Put the couches in the yard, it's the Herd and The 'Eers Preview

It's Hatfield's and McCoy's(Although, Kentucky gave birth to that feud, but whatever). Today, Green and Gold converge on the capitol city of the Mountain State for basketball supremacy in the land of coonskin caps and coal mines.(We could have said something really, really, off-color here, but we decided to hold off...I am sure we will later.)


This game is the very definition of a rivalry. It's ingrained in the folks from the 'By God' to be feudin' and a fightin' with someone. The two schools have turned their hate towards one another, and it has led to one of the nation's more enjoyable rivalries in both hoops and football.

No matter how touted either squad is coming into the game, this one is usually a battle and a toss up. Throw all logic out the 'winder, stats and and pedigree mean nothing in this one.

And besides all that, Jesco White don't want no sloppy, slimy eggs.

So, grab your wife, who may be your cousin, get the kids in the back of the truck, pour some gas on the couch, get that John Denver album(or Kathy Mattea) and put it on repeat, and head on down to Charleston on Corridor G in your best bibs, it's time for The Herd and 'Eers. (*Marshall's bench should be on the watch for quarters flying your way, right Coach Herrion? WVU fans are about as subdued as a caged neanderthal.)

Marshall comes into the game as the Nation's best rebounding team, and have what I consider the best player in the country that people might not be aware of much, DeAndre Kane. The sophomore leads the Herd with 15.9 points per game. They will crash the boards, and more than likely, they will win that battle.

That is thanks in large part to Dennis Tinnon, who averages almost 11 rebounds a game, and just shy of 10 points a game to go along with his rebounding prowess. Tinnon is also the Nation's leading rebounder when it comes to cleaning the offensive glass and creating second-chance opportunities, with 4.9 per game.

Right behind Tinnon on that offensive board list is Kevin Jones of WVU.  He is also 5th in the nation in over-all rebounding with 11.9 a game. His 20.1 points per game is good enough for 15th in the nation in scoring.

The Herd also comes in 1st place when it comes to team offensive rebounding. Folks, it's a safe bet that these two teams are used to getting the misses. It's just going to be a matter of who fights more in this one to clean up the mess of a missed shot. With the team effort, I think the edge goes to the Fightin' McConaugheys of Huntington.

Also, Damier Pitts is still running the show for Marshall. The senior guard led the upstart Herd in last season's upset of, then #21, WVU with his 25 points in the 75-71 win.
At the start of the season, we didn't have a lot of hope for Bob Huggins' Mountain Thugs, after they dropped an exhibition game to DII Northern Kentucky. However, The By God, or as the shirt says 'West Fuckin' Virginia', has improved it seems with each outing. Thus far, WVU has played 4 teams ranked in the
Top 25, in which they won 1 of those contests, an upset of the currently ranked #9 Georgetown Hoyas. The loses were to #24 Mississippi State in Starkville, #7 Baylor in OT in Vegas, and they succumbed to #16 UConn in a very winnable game in Stoors.

West Virginia will also rely heavily on guard Truck Bryant. The senior is averaging 17.6 points per game. West Virginia is a very young team, with some good veteran leadership, albeit only 4 members of their team are upper-classmen, 2 juniors and 2 seniors.

They also rely on the play of the poor-man's version of Enes Kanter, Deniz Kilicli. The bearded one form Istanbul adds his 11 points and 5.4 rebounds per game to the table for Huggins. Kilicli is also coming off two good performances in a row against UConn and Rutgers.

Those 3 of the 4 uppers, were on the WVU team that upset the Draft Cats of Kentucky in the Regional Finals of 2010.

Freshman Jabarie Hinds is the 'X Factor' for the Mountaineers. The freshman is a capable player, who has shown the ability to put up points.
Marshall has a touted freshman of their own in Justin Coleman. Coleman has the same, if not more potential as Hinds, and it's not hard to imagine the youngster taking a game over. It won't happen today, nor probably this season, but it's coming.

Mix that in with Shaq Johnson, Nigel Spikes, Robert Goff, and Dago Pena, not too mention size that Marshall can go to on their bench, and I just think that the Herd has the numbers and depth here over WVU, and The Herd is not an overally aged team either. Plenty of youth coming out of the locker rooms tonight. Yeah, it's time to wave like mad, cartooners....

On the season, The Herd has played 2 teams who were ranked nationally at the time of their meetings. The first was an upset win of The Bearcats of Cincinnati on their home floor, in OT. They also traveled to #1 Syracuse and played the Orange fairly well, out rebounding the nations number one, but not really being able to put it all together, dropping that one 62-56.

Marshall is also coming off an emotional and gut-wrenching, as well as apparent heart-attack inducing for coach Herrion, win at the Cam Henderson Center over conference rival , UCF, Michael Jordan's boy, and Huntington's own Judas, Donnie Jones.

The team, and only, West Virginia DI schools have a common opponent outside of the Big East schools they will count amongst their numbers this season in the MAC's Akron Zips. The Roos lost to WVU in Morgantown, and then traveled the country roads back into West By God, and defeated Marshall in Huntington, a former MAC rival.

The Classic by the numbers:

First meeting January 16, 1929
Last Meeting January 19, 2011
Last Result Marshall: 75-71
Next Meeting January 18, 2012
Number of Meetings 39
All-Time Series WVU: 28-11
Largest victory WVU: 44-21 (1/16/1929)
Current Streak Marshall :Won 1
Longest MU Win Streak 2 (12/06/1980-12/05/1981) (1/11/2005-1/25/2006)
Longest WVU Win Streak 8 (1/16/1929-1/14/1931 2/20/1978-1/02/1980)
Last ten games WVU: 7-4



Our Pick for 2012: 63-54 Marshall over WVU.
One thing we know for sure: Keith Morehouse is going to absolutely lose his shit at some point tonight.

Best thing in Charleston since Ric Flair, Monster Truck Rallies, and that Reba and Vince combo concert.

( I know, we could have been way more, let's say, vicious in describing this game and the atmosphere. But, We have family in The By God, and we kinda' pull for Marshall.Yeah, ever so often we get a Herd On.)