Ye olde notebook:
n So, finally it's here.
The War of the Words. WVU's Bob Huggins versus Marshall's Dan D'Antoni. (In the tale of the tape, Huggins has the decided size advantage, but D'Antoni is wiry and cagey.)
Except, of course, the Capital Classic has nothing to do with words. And the coaches won't be squaring off. Bringing us to the real tale of the tape.
Which favors West Virginia. The Mountaineers are No. 20 in the latest Associated Press poll. They are 8-1, while the Thundering Herd is 3-6.
Understand something though: MU has the attention of WVU's coaches after reeling off three straight wins. ("They're playing well," said one. "They're passing well; they're playing together.")
So don't just dismiss the possibility of another classic, well, Classic tonight at the Civic Center. And watch a few matchups particularly closely.
First, check out WVU's defensive effort on MU's Ryan Taylor, a 6-foot-5, 227-pound forward. D'Antoni will try to isolate Taylor. The junior will be moving to the basket. Can Mountaineer big man Jon Holton effectively guard Taylor without fouling?
Second, watch Marshall's 6-4 Austin Loop, who is hitting 43.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. West Virginia will have to make Loop dribble. Will freshman Esa Ahmad be up to the challenge? It certainly is a tough matchup for Ahmad.
Meanwhile, MU's James Kelly, who leads his team in scoring, will be guarded by WVU's Devin Williams, which will be a hoot. Kelly runs well and can finish. Williams can bang inside against anyone.
The game's proverbial X factor will be sophomore MU guard Jon Elmore. The Charleston native can flat out play. This, however, will be just his second game of action for the Herd. Is the rust off?
On the flip side, Marshall needs to be able handle West Virginia's relentless pressure. The Mountaineers simply swarm. That can test a team's mettle - and sanity.
Also, the Thundering Herd has been outrebounded by an average of 6.4 per game this season. That isn't good when you're going against the Mountaineers. And pay particular attention to WVU's offensive rebounding. The Mountaineers have 162 offensive boards so far this season. That's more than twice as many as their opponents, which have 73.
The call: WVU 80, Marshall 65.
n While on the subject of WVU hoops, it seems the Mountaineers are still having trouble shaking off the large loss to Kentucky in last season's Sweet 16 - at least in regard to public perception.
When West Virginia lost a week ago to then-No. 10 Virginia, the Mountaineers fell from No. 14 to No. 20. That's a large drop considering, according to the poll, WVU was supposed to lose to the Cavaliers.
But here's a nugget. Last year, UCLA was also demolished by Kentucky. On a nationally televised game, the Bruins were down 24-2 to the Wildcats and fell 83-44.
I wonder if WVU's players took note that UCLA came back this season and not only stayed with Kentucky, but won 87-77.
n A couple football notes as West Virginia prepares for Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl.
First, ASU coach Todd Graham has a new offensive coordinator in place since the end of the season. He's hired Southern Miss offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey to replace Mike Norvell, now the head coach at Memphis.
Lindsey is an interesting story because he moved to Southern Miss after being an Auburn offensive "analyst" in 2013. (Apparently, calling a guy an "analyst" is a way of hiring another coach, albeit off the field.)
Lindsey spent most of his coaching career in the high school ranks, but helped completely turn around USM's woeful offense by taking over the play-calling duties from head coach Todd Monken.
Auburn, by the way, pops up a lot with the Arizona State program. Graham gave current Tiger head coach Gus Malzahn his first opportunity to run a college offense. Also, watch Arizona State's left guard Christian Westerman, a 6-4, 300-pound redshirt senior, against WVU.
The lineman was rated as one of the nation's top three tackles and had his pick of Power 5 schools. He chose Auburn, stayed there two years and transferred to ASU. (He grew up in Chandler, Arizona.) Recently, he was named to the All-Pac 12 second team. He was the only ASU player on the first or second teams.
n In this season of awards, my honoree for Team That's Copying WVU Football Circa Last Year: Texas Tech.
The Techies went from 4-8 in 2014 to a seven-win season this year. Sound familiar?
Wonder if Kliff Kingsbury has ever met Dana Holgorsen.
Oh, that's right ...
n And finally ...
A nugget for both the old and new schoolers among you. The old-school folks might remember Rex Foster, who worked closely with former WVU basketball coach Gale Catlett.
Well, I ran into Foster at the recent Super Six. And you know those lower-level bowls I told you I won't be watching? I might have to check out the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl between the Akron Zips and Utah State.
That's because Foster's son Kyle, a freshman, is the holder for Terry Bowden's Zips. Listed as a punter, Foster has played in all 12 Akron games this year.
Oh, and Foster's season debut? It was at the home of College Football Playoff entrant Oklahoma.
No pressure there at all.