If anyone figured to beat St. John’s in the annual Holiday Festival, it figured to be Hofstra, which defeated the Red Storm in the Festival title game in 2006, the fourth consecutive time that St. John’s had lost to its cross-town rival.

But, on Sunday, the Red Storm rallied from five points down with just under seven minutes remaining to beat the Pride by twelve, and reach the 2009 Holiday Festival championship game on Monday night.

So, finally getting by the local area nemesis of the current decade (before Sunday, St. John’s was 2-5 against Hofstra this decade after going 19-0 against the Pride previously), playing an Ivy League representative like Cornell figured to be a matchup that would yield St. John’s, appearing in the tournament for the 44th time, its 15th Festival title — especially against a Cornell team which had never won that tournament, and hadn’t played in it since 1970.

Not so fast.

That Ivy League school not only has its superior academic reputation, but it can teach a Big East team like St. John’s a few lessons on the basketball court as well.

Such as the values of ball movement, finding teammates, shooting the ball efficiently, possessing a balanced inside-outside offensive attack, solid defense, and being well-coached.

It also doesn’t hurt to get off on the right Foote… yes, that’s with a capital “F” and a silent “e,” as in Jeff Foote, Cornell’s very tough-to-deal-with, 7-foot, 245-pound senior center who was named the  2009 Holiday Festival Most Valuable Player.

At least for one night, Foote, along with several others, helped make the Big Red (9-2) better than the Red Storm (9-2), in Cornell’s 71-66 comeback win at Madison Square Garden.

At first glance, some of the numbers in this game could be deceiving, but a deeper look shows how much better the Cornell offense operated versus how much St. John’s struggled to achieve the same offensive output from the field.

Each team made 24 field goals, and each sank 11 three-pointers.

However, Cornell was much more efficient, dishing out 18 assists while shooting a blistering 57 percent (24-for-42) from the field, including 61 percent (11 of 18) from three-point range.

In contrast, St. John’s shot 42 percent (24 of 57) from the floor, going 44 percent (11 of 25) from beyond the arc.

Behind junior guard Dwight Hardy’s 13 points early on, the Red Storm made 7 of its first 9 three-pointers while jumping out to a 33-22 lead with 5:36left in the first half. Hardy wouldn’t score again until late in the second half, finishing the game with a team-high 19 points.

Meanwhile, Foote (19 points, 8-10 fg, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks) scored 6 points during a 9-3 Cornell run to close the first half, pulling the Big Red to within 36-31 at halftime.

From that point on, St. John’s couldn’t shake Cornell, and at a few points in the second half, the fairly small yet loud contingent of Big Red supporters made the quarter-filled Garden sound more like a Cornell home game on St. John’s own floor.

Behind the continued inside threat of Foote and hot perimeter shooting of 6-foot-7 senior Jon Jaques (game-high 20 points, 7-8 fg, 5-6 3-pt fg), Cornell built a 57-51 lead on a beautiful up-and-under reverse layup by Foote with 7:35 left in the game.

St. John’s wouldn’t go away, and the Red Storm tied the game at 60-60, but Foote’s basket with 2:26 left put Cornell ahead to stay, 62-60.

Jaques’ right wing three-pointer after some nice ball movement by Cornell, gave the Big Red a 67-62 lead 31.4 seconds remaining.

A right-corner trey by Hardy pulled St. John’s to within 69-66 with 15.5 seconds left, but free throws sealed the first ever Holiday Festival championship for Cornell.

Foote, who averaged 17.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks in the two-day tournament, almost couldn’t believe he was named the MVP.

“It’s surreal,” he said. “I have only been MVP once before and it was a high school tournament. To be MVP on this stage is unreal. It was extra nice [at Madison Square Garden]. My brother got to see me and my parents were watching on TV, so [that] made it all worth it.”

In terms of the larger picture, the win, Cornell’s seventh straight victory this season, was a huge one for its program, as it snapped a 40-year, 46-game drought against Big East opponents, and drew high praise from St. John’s coach Norm Roberts, who said, “Give them a lot of credit. They made some huge shots. They’re a good basketball team, without a doubt, [a potentially tough] NCAA tournament team,” which Roberts added “could beat [almost] any team in the country” when it’s playing as well as it did against St. John’s on Monday night.

“This is a huge step for our program,” Cornell head coach Steve Donahue said. “Here’s a team that’s on a roll [St. John’s came in 9-1 with its only loss at Duke] and we play them at their place, at Madison Square Garden, in a very prestigious tournament, in front of a lot of alums. It’s a huge step, I feel great for [our players]. To win in this venue, in this environment, is awesome.”

A word of caution to anyone else which might lie in the way of Cornell taking further steps, such as a potential weak three or four seed who might draw Cornell on that 13 or 14 line come March.

And, why not?

In its first year of existence, the CAA placed a record-tying five teams in the 16-team 2007 FCS playoffs, while springing a few upsets over top seeds from other conferences and placing Delaware in the FCS championship game.

For an encore, the CAA broke that record, sending six teams to the 2008 FCS playoffs, while producing last season’s FCS national champion, the Richmond Spiders. There’s every reason to believe that CAA success will continue in 2009. Richmond is ranked second in the nation, heading a group of four CAA teams ranked among the top eight in the 2009 preseason FCS coaches poll.

One of those teams, #5 Villanova, and another nationally-ranked team, #19 Maine, kicked things off for the CAA in 2009 on Thursday night. In one case, the CAA impressed against a superior division. In the other, it was the opposite. However, the final results of each were along the same lines of the CAA’s first two seasons –- winning in the CAA continued, and in dramatic fashion each time.

Villanova 27, Temple 24

Seventeen days before the Philadelphia Eagles’ scheduled home opener on the same field, Villanova used a big second half to rally from deficits of 10-0 at halftime and 24-14 in the fourth quarter, to capture the inaugural Mayor’s Cup game with a 27-24 victory over Football Bowl Division opponent Temple, at Lincoln Financial field in Philadelphia, when redshirt freshman kicker Nick Yako calmly booted a 32-yard game-winner as time expired.

Ironically, Villanova’s last win against an FBS opponent was a different three-point win over Temple, 23-20, in 2003, in the first game ever played at the same stadium affectionately called The Link.

This time, the opportunistic Wildcats won the turnover battle 5-1, while their second-half comeback was sparked by signal caller, senior quarterback Chris Whitney, who rebounded from a mediocre 7-for-14 first half to complete 17 of 21 passes after halftime, to finish 24 of 35 for a career-high 278 yards. Whitney’s favorite target was a big one –- both in physical stature and in his ability to come up big on Thursday night –- 6-foot-4 senior wide receiver Brandyn Harvey, who had game-highs of 9 catches and 142 receiving yards, including a clutch 6-yard touchdown reception from Whitney with 1:24 left in the game, to tie the score, 24-24, setting the stage for Yako to be the hero… Up next for the 1-0 Cats is Lehigh at home, on September 12th.

Maine 34, St. Cloud State 27

While Villanova knocked off an FBS team on a neutral field, Maine struggled in what should have been a fairly easy season-opening tune-up at home, against feisty and inspired Division II St. Cloud State. After a St. Cloud State field goal, Maine took its first lead, 7-3, on a first quarter 80-yard kickoff return from Desmond Randall, who bounced back nicely after missing the entire 2008 season with an injury. However, the Black Bears, could not contain wide receiver Fred Williams, who set a school record with a game-high 15 catches (all but 7 of St. Could State’s 22 completions for the game) for 171 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown pass, putting St. Cloud State ahead, 24-20, with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter. But, what senior quarterback Mike Brusko was limited to (9-13 for 101 yards) with his arm, he did with his legs, carrying 22 times for 86 yards, as the Black Bears’ running game was in session –- that is, with sophomore tailback Derek Session, who led the way with 133 rushing yards in 22 attempts, including a 10-yard touchdown run that gave Maine a short-lived 27-24 lead with 1:59 left in regulation, before Brusko plunged into the end zone with what proved to be the game-winning score in overtime, from a yard out… the Black Bears next game is its CAA opener at Northeastern, on September 12th.

Other CAA Teams Kicking Off This Weekend

Nine other CAA teams will start their seasons this weekend. Of special note…

A pair of CAA teams will challenge the FBS and the ACC on the road on Saturday:

- #2 Richmond will play at Duke while…

- #14 William & Mary stays in state to play at Virginia.

Meanwhile, also on Saturday:

- #18 UMass will play an FBS and Big 12 opponent when it travels to Kansas State, and…

- Hofstra, whose #24 ranking following a 4-8 campaign in 2008, demonstrates the depth and quality of the CAA, will host fellow Long Island FCS rival Stony Brook.

Hofstra will travel to Fairfield to face the Stags on Saturday, Feb.

21. The start time and network (ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN 360) will be determined at a later date.

Hofstra has won each of its first three Bracket Buster games, including two against other Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams, since participating in the event for the first time in 2005-06. The Pride won its first Bracket Buster game at home against Siena by a 76-62 score, then captured a dramatic 65-64 win over Holy Cross in 2006-07 at home on two foul shots from Carlos Rivera in the closing seconds, in a game which was televised on ESPNU.

Last year, Hofstra went on the road for Bracket Buster Weekend for the first time and captured an 81-63 win over local rival Iona in New Rochelle.

The Pride is 5-12 all-time against Fairfield, although the two programs have not met since 1997-98 season, when the Stags won the championship game of the Fairfield A&T Shootout 77-64 to open the season. Hofstra’s last win was in 1986-87 (66-65).

As part of the Bracket Buster agreement, Fairfield will visit Hofstra next season for a game at the Mack Sports Complex.