GUESS WHOS COMING TO DINNER

Bucknell hosts the Villanova Violins tonight, who are hoping to break the Buckies' stranglehold on the Big East. As has been noted amongst a number of people, if BU was in the Big East right now, they'd be in first place, 2-0.

I can't speak to how the game will go, other than to say I think VU wins, but I can tell you the consequences are of a BU win or loss today are extraordinary.

A Bucknell W means:

- A national ranking, probably around 20
- Lots more press coverage
- Lots more pressure
- Lots more expectations
- An 8 or higher seed come tourney time, even if they stumble a bit in league play
- The possibility of an at-large bid should BU falter in the PL tournament
- More Bucknell fans coming out of the woodwork (longtime PL messageboard posters KenZ and Dan get props for being there in the Bokai Lalugba days)
- No one in the major conferences, and I mean no one, will schedule BU for the next five years, and they certainly won't be dumb enough to schedule them at BU.
- Pat Flannery flips out and disappears for two weeks, living on the lam with Joe Knight.

A loss means:

- If they don't beat Duke, no at large NCAA bid
- An NIT bid is all but assured just in case
- Bucknell makes lots of money from sold out arena, Bucknell kids get to have time of their lives watching their team play the big boys in Lewisburg
- VU gets to improve their RPI with a win on the road against a quality team

So all in all, the Bison have little or nothing to lose tonight. For 40 minutes they get the chance to move to the next level. But even if they don't, they're still the best team that ever existed at their school and in their league, and that ought to be enough.

0 FOR 6 WITH THREE STRIKEOUTS: AU IS THE CRISTIAN GUZMAN OF THE PL

Your PL Blogger's home team AU Eagles seem unable to get a win, or really do anything right at all lately. To see how bad things have gotten, take a look at 2004 preseason POY Andre Ingram's line last night:

1-8, 3 RB, 3 Pts, 19 minutes

Also of note, Linas Lekavicius played only 8 minutes last night, meaning that last season's starting five played 27 of the 200 minutes in last night's game. Does that tell you anything?

But AU can still turn the ship around, with three cupcakes upcoming in their first three home games. Any other year, wins against Howard, Mount St. Mary's (formerly Mary's School For the Blind and Developmentally Disabled), and Towson were all but assured. Right now it looks like five blind autistic kids could actually take AU.

MATT B'S BAD INTERNET JOURNALISM 101: MAKE EXCUSES

The teams AU has played are a combined 24-3 this year, with Ohio, Loyola, Washington, and La Salle all undefeated.

Looking at the schedule, AU probably ought to have lost 5 of its 6 games. Washington is a top 25 squad, Wagner inexsplicably kicks AU's ass every year, LaSalle has Steven Smith and AU has no answer for him, Ohio might make the sweet 16, and GMU is a legit squad as well. Only the Loyola loss really sticks out. So no panicking yet, AU fans. The previous credentials of Jeff Jones (and Andre Ingram for that matter) entitle them to at least one down year anyway.  @ 2:26 PM