Sleeping with the Enemy: The Raiders of Colgate

The Georgetown Fighting Hoyas are fresh off of a blowout win against High Point, but there's not much time to relax with a tipoff against the Colgate Raiders on Saturday.  With us to dish on all things Raiders is Mid-Major Madness, the single greatest source for all things mid-major on the internet.  Let's do this.

In doing some casual research ahead of this game, I noticed that Colgate is 5th in the nation in field goal percentage and 1st in the nation in three point field goal percentage. Does Georgetown have a chance in hell of winning this game?

Chance in hell confirmed! Look, I know that shooting numbers can be impressive, and especially the shooting beyond the arc, but how streaky can that be at times? A lot.

The biggest thing there is that they are almost guaranteed to pass into that shot, as they assist on 95 percent of the threes they take. The average in the country is 85 percent, so you have to believe they are near the upper range there.

How do you stop that? Good defense, something that the Hoyas know a bit about. I saw a lot of guys open for shots in the High Point game, but that could be because there is no reason to cover anyone on that team out there. I don't think that Georgetown will make the same mistake against Colgate.

Who are some of the guys on Colgate that Georgetown needs to be aware of?

Murphy Burnatowski is the obvious answer here. He was the most valuable player for the team last year and took the 5th highest percentage of shots in the country. He needed to as the rest of the team was not impressive on offense.

He finally has some help though, starting with Ethan Jacobs who transferred to Colgate from Ohio. He barely played for the Bobcats when he was there, as their offense was so guard driven, they didn't need his size clogging the floor. They might be regretting it though. He is a rebounding machine on defense, and he can step all the way out and shoot the three despite being 6-11.

Austin Tillotson really drives the offense from the point. You will need to concentrate on him to break up that 3-point shooting machine.

What are your thoughts on the NCAA denying Colgate's Nathan Harries a year of eligibility one day and then reinstating him the very next? Is there a bigger shitshow than the NCAA?

I think they got bullied by the press and deserved it for such an idiotic decision. We seriously couldn't understand what the NCAA was doing over at Mid-Major Madness. They allow kids to play who have a great deal more black marks against them than Harries, who you know, was only playing in a church league. And they allow kids to transfer and waiver out of sitting out a year for shakier reasons.

I don't get the rules. They said they were clearing up all this nonsense. They obviously haven't tried to just put one rule in there: Use common sense.

When I was a freshman at Georgetown I recall the Hoyas destroying an Adonal Foyle-led Colgate squad. Who are some other famous Colgate alumni?

Your grandfather Andy Rooney went there.

Also Howard Fineman, who should be no stranger to folks in D.C.

Colgate also was home to the Broken Lizard comedy team, so if you like Super Troopers, you have Colgate to thank for that.

You also have to watch out for any fans that might be there though. Something ... a little off must happen to people at Colgate, as they also sport James Manos Jr. as an alum, who has worked on Dexter, The Sopranos and The Shield. All three are great shows, but there is something not quite right about all of them. So watch yourselves.

How does Colgate stack up in the Patriot league this season? Which team do you see emerging with the automatic bid to the Dance?

You are asking the wrong person this. I picked Army to win the league and that is not looking so smart right now.

I actually had Colgate right up there in the league this season. There was a lot of turnover at the top of the league thanks to graduation, but Colgate really stayed intact, and you can see how that is working out for them on the floor so far. I still think they have a very good shot at the title, despite everyone thinking I was crazy. If they can beat Georgetown, it will open a lot of eyes about how good Colgate is.

Obviously the league makeup is a little different this season, with the addition of Boston University and Loyola (MD) so it won't be your father's Patriot League.

The best all-around team is the Terriers, so I will revise slightly here and take BU to get the auto bid.

Jay Z is now a vegan. What's your take on veganism, generally?

Veganism scares me. It isn't natural. Your grandfather was likely not a vegan (why am I talking so much about grandfathers?).

First off, you need meat. And if you are going to forgo meat, you shouldn't have all these other rules that go along with your vegetarianism to make yourself a vegan.

Plus, isn't Moby a vegan? You can see right through that guy's skin. That is creepy.

What is your immediate and then your not so immediate reaction to this?

My first reaction is what the hell kind of bet did that girl lose.

Then when I think about it a little longer, I wonder if she was just hot. I mean, have you ever been up in the rafters at the Carrier Dome? Heat rises, so maybe it is just really warm.

Either way... not exactly the best choice of outfit when sitting among Cuse fans, cause we know all about Cuse fans.

Final score prediction?

Let's go with 80-65 for Georgetown, with Colgate getting 70 percent of their points from three.