Ed Cooley's 'Warm Welcome' At Providence Proves Big East Is Best Basketball Conference
Leave your kids at home when Ed Cooley comes to town.
With all due respect to the SEC, who just went on a magical run last year of getting almost their entire league into the NCAA Tournament (including the eventual national champion, Florida), there is no one who embodies the zaniness of college basketball like the Big East.
These maniacs (and I use that term with affection) treat their sport like it's a matter of life and death, and you shouldn't need much more proof than what took place the last 24 hours between the Georgetown Hoyas and Providence Friars.
These two teams sat at identical records of 9-10 heading into Saturday's game, but the lead up to the showdown between these two conference foes felt like a Final Four matchup.
For the uninitiated, Georgetown's coach, Ed Cooley, was the Providence head coach for a dozen years until he left for conference rival Providence three years ago.
And the Friar faithful haven't forgotten the betrayal since.
It started Friday night, when Fox Sports' John Fanta was hosting a "Spaces" on X, and he kept getting bombarded by salty Providence fans trying to get Fanta to slander the current Hoyas coach.
God bless John Fanta, because that man puts up with so much crap from Big East fans every week (although I think he secretly enjoys it).
That was just the beginning of things.
As Cooley and his squad arrived at Amica Mutual Pavilion, the hometown fans let him have it.
Listen to those boos cascading down! Look at those middle fingers fly!
Mind you, this is a man who hasn't been their head coach for three whole years, and they are skewering him like he's the Antichrist.
Things only got more unhinged as the game wore on, with "F--- Ed Cooley" chants being audible over the TV broadcast.
Leave your kids at home when Ed Cooley comes to town.
Cooley did, however, get the last laugh, with his Hoyas coming back from an 18-point hole at halftime and a double-digit deficit in the second half to stun the home crowd and send them home with nothing but anger in their hearts.
How can you not be romantic about college basketball?