anaheim, CA
	Old Dominion		Dec 19	7:00 PM ET	MASN			McDonough Gym Washington, DC
	Harvard		Dec 23	12:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	St. John's		Dec 31	8:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	at DePaul		Jan 3	2:00 PM ET	MASN			Rosemont, IL
	at Marquette		Jan 6	8:00 PM ET	MASN			Milwaukee, WI
	Connecticut		Jan 9	12:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	Seton Hall		Jan 14	7:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	at Villanova		Jan 17	12:00 PM ET				Philadelphia, PA
	at Pittsburgh		Jan 20	7:00 PM ET	ESPNU			Pittsburgh, PA
	Rutgers		Jan 23	12:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	at Syracuse Big Monday		Jan 25	7:00 PM ET				Syracuse, NY
	Duke		Jan 31	1:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	South Florida		Feb 3	7:00 PM ET	MASN			Washington, DC
	Villanova		Feb 6	12:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	at Providence		Feb 9	7:00 PM ET				Providence, RI
	at Rutgers		Feb 14	4:00 PM ET	MASN			Piscataway, NJ
	Syracuse		Feb 18	7:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	at Louisville		Feb 23	7:00 PM ET				Louisville, KY
	Notre Dame		Feb 27	12:00 PM ET				Washington, DC
	at West Virginia Big Monday		Mar 1	7:00 PM ET				Morgantown, WV
	Cincinnati		Mar 6	12:00 PM ET	MASN			Washington, DC

So Let's Dance!

 Casually.

The Big East has released its schedule.

The Hoyas Big East schedule is here and pasted below for your viewing pleasure.

We'll be back in a bit once we have had some time to digest it (and this casual $5 footlong).

Casually.