Update: Game Results: While the Cats had a tough loss in Syracuse tonight, 77-95, at least four VUHoops readers took medals in this round. Gold Medal: cdtoffers (77-85), earning 5 points; Silver Medals: HoyaSaxa (77-82) and Jim89 (72-87), earning 3 points each; Bronze Medal: JIm k (80-84), earning 1 point. Select "read more" to view the 65 readers now on our leader board.
LEADER BOARD AFTER 24 ROUNDS
| Reader | Points |
| Andy ’06 | 21 |
| Pete | 18 |
| JIm k | 15 |
| Barney Rubble '87 | 14 |
| NJ Super’Nova | 14 |
| Pena Power | 14 |
| Tommyboy | 14 |
| Jim89 | 13 |
| Old School | 13 |
| Ricky Williams | 11 |
| Ed '77 | 10 |
| Steph '76 | 9 |
| Tom 87 | 9 |
| Bri '13 | 8 |
| Lou '06 | 8 |
| NovaCat94 | 8 |
| ramon usategui | 8 |
| Alex '09 | 7 |
| cdtoffers | 7 |
| jm | 7 |
| MIKE | 7 |
| Wallace | 7 |
| Chad | 6 |
| Joe | 6 |
| Kmac | 6 |
| Paul | 6 |
| pttam7yanks | 6 |
| supernova | 6 |
| bella-nova | 5 |
| Bill '77 | 5 |
| Colt | 5 |
| Kait '08 | 5 |
| Pretty Toney | 5 |
| Ray '68 | 5 |
| wayneg | 5 |
| HoyaSaxa | 4 |
| Squeaky 99 | 4 |
| Winston | 4 |
| B.Graves | 3 |
| Chillcat | 3 |
| chuck st.petersburg | 3 |
| CJ | 3 |
| imisskylelowry | 3 |
| Kittlesfan95 | 3 |
| maalik lowry | 3 |
| mj | 3 |
| Schitzengigles | 3 |
| Tony | 3 |
| Brendan D. | 2 |
| DJ | 2 |
| EDM '09 | 2 |
| Eli | 2 |
| jimmy | 2 |
| rise | 2 |
| Chris | 1 |
| David | 1 |
| doctor feelgoode | 1 |
| EG'77 | 1 |
| Friar Fanatic '13 | 1 |
| JROLL | 1 |
| mddcny | 1 |
| Paul '91 | 1 |
| SpecialK73 | 1 |
| TK87 | 1 |
| Wayns World | 1 |
Update: Saturday, February 27, 6:45PM A total of 51 VUH readers posted predictions, seven predicting a Syracuse victory. As a group, the readers see ‘Nova winning 82-79 (a margin of 3.0 points and implied total points of 161). The Vegas odds-makers see things differently, favoring Syracuse (-5.0) in slightly lower scoring contest (over/under set at 156.5), implying a final score of 76-81). The scatter graph depicting the readers’ predictions as well as statistical information about Syracuse is provided below. Note, with the mysterious disappearance of BossHogHazzard, Chillcathas stepped up by predicting a 110-75 victory by the Cats. His prediction was accepted but (in the BossHogHazzard tradition) did not fit within the scale of the chart.
Window Opening: Friday, February 26, 10:00PM The window is finally open for our readers to post their predicted final scores for the biggest game of the season so far @ Syracuse in our Closest to the Pin Contest. After 23rounds, our leaderboard has Andy ‘06 in first place with 21 points, Pete in second place with 18 points, and there is a five-way tie for third place among Barney Rubble ’87, JimK, NJSuper’Nova, Pena Power, and Tommyboy with 14 points each.
So far this season, Villanova (23-4, 12-3) has scored an average of 83.8 points while holding their opponents to 72.0. Syracuse (26-2, 13-2) has scored an average of 81.2 points while holding their opponents to 65.3. The table below summarizes Syracuse's Big East game results so far this season.
| ORANGE | OPPONENT | MARGIN | OPPONENT | |
| 80 | @ | 73 | 7 | Seton Hall |
| 72 | vs | 82 | (10) | Pittsburgh |
| 82 | vs | 65 | 17 | South Florida |
| 81 | @ | 65 | 16 | Rutgers |
| 72 | @ | 71 | 1 | West Virginia |
| 84 | @ | 71 | 13 | Notre Dame |
| 76 | vs | 71 | 5 | Marquette |
| 73 | vs | 56 | 17 | Georgetown |
| 59 | @ | 57 | 2 | DePaul |
| 85 | vs | 68 | 17 | Providence |
| 71 | @ | 54 | 17 | Cincinnati |
| 72 | vs | 67 | 5 | Connecticut |
| 60 | vs | 66 | (6) | Louisville |
| 75 | @ | 71 | 4 | Georgetown |
| 99 | @ | 85 | 14 | Providence |
Villanova is ranked #7, has an RPI of 8, and SOS of 41. Syracuse is ranked #4, has an RPI of 4 and an SOS of 17. We’ll post our game preview and the Las Vegas point spread and over/under on game day.