Young's O key for Pitt - Sports

We've spent the last week bashing bloggers and blogmasters in my Great American Journalists class. The class is registered as a nonfiction class and we study journalism from myriad angles -- photojournalism, sports writing, covering campaigns, etc.

Very exciting. The class is actually my favorite class right there with American foreign policy. It's interesting. But I liked that people bashed bloggers. I'm not really a true blogger -- it's not what I strive to do. I feel like blogging is a way for me to put my thoughts on...well, a computer screen. So I decided to post today.

-- I went to West Virginia last night. It was dark, so I can't necessarily report on the scenery from outside the WVU Coliseum. But at roughly 6:30 p.m., I entered the illustrious home of the West Virginia Mountaineers for a showdown of epic proportions.

The stadium was filled with raucous fans. The student section took up an entire side of the stadium. Hint: Pitt -- maybe the Pete could use more seats for the Oakland Zoo. Anyway, the WVU fans were a little offensive -- "Gray's a fa***t" was their favorite chant -- and I didn't like that so much. I mean, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I've seen Grayzilla macking Pitt girls. Hell, he's probably macked WVU girls.

I also noticed a massive influx of camoflauge hats and pants. I would not go to WVU basketball games if I were a deer. Or a bear for that matter. Or an employer on the brink of firing an employee.

But let's talk about the game itself.

-- West Virginia (18-5, 7-4 in the Big East) looked overmatched from the get-go, hitting 3 of their 16 first-half 3-pointers. Pitt led 27-17 at the half. Sam Young keyed everything, looking healthy (finally) and giddy to get some minutes.

Young's O key for Pitt - Sports

I was impressed with the pressure the Mountaineers put on the ball (as usual) with their 1-3-1 zone. It has potential to cause problems in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament.

But is WVU a credible team to make a run in the tournament? At this point, I'd say no. But there are really only three teams in the Big East capable of doing that -- Pitt, Marquette and Georgetown -- and we all know how capable each of those programs are of choking. Throw in Notre Dame as a very, very iffy team. The Fighting Irish could make a run. Or they could lose to Oral Roberts in the 5-12 game. Don't get me wrong -- I liked reading about Oral Roberts, the man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_Roberts) -- ORU is a quality team that could pull an upset, but Notre Dame is a better club. And that would be an embarrassing loss for the Big East.

As you probably know by now, WVU lives and dies by the 3 ball. And if a team defends them well man-to-man, the Mountaineers might bounce out early.

-- Pitt (21-3, 9-1 in the Big East) looked great. The Panthers defended extremely well, challenging every shot (for the most part) and staving a late WVU rally. Good teams coast all game and win close games by the skin of their teeth. Great teams respond to the runs made by the opponent and hits daggers at key spots to kill the comebacks. Pitt did just that last night. Ronald Ramon hit back-to-back 3-pointers to distance Pitt from WVU midway through the half and Young hit a HUGE 3 with four minutes left to crush a 12-0 WVU run.

Against tougher opponents, Pitt will need to defend like it did last night. And if it does, Pitt will definitely have a good shot at Atlanta at the end of March.

-- It was great to see Duke lose, by the way. The Blue Devils actually put up a good fight, but all that matters is that they lost.

-- Pitt fans: don't sleep on Providence when it comes to town Saturday. The Friars are young, gritty and not afraid of anyone. Plus they need a marquee road win. But Pitt is pretty much unbeatable at the Pete (let's just excuse the Marquette loss as a legitimate loss to a legitimate team).

I'll take the Panthers by six. (If this game were in Providence, I might waver.)

-- As I type, I catch updates of news. Sometimes I'll mention a news snippet and comment. Other times, I'll mention something. Anna Nicole Smith apparently just died.

-- There is a noticeable problem in the middle of the Big East -- nobody wants to separate. Let's watch this weekend:

Saturday
'Nova at Seton Hall
Marquette at Georgetown
South Florida at Louisville
Providence at Pitt

Sunday
St. John's at Syracuse

'Nova, 'Cuse, Louisville and Providence are all at critical points. 'Nova and Louisville have quality wins to hold up if they lose this weekend, but PC and Syracuse need big wins now. Syracuse will have to get theirs some other way, because beating St. John's at home isn't going to wrinkle the Selection Committee's collective tie. PC has a shot this weekend to get a gigantic win at Pitt to match its home win over Marquette. We have to see what these guys are made of.

-- OK, more at a later date. Probably after Pitt-PC Saturday.

-- And if you hold a gun to my head, I'll pick some more bubble teams. Comment, comment, comment. I like hearing other college hoops fans opinions. C'mon!