by Terrence Mayrose

Pitt Basketball In Good Hands

It seemed pretty clear entering this season that Pitt would be “rebuilding” after losing a veteran core of Levance Fields, Dejuan Blair, Sam Young, & Tyrell Biggs that was seconds away from the Final Four. It would be hard to blame the Panthers for a mediocre season after losing so many talented players; although it seems as if Jamie Dixon, 2009 Naismith Coach of the Year, had other ideas. Off to a 13-2 (3-0) start behind 17.2 PPG from sophomore Ashton Gibbs  and another 12.2 from junior Brad Wanamaker’s , the #20 Panthers are quietly becoming a force in the Big East, and the nation.

Recently seeded as high as four in ESPN’s Bracketology, the Panthers certainly have the resume to back it.  Aside from an inexplicable loss to 7-8 Indiana, Pitt’s only other misstep is to #1 Texas.

Tonight’s game at #15 UCONN could be the most important of the season thus far. A win over the Huskies would solidify them as an elite team in the nation’s toughest conference. Dixon’s crew has made a case to put them in that discussion with a road win over then #5 Syracuse, but taking down another Top 25 conference foe would end any doubts that they are for real. Don’t think the experienced Pitt leader doesn’t know how much this win would mean for his team in the long run. Look for a tough battle between Ashton Gibbs and Kemba Walker in Storrs tonight.

Something to think about if Pitt does win tonight, though, is whether it’s out of the question to name Jamie Dixon Coach of The Year so far .  How many coaches could lose so much talent from an Elite Eight team, and be 14-2 and 4-0 in the Big East ? So far, just one.  Jamie Dixon.

Time for Purdue Basketball To Sink Or Swim

While Pitt was expected to struggle this season, Purdue was touted as a team on the rise. Seems as if the Boilmakers are reading their own press clippings, as they’ve stumbled to a 2-2 start in Big Ten Conference play. Back to back losses toWisconsin, and Ohio State put Matt Painter’s team in an interesting situation as they travel to overachieving 13-2 Northwestern and an Illinois squad currently sitting atop the conference .   We’ll know soon enough if Purdue is a contender or pretender based on the next two contests.

T&Two NCAA Bracket Busters to Watch

Northern Iowa 15-1 (Missouri Valley) – The veteran team already has a win over pre season top 25 Siena.

Louisiana Tech (16-1) (Western Athletic) – 4-0 in conference play, and wins over Houston and Nevada as resume boosters.

Cornell (14-3) (Ivy)- A recent five point loss at Kansas put them on the national radar. Wins over St. John’s, Davidson, Alabama, LaSalle, and UMass show they’re capable of excelling against the  big conferences.

Crucial Stretch For Duke Basketball

Duke enters a critical section of its schedule that could go a long way to deciding if  the Blue Devils can end their five year stretch without a  Final Four appearances . The annual mid-January/early February trek through the ACC has literally been Hell for the Devils. Taking a look at recent years : In 2009-, they were 18-1 on  Jan 28th.  A loss to Wake Forest started a skid that saw  four  losses in a six game span  through Feb. 15th.  The 2007 season found Coach K’s boys at 18-3 before a Feb 1st home loss to Virginia started a four game skein.  Duke went 4-8 from that point to finish the season, including first round losses in both the  ACC and NCAA tourneys.

Coach K has been quick to remind Blue Devil faithful that this year’s team is much older, and bigger than teams of the past. It will be seen very shortly if the 13-2 Dukies will use their age and experience during a stretch of games including Wake Forest, Clemson, and Georgetown in the next few week

Big Fish in a Small Pond

Hats off to Appalachian State’s Donald Sims, who torched Davidson for 44 points last week.

Games to Watch This Week

Wednesday – Pitt @ UCONN- Typical Big East dogfight. Don’t rule out anything amazing…not even  six overtimes.
Thursday- Cal @ Washington State-Preseason top ten Cal is quickly slipping, and needs a win to resurrect its tourney hopes.

Saturday – Syracuse @ West Virginia.  Georgia Tech vs North Carolina.

Head Scratcher of the Week

Got an email from Chris Beermann that informed me that he recently attended a COLLEGE game, where a coach :

• -Asked for a timeout while the other team was dribbling  the ball
• -Asked the ref “if he could have the foul on #11”, instead of  his leading scorer who had just picked up his third personal foul.

It’s not surprising that Chris also informed me that the coach’s team lost.

PITTSBURGH FOOTBALL 2009 SCHEDULE

1. Sat., Sept. 5 Youngstown State
2. Sat., Sept. 12 at Buffalo
3. Sat., Sept. 19 Navy
4. Sat., Sept. 26 at North Carolina State
5. Fri., Oct. 2 at LOUISVILLE (8 p.m., ESPN2)
6. Sat., Oct. 10 CONNECTICUT
7. Fri., Oct. 16 at RUTGERS (8 p.m., ESPN)
8. Sat., Oct. 24 USF
9. Sat., Nov. 7 SYRACUSE
10. Sat., Nov. 14 Notre Dame (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)
11. Fri., Nov. 27 at WEST VIRGINIA (ABC/ESPN)
12. Sat., Dec. 5 CINCINNATI (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

….Headlines courtesy of pittsburghpanthers.com

2009 BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW

1) SOUTH FLORIDA- While Cincinnati seems to be the consensus pick to win the conference, we’re tabbing the Bulls because we love the fact that they have the best player in the conference on each side of the ball.  QB Matt Grothe is a four year starter who has thrown for 8,000 YDS and run for another 2,000 in his first three seasons and has his top two receivers coming back in A.J. Love and Jessie Hester.  DE George Selvie leads a strong, experienced defense whose secondary, led by Nate Allen, should allow him enough time to continue to menace Big East QBs.

2) CINCINNATI- QB Tony Pike leads an explosive, no-huddle offense that vaulted the Bearcats into the Orange Bowl last year.  WR Mardy Gilyard teams with Pike on the league’s most formidable passing combo.  A huge, experienced O Line should allow Cincy’s running-game-by-committee enough space to keep opponents from focusing on the passing attack.   There could be problems on defense, however, as Cincinnati converts from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and returns just one starter.

3) WEST VIRGINIA- If you haven’t noticed already, we love playmakers here at the CollegeSportsView.  That’s why we’ll look past the fact that the Mountaineers must replace three offensive linemen as well as QB Pat White.  QB Jarrett Brown, who backed up White last season but also saw time at WR and RB will have RB Noel Devine to lean on.  Devine ran for nearly 1,300 YDS last year and is one of the conference’s most dynamic players.  The defense should be fine with seven returning starters.

4)RUTGERS- Love those teams that have experienced O Lines returning.  It’ll help Greg Schiano decide on who will be the feature back from a host of talented runners that showed promise last season.  Look for Kordell Young to get the first look.  An uncertain QB situation could hurt the Knights early, as whoever it is will be working with a green receiving corps.  The bet here is that Dom Natale will be the guy.

5) PITTSBURGH- Nothing but bad news for the Panthers’ offense as they lost both LeSean McCoy and coordinator Matt Cavanagh to the NFL.  Sr. Bill Stull returns at QB.  A strong D Line will have to come up very big for Pitt to have any hope for a successful season.

6)CONNECTICUT- A strong defense, whose six returning starters are led by leading tackler Scott Lutrus will have to carry the load for the Huskies.  RB Donald Brown took his skills to the NFL while UConn must also replace two starters up front.  The switch to a spread offense comes at a bad time, as QB Zach Frazer does not have the skills to run it.

7) LOUISVILLE- RB Victor Anderson, the Big East newcomer of the year in ’08, may be all the Cardinals have to hang their hats on.  They’ll pick a QB from a cast of three who have never played in the program and be forced to adjust to a new coordinator.  S Brandon Heath leads an otherwise unimpressive defensive unit.

SYRACUSE- They’re starting a QB that hasn’t worn football pads in five years and wasn’t a very good point guard, either.  It’ll be a long season for the Orange.

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2009 BIG EAST FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

Team-By-Team Schedules

CINCINNATI
Sat., Sept. 5 at RUTGERS
Sat., Sept. 12 Southeast Missouri State
Sat., Sept. 19 at Oregon State
Sat., Sept. 26 Fresno State
Sat., Oct. 3 at Miami (Ohio)
Thu., Oct. 15 at USF (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Oct. 24 LOUISVILLE
Sat., Oct. 31 at SYRACUSE
Sat., Nov. 7 CONNECTICUT
Fri., Nov. 13 WEST VIRGINIA (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Sat., Nov. 28 Illinois
Sat., Dec. 5 at PITTSBURGH (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

CONNECTICUT
Sat., Sept. 5 at Ohio
Sat., Sept. 12 North Carolina
Sat., Sept. 19 at Baylor
Sat., Sept. 26 Rhode Island
Sat., Oct. 10 at PITTSBURGH
Sat., Oct. 17 LOUISVILLE
Sat., Oct. 24 at WEST VIRGINIA
Sat., Oct. 31 RUTGERS
Sat., Nov. 7 at CINCINNATI
Sat., Nov. 21 at Notre Dame (2:30 p.m., NBC)
Sat., Nov. 28 SYRACUSE
Sat., Dec. 5 USF (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

LOUISVILLE
Sat., Sept. 5 Indiana State
Sat., Sept. 19 at Kentucky
Sat., Sept. 26 at Utah
Fri., Oct. 2 PITTSBURGH (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Sat., Oct. 10 Southern Mississippi
Sat., Oct. 17 at CONNECTICUT
Sat., Oct. 24 at CINCINNATI
Sat., Oct. 31 Arkansas State
Sat., Nov. 7 at WEST VIRGINIA
Sat., Nov. 14 SYRACUSE
Sat., Nov. 21 at USF
Sat., Nov. 28 RUTGERS

PITTSBURGH
Sat., Sept. 5 Youngstown State
Sat., Sept. 12 at Buffalo
Sat., Sept. 19 Navy
Sat., Sept. 26 at North Carolina State
Fri., Oct. 2 at LOUISVILLE (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Sat., Oct. 10 CONNECTICUT
Fri., Oct. 16 at RUTGERS (8 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Oct. 24 USF
Sat., Nov. 7 SYRACUSE
Sat., Nov. 14 Notre Dame (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)
Fri., Nov. 27 at WEST VIRGINIA (ABC/ESPN)
Sat., Dec. 5 CINCINNATI (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

RUTGERS
Sat., Sept. 5 CINCINNATI
Sat., Sept. 12 Howard
Sat., Sept. 19 Florida International
Sat., Sept. 26 at Maryland
Sat., Oct. 10 TBA
Fri., Oct. 16 PITTSBURGH (8 p.m., ESPN)
Fri., Oct. 23 at Army (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Sat., Oct. 31 at Connecticut
Thu., Nov. 12 USF (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Nov. 21 at SYRACUSE
Sat., Nov. 28 at LOUISVILLE
Sat., Dec. 5 WEST VIRGINIA (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

USF
Sat., Sept. 5 Wofford
Sat., Sept. 12 at Western Kentucky
Sat., Sept. 19 Charleston Southern
Sat., Sept. 26 at Florida State
Sat., Oct. 3 at SYRACUSE
Thu., Oct. 15 CINCINNATI (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Oct. 24 at PITTSBURGH
Fri., Oct. 30 WEST VIRGINIA (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Thu., Nov. 12 at RUTGERS (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Nov. 21 LOUISVILLE
Sat., Nov. 28 Miami (Fla.)
Sat., Dec. 5 at CONNECTICUT (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

SYRACUSE
Sat., Sept. 5 Minnesota
Sat., Sept. 12 at Penn State
Sat., Sept. 19 Northwestern
Sat., Sept. 26 Maine
Sat., Oct. 3 USF
Sat., Oct. 10 WEST VIRGINIA
Sat., Oct. 24 Akron
Sat., Oct. 31 CINCINNATI
Sat., Nov. 7 at PITTSBURGH
Sat., Nov. 14 at LOUISVILLE
Sat., Nov. 21 RUTGERS
Sat., Nov. 28 at CONNECTICUT

WEST VIRGINIA
Sat., Sept. 5 Liberty
Sat., Sept. 12 East Carolina
Sat., Sept. 19 at Auburn
Thu., Oct. 1 Colorado (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
Sat., Oct. 10 at SYRACUSE
Sat., Oct. 17 Marshall
Sat., Oct. 24 CONNECTICUT
Fri., Oct. 30 at USF (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Sat., Nov. 7 LOUISVILLE
Fri., Nov. 13 at CINICNNATI (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Fri., Nov. 27 PITTSBURGH (ABC/ESPN)
Sat., Dec. 5 at RUTGERS (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

“Where’s my hat?”  It was the only question on the mind of University of Pittsburgh point guard, Levance Fields, as his teammates celebrated their Big East basketball title all around him.  Fields was referring to the “Conference Champs” caps that had been handed to each member of the Pitt contingent after they had avenged their loss to Georgetown in last year’s conference finals.  The Brooklyn born Fields missed the distribution of the championship apparel, as he had a little business to attend to behind the Panthers’ basket where his family and friends had sat all week cheering for their hometown hero.  Another city kid, Ronald Ramon of the Bronx, led the boys from steel town in the scoring column against the Hoyas and seemed to make every important play for Pitt all week long.  They had both achieved All-City status as High School players, Fields at Xaverian and Ramon at All Hallows, and now, they had come home to lead their school to a title in their own backyard.

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The Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden remains one of the biggest events on the New York sports calendar.  Since 1983, all of the big names and big teams have congregated at The World’s Most Famous Arena to give us a glimpse as to why this conference is the best and most competitive in the country.  Which is why it is so frustrating for New York college hoop fans that, even though the tourney takes place on its home court, the Red Storm of St. John’s has spent three of the last four years on the outside looking in.  Adding to the fans’ angst is the fact that so many teams come to the Big Apple led by players who grew up here.  In looking at the history of the basketball program at St. John’s you would be hard pressed to find one of their all time great players who wasn’t from the five boroughs.  Longtime coach, Lou Carnesecca, used to joke that his recruiting budget consisted of a roll of subway tokens.  So, what happened?   Former coach, Mike Jarvis, completely shunned the two city High School leagues and guided the program into its most embarrassing era off the court, leaving current mentor, Norm Roberts, a huge mess to clean up as he started his career in Queens.  But, it’s been four year with Roberts at the helm and the prep players keep leaving the city.  This year alone, two McDonald’s All Americans, Kemba Walker of Rice and Sylvan Landesberg of Holy Cross fled to UConn and Virginia, respectively.  If the Johnnies can’t start to convince some of these kids to play in Carnesecca Arena, Roberts fifth year could be his last.

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Lost in all the talk of March Madness is the incredible run of Tiger Woods.  In the last seven months he has played in ten tournaments, winning nine and finishing in a second place tie in the tenth.
In 2008, he has won all five of his starts.  Last Sunday, with Bart Bryant sitting in the scorer’s tent hoping for a playoff that would never come, Woods snaked a winding 25 foot birdie putt into the cup on the 18th hole for a one stroke win.  Bryant, upon hearing the roar, just turned his head and laughed, as if to say,
“This isn’t a fair fight.”  At 32, Tiger has recorded 64 Tour victories, just 18 shy of the all time record.  Good luck to the rest of the field at Augusta next month.

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Today at noon, the NCAA basketball tournament tips off, sending even the most casual fans into a frenzy of bracket watching and office pools.  Thankfully, it also signifies the end of the annual four day whining festival carried on by the coaches and fans of those teams who felt they should have been invited to the dance but weren’t.  They make absurd points about quality losses, (is there such a thing?), strength of schedule and who might be hot going into March.  Here’s an idea.  Win!  Don’t give us excuses as to why

your squad is 17-11 in a tough conference.  Spare us the details of how tough your out of conference opponents were if you couldn’t beat them.  Look, instead, at the Georgia Bulldogs who came into the SEC tourney as the lowest seed, having won only one conference game in the last month.  Throw in a doubleheader they were forced to win because of a tornado that damaged the Georgia Dome and the deck was certainly stacked against them.  Yet, they ran the table and got a bid.  You want in?  Win your games.

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I guess Bobby Knight is finding out that this media gig is a little tougher than he always thought.  On ESPN’s Selection Special, Knight, when asked his opinion of those bubble teams who may have been unjustly left out of the tourney, went on a two minute rant about how the field should be expanded to 128 teams.  Huh?  It is interesting, however, to see the contrast of the sweater-clad General seated next to Digger Phelps, a man so dapper that he switches his highlighter pen to match the color of his tie.  Memo to Knight:  Wearing the sweater instead of a suit does not in any way diminish your hypocrisy.  You have spent your career railing at the media but now, when a network is willing to throw some cash in your direction, it’s all of a sudden not such a bad deal?  While on the subject of ESPN analysts, is it possible that Len Elmore knows more about the Notre Dame basketball program than the fact that Kyle McAlarney was suspended last year because of marijuana possession?  We get the point, Len. You don’t have to make it during every game.  Or, if you do, maybe you could compare his situation to that of your colleague, Doug Gottlieb, who fled South Bend after his freshman year amidst allegations of credit card fraud and seemingly didn’t have the guts McAlarney had to return and face the music.

*   *    *   *

Finally, for those of you filling out your brackets and looking to eliminate teams who won’t make the Final Four, here are my picks.  North Carolina, Georgetown, Stanford and UCLA with UCLA besting UNC for the title.