BU v. Vermont - The 2010 America East Championship Game

I am really excited for this game, It's the first time the Terriers have been to the championship since 2003 and they are playing for their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002. How big is this game to me?  Bigger than the Super Bowl. Actually, since Burlington is about six hours from Boston (correction a Vermonter says 3 - 3.5 hours, still pretty far), I am going to have a "Super Bowl" like party, complete with red and white balloons, champagne on ice, and a victory cigar (note to self: download a copy of the BU fight song). I've asked a couple people if they are interested, so far I have not had a favorable response. I sent out an email yesterday pitching the idea to some BU alums and no one has responded so far. Am I the only one who cares? 

So to the 10 people who read my blog in the Boston area, I am inviting you to my apartment on Saturday to watch the game.  We'll probably do some tailgating a couple hours before the game. Email me (jim@terriersbasketball.com) for more details.

On a side note, I also pitched this to a friend who is a Vermont alum, the conversation went down like this (I will protect her name, so we'll refer to her as "T"):

Me: I'm having a party for the BU v. Vermont game on Saturday are you interested?
T: I would but I have yoga at 1:30 pm.
Me: That's lame, I had yoga at 1 but canceled this week because of the game
T: hahahaha
Me: I don't really have yoga, I am just trying to make a point
T: I know, thanks for making me feel like an idiot.
Me: Sure, no problem. BU fans, such as myself, like to point out their intellectual superiority whenever possible
T: die.

Later in the day her Facebook status had something to do with Vermont:

T's Facebook Status: "How long do I have to live here before I'm no longer a Vermonter?"
Me: Vermont sucks, GO BU!
T: Wow Castignoli. Now I really hope UVM beats your foo foo dogs on Saturday.

Some might look at this as harassment, but in sports fandom almost anything goes (violence isn't cool).

3/13 - BU v UVM - Patrick Gym - Noon ESPN2 or espn360.com

The Facts:

• The Terriers last reached the title game in 2003 and last won the title game in 2002.
• Vermont has been the team to beat in the America East ever since, They beat BU in the title game 2003 and also won in 2004 and 2005.
• Rookie head coach Pat Chambers makes his first appearance in a conference championship game.
• By beating Stony Brook on Sunday the Terriers have beaten every team in the America East this season except UVM.
• Vermont blew out the Terriers at Patrick Gym in the first meeting and narrowly edged the Terriers at Agganis in the second.
• Year after year these two teams are close to the top of the America East and since the beginning of the '00s have become big rivals.

What Vermont needs to do to win: Dominate the paint on both sides of the court and limit BU to three points.  With a strong forward like Marqus Blakely, reigning America East defensive player of the year, Vermont will look to get the ball to him to dominate the paint, get easy twos, lots of rebounds, and a few blocked shots.  In any Vermont win over BU, I definitely see Blakely being the player of the game.  They also have to pray that the Terriers have a bad game from beyond the arc.
Vermont's X-factor: Marqus Blakely, the most dominant player on their team needs to have a dominant game.

What BU needs to do to win: Find a way to neutralize Blakely.  It won't be easy because his presence can easily go unmatched at times, but a combination of Jake O'Brien, John Holland and Jeff Pelage will hopefully be able to get it done.  BU's defense has been outstanding lately, if they can continue to play great defense and get most of their three-pointers to fall (Corey Lowe that especially means you), BU should have a great shot to win this game
BU's X-factor: John Holland, so far he has not had John Holland-life performances in the tournament.  He was first team all-conference and the conference's leading scorer, if he performs like he did in the regular season the Terriers are going to be hard to stop on offense.

Other exciting thing to watch: Corey Lowe is having a dominant tournament performance.  In the Hartford and SBU games he was making almost everything from three-point range.  In the Hartford game he scored 28 and versus SBU he scored 26.  If the senior puts up a similar performance in the championship, he will win player of the Tournament regardless what the outcome is.

If this game was a 90's action movie: Die Hard, Exciting from beginning to end, a physical battle between good (John McClain - BU) and evil (Hans Guber - Vermont) the hero comes off the court exhausted from a vicious dogfight.

Prediction: Stay tuned, I'm going to keep you waiting until Friday (this is a BU blog you can probably guess).

Random Note

• I don't want this season to ever end, I have had a lot of fun writing in this blog.  But all good things must come to an end, and after it does end I'll have very little to write about.  When I started writing this post I was watching the celebrity gossip show Extra;  maybe in the offseason, I can write about celebrity gossip.  Does anyone have other ideas, what do you want to see me write about?

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