Hoya Paranoia | The Hoya's Sports Blog

This is it. We are one day away from Georgetown’s first game in the NCAA tournament, a second-round matchup with Florida Gulf Coast.  Over the next weeks, the Hoyas will participate in the culmination of their season, and the Big East regular season co-champs will hope to overcome a legacy of early-round disappointment in recent years. This week’s link drop serves as a primer for Georgetown’s first weekend — perhaps the beginning of a deep run.

The South Regional

• Grantland’s South Regional preview has Georgetown losing to VCU in the Elite Eight. Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated has Georgetown in the Final Four. ESPN’s South preview doesn’t pick a winner but does put Georgetown on upset alert in the round of 64.
• President Obama has the Hoyas losing to Florida in the Sweet 16.

Friday’s Game Against Florida Gulf Coast

• Although experts have called FGCU the most dangerous 15-seed, the Hoyas should have the size and talent to outmuscle the Eagles, especially considering St. John’s double-digit victory over FGCU earlier this season.

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Otto Porter Jr. and the No. 5 Georgetown basketball team’s quest for a Big East tournament title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament started with a win over Cincinnati earlier today. After dominating Syracuse last weekend, expectations have grown for the Hoyas as they reach the deciding point of their season.

LINKS 

• Compelling reasons why GU (and other top teams) might or might not win the NCAA tournament.
• In ESPN’s final straw poll of experts on the player of the year candidates, Porter Jr. (who won Big East player of the year unanimously this week) finished third behind Trey Burke and Victor Oladipo.
• The case for Otto to win the Wooden Award.
• An incredible oral history of the Big East and Big East tournament, in the last year of the conference as we know it.
• In his latest mock bracket, Joe Lunardi has Georgetown as a No. 2 seed. If the Hoyas can outperform Louisville in this week’s tournament, they will almost surely move up to a top spot.
• A collection of GIF highlights of an unforgettable Georgetown basketball season.

It was another successful week for the Georgetown basketball team (18-4, 8-3 Big East), as it held off Rutgers in the final minutes on Saturday before dispatching Marquette at Verizon Center on Monday.

Link Drop

• After two more solid performances, Otto Porter Jr.’s stock continues to improve. Dana O’ Neil’s column argues (correctly) that the Hoyas are only as good as Otto plays. Meanwhile, ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg picked Otto Porter as the sixth-man on his college basketball dream team.
• The Hoya columnist Evan Hollander writes that Georgetown is in the mix for a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.
• Sitting at No. 15 in the national rankings, the Hoyas are back in SI’s power rankings at No. 12. They’ve also jumped to a 4-seed in Joe Lunardi’s NCAA tournament mock bracket.
• A humorous take on the win against Marquette, complete with Catholic jokes.
• A debate on which ending college basketball rivalry will be missed the most. For Georgetown and Cuse fans, the choice is obvious.
• According to ESPN, the Catholic Seven is closing in on a TV deal with Fox Sports.

The  No. 20 Georgetown men’s basketball team, coming off four straight Big East victories, is flying high at the midpoint of the conference schedule. The Hoyas are in fourth place in the Big East standings and will expect to improve their record in a game at Rutgers on Saturday.

 LINK DROP

• Nate Lubick had the best game of his career in a 68-56 win against St. John’s on Saturday, a win that procured a season sweep of the Johnnies.
• Check-out a gallery of photos taken at the St. John’s game from the brand-new Hoya Sports Extra
• A time-lapse video of the “Gray-Out” on Saturday at the Verizon Center. Much cooler than a Super Bowl blackout, if you ask me.
• The Casual Hoya Blog’s analysis of Georgetown’s improved play without Greg Whittington.The Hoya columnist Evan Hollander writes that Georgetown needs to draw more fouls and improve its free throw shooting in order to continue its success.
• The Hoya sportswriter Tom Schnoor’s analysis of various lineups’ plus-minus statistics reinforces Markel Starks’ and Otto Porter Jr.’s importance to the team.
• Joe Lunardi’s latest mock NCAA Tournament bracket has Georgetown as a six-seed, behind Syracuse (three-seed), Louisville (three), Cincinatti (four) and Marquette (five), and even with Pittsburgh. However ESPN has Georgetown ahead of Cincinnati in its most recent Big East power rankings.
• Despite lacking any top-five teams, the Big East is closing in on the Big Ten, according to ESPN’s conference power rankings.