Big East Championship: Why Georgetown Will Win Title

No one thought these two teams would be matched up in the Big East Championship game, but, nonetheless, they have done it. And by they I mean the eighth seeded Georgetown Hoyas and the third seeded West Virginia Mountaineers.

While West Virginia boasts a better conference record and seed, I see them falling later tonight to the feet of John Thompson III, as well as to a player that is as hot as any player in college basketball: Greg Monroe.

He is my reason why the Hoyas emerge victorious tonight.

Monroe has lead Georgetown through South Florida, Syracuse, and Marquette already, so why not add yet another team to the list? Yes, that's correct, West Virginia will be added to Monroe's list.

Dating back to the last conference game against Cincinnati, Georgetown has put together a nice four game winning streak, due in large part to sensational sophomore Greg Monroe. What is even more impressive is the time of year that the Hoyas have put this streak together, as well as how they've done it.

The Hoya guards have been known to shoot a lot, but when you have shooters like Austin Freeman and Chris Wright, you can settle for some three point attempts. But, the recent success has came from feeding Monroe in the post. The bench has also improved its play, but that's a whole different story.

Take a look at Greg Monroe's numbers over the past four games:

Against Cincinnati : 19 points and 15 rebounds

Against USF: 16 points and eight rebounds

Against Syracuse: 15 points and ten rebounds

Against Marquette: 23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks

And to add to that, he also had 22 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort on the first of March.

So, add all those together and the end result looks promising, doesn't it? And you can argue that that West Virginia will win because they just by a 13 point margin a little over a week ago.

In that game, players were sick, and Greg Monroe had just began his hot streak; and like Monroe, the team hadn't hit their hot stretch.

It's going to be a whole different game tonight.

Which Mountaineer can guard and match up with Greg Monroe?

No one.

Monroe's ability to play inside, as well as outside on the perimeter, will guide JT3's Princeton-style offense. Monroe will make plays for himself, as well opening things up for Freeman and Monroe.

I'll go out on a limb and say that he gets a triple-double tonight, and, with those stats above, that doesn't sound out of reach with a guy like Monroe.

While West Virginia has two great players in Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks, Bob Huggins's team rarely can shoot, resulting in more drives. Usually, it can work for their team like it has so far this tournament, but they haven't had a Greg Monroe and his long arms manning the lane.

The defensive abilities of Monroe will give West Virginia problems. He may not block shots, but like the other great shot blockers in the history of the game, Monroe will alter the shots of his opponents.

Greg Monroe will be the difference maker tonight at MSG. He's so hard to match up with, and I'm a firm believer that West Virginia can't handle him, just like he did in the earlier loss to the Mountaineers.

Georgetown is healthy now, and hotter than ever; expect the end result from the previous matchup to mean nothing in this one.

With his recent performance, this may be the last Big East game we see Greg Monroe play; but, after the game tonight, I think he'll be hoisting up the Big East Championship Trophy and bringing yet another title back to Georgetown University.

Get ready for another outstanding Big East Championship Game.