The folks at Casual Hoya reached out to do a good old blogger Q&A. You can get an idea of how out of touch with present pop culture and local happenings by clicking over to read my answers (offered after a busy Saturday of watching basketball and drinking). Here, Andrew provides answers to some of my burning questions (asked before the Villanova game on Sunday).

1. Seriously. What the hell happened last year?

Ever hear of Murphy’s Law? No, its not the same thing as this TV show? Yeah, well last year was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law. By the end of January, everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Some blame it on team chemistry – which was apparently disrupted when Chris Wright and Jesse Sapp got in a fight during the Duke game. Some blame it on leadership, or lack thereof, as both DaJuan Summers and Sapp didn’t show a glimpse of passion or care as the season ended.

I blame it on youth. While the previous two reasons certainly had a role, Georgetown really played only three players (Summers, Sapp and Austin Freeman) who had any substantial experience running the offense. Combined with an incredibly tough schedule, quite possibly the most competitive conference ever, a demanding offense requiring reads and cuts, and a horribly weak bench – Georgetown should have played more like the team that ended the season, not the one that started it.

Losing three key players (Roy Hibbert, Jon Wallace, and Patrick Ewing Jr.) is a lot to make up for. But obviously Pitt had to ruin that excuse by doing so damn well this season. F-ckers.

2. While Pitt and Georgetown do not have the same systems, both teams are relatively slow-tempo offense and defense first. Each possession on offense, therefore is valuable. Do you worry about scoring enough?

No doubt scoring has been a problem for The Situation, err, Georgetown. It’s less an issue with the system that the Hoyas run as it is with the players they’ve got, with the starting 5 having to bring it every night with little help from the bench (to be addressed in the next question).

The upshot is that there are 3 players who can lead the team in scoring on any night: Chris Wright, the occasionally out of control point guard who is the most aggressive player going to the basket and looking for his shot; Austin Freeman, the steady 2-3 who is averaging over 20 a game in Big East play; and Greg Monroe, Gtown’s best post player and pro prospect and almost always the player with the most ability on the floor. Rounding out the 5 are Julian Vaughn, a bruiser who has been surprisingly effective both on offense and defense and Jason Clark, a sophomore who has had some great games while fading in others.

Thus far, the team seems to play to the level of the competition and with as well as Pitt’s been playing, they should be focused on offense and scoring.

3. Talk about the rotation for Georgetown. There are 4 Hoyas playing over 32 minutes/game. While the players don’t commit a lot of fouls do you worry about the players being gassed by the end of February?

We worry about the main players being gassed by the middle of January. Clearly the glaring weakness for Gtown has been the bench where a lot was expected of Henry Sims (a sophomore big) and Hollis Thompson (a freshman swing man). While Thompson has been playing consistently (but not putting up great numbers), Sims has been a big disappointment and his minutes are quickly being gobbled by freshman, Jerelle Benimon. Put simply, when the starters are on and can establish a lead, going to the bench isn’t terrifying but when they aren’t on, the Hoyas can go on long scoreless stretches due to weak bench play.

4. Will Georgetown ever consider elevating football? How do you see things playing out with rumors of Big 11 expansion?

Considering that the Georgetown football program has won 1 game in the last two years – the answer to that question is a resounding “Hell No”. This has been a tough decade for Georgetown football, who moved up to Division 1-AA from Division III in 1992. The Hoyas competed in the top half of the MAAC, until moving to the Patriot League in 2000. After that – it was all downhill.

Georgetown does not have the scholarships and facilities to move up to Division 1 football right now – there is no where to build a stadium (the current brand new facility stands uncompleted on campus due to lack of funding), and no money to dedicate to the team. I think the hope it to be competitive within the Patriot League at some point, and not get embarrassed by the likes of Lehigh and Bucknell every year. Georgetown is a decent athletic school: basketball, track, soccer, lax, crew and sailing all have received recognition in the past fews. But it is a long way away from being good in football. Mainly because people don’t care – I can count the number of full Georgetown football games I have sat through on zero hands.

(Anyone else think that Georgetown is another Esherick-esque hire and a heartbeat away from becoming Fordham in athletics from that explanation?)

Big 11 expansion is interesting. The Big East is the only power conference to include non D1-A football schools. I have no doubt in my mind that many of the big football schools would love to kick out non-football contributors, and the recent successes of the Villanova, Georgetown and Marquette programs is the only thing holding it together.

People make the excuse that the Big East will never be broken up because of its history of being a basketball conference, but look what Boston College did earlier this decade. The founding member of the Big East jumped at the first chance of more money – too bad it was a terrible move because Big East football improved while ACC football sucked after the treason.

I hope the Big 10 goes after Missouri and Nebraska and leaves the Big East alone. If they take a Rutgers, West Virginia or Pitt – I see the Big East brining in Memphis or Temple (again) in order to preserve the D1 football vs. non D1-A football split. Alternatively, some want Nova to elevate football – but I think that will eventually lead to the dismembering of the Big East as we know it. Unfortunately, money counts – and Georgetown brings nothing to the table.

Thanks to Andrew for the sharing.