Congrats to NC State senior Ben McCauley for scoring his 1,000th career point in tonight's thrilling 84-81 OT win over Miami. Hope that's something to scream about.
Ben was a few years younger than me in high school. Always nice to see a fellow grad from that tiny school make some noise.
He was good at ping-pong.
So check it. It's the new year, which means football is finishing up and 90% of my blog content will be leaving me within the month. So this is about the time my mind starts shifting to hockey and Pitt basketball.
The Penguins suck fiercely right now, so I wanna take a look at what Pitt's doing. And boy, my timing couldn't be better.
Pitt is about to assume its first #1 overall ranking in school history. That's right, the team that's been playing for over 100 years with especially ridiculous teams over the last 10 or so is finally about to stand atop the nation. Yeah, it's no national championship, but who can argue with a number 1 ranking halfway through the regular season?
We've gotten close like 14 different times it feels like, only to lose some meaningless game that pushes us closer to the lower rankings. This time, Pitt took care of business BEFORE UNC shat the bed. And by took care of business, I mean held Georgetown to 54 points in a 16 point win over the other Big East power.
Since Pitt is about to get some national exposure over the unbeaten record and top ranking, I feel its time to say it right now:
IF YOU'RE A PITT FAN, STOP MENTIONING HOW TEAMS IN YEARS PAST COULDN'T GET PAST THE SWEET SIXTEEN!
Really, that argument makes about as much sense as saying the Chargers are gonna beat the Steelers on Sunday because San Diego beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs in 94. Look, Pitt has had a bitch of a time in March, seemingly struggling to get past the round of 16. I'll be the first to tell you all about tourney loss after tourney loss, but not now. Not as if it pertains to THIS Pitt team. Dejuan Blair and Sam Young had nothing to do with the 02 Sweet 16 loss.
To become a true elite team, the loser stigma needs to go out the door with the cake non-conference schedule. Someone is always complaining about Pitt, whether it be about the tourney losses or that the team seems to always play gravy opponents at home to start the season. Well, the non-conference schedule is over, pushed away by clutch wins over Rutgers and G-town. And Pitt has used the always-there defense (Rutgers posted a Pitt-opponent season record 72 points) to compliment 3 guys averaging double figures.
So just as Pitt quieted the critics regarding their easy early-season schedule, so too must this team quiet the idiots who probably picked Pitt to go far in a number of past tourneys. And it starts with the fans leaving the past, and never using the former failures to justify any future struggles.
Several posts you should read...because I said so.
Good win by Pitt yesterday. The 18-0 run in the first half was awe-inspiring. I want to believe in this team so bad, and could conceivably win any matchup presented to them. However, I've been hurt by this team too often in the Jamie Dixon/Ben Howland-era to get my hopes up.
Apparently, Pitt won because they rank #6 on Endless Simmer's Top Drunk Food by NCAA Tourney school. The South Side Slope (pictured above) from Fatheads boosted Pitt's standing. Primanti's wasn't on the list, I guess because they didn't want a school appearing twice. We would've had the #1 and #6 seeds locked down.
Also, be sure to head over to One for the Other Thumb, where my buddy Cotter is now riping off emulating SI's Pop Culture Grid. I was a panelist for the first installment, and you can catch it at the link provided.
Huge matchup tomorrow for the Pens. Devils need to go down. In fire.
Bobby Knight, of all people, has decided to give a little St. Patty's Day gift to wishful-thinking Yinzers. While many an ESPN analyst went safe and picked a plethora of 1 seeds to reach the Final Four, Mr. Knight went against the grain and picked the red-hot Pitt Panthers.
And not just to reach the Final Four. He has Jamie Dixon's squad winning it all.
Holy shit.
Now, "expert" opinions on matters such as March Madness mean absolutely nothing. It baffles me how guys can make a career out of made-up words like "Bracketology." Just because some talking head picks a certain team to win a certain game...it doesn't mean its going to happen. However, it blew my mind that someone...anyone...picked the Panthers to win it all.
I mean...that used to be MY deal.
I was the asshole who picked Pitt to win it all every year, because I didn't want to be the douche who picks against his hometown team in the year that they win it all. How bad does that make you look when you picked some bullshit SEC school just because they had the flashy record/conference. I'd always pencil Pitt into the final, just to avoid circumstances such as these.
That changed last year, when I rode Acie Law's Texas A&M squad to another upsetting bracket.
And this year, I picked my field before this Bobby Knight news came out. I don't waste time analyzing matchups and all that noise. Like I said, there's no way to pinpoint what teams are going to get upset. I had my bracket filled out immediately after the field was released. I have no idea who North Carolina is playing in their first round game (the winner of a play-in game between two eventual losers), but I know the Tar Heels are moving on. I keep it simple, and stick with what I think is going to happen.
With that being said...I have Pitt losing in the Sweet 16. Didn't see that coming, didja? As good as the team has looked in the Big East Tourney, and as much as I want them (and have faith that they can) win it all, I can't be that asshole again.
My Final Four: NC, Kansas, Texas, UCLA.
Final: UCLA: 86, NC: 80.
But I hope Bobby Knight is dead-on. Click the below link to see my bracket.
PSaMP's Bracket. [Deadspin Pants Party Group via ESPN] (Can only be viewed after March 20th)
P.S. I have UConn losing in the first round. Because I can't stand Calhoun, and San Diego looks pretty athletic.
UPDATE: My bracket is below. I use the same bracket everywhere, and this one is from Facebook. Click to make it bigger.
Big ups to my blogging friend BP at AA for the video.
I hope you happened to catch Pitt's win over Syracuse yesterday. I didn't catch the entire game, but I turned it on as we were down 11 with about 2 and a half minutes remaining. Turns out, Pitt ended the game on an 18-2 run. Ridiculous.
That makes 3 crazy finishes for Pitt this season. Syracuse, Duke and West Virginia. Those videos are below.
Now, if only we could, you know, grab an early lead and put teams away. That'd be great.
