South Florida @ Pitt, 7 pm

Question

UL's chances of a double bye in the BE tournament are looking terribly slim at this point. It would take almost a perfect storm of events. But a USF loss at Pitt tonight would sure help keep the dream alive. Game's on the deuce. Anybody think Pitt can win?

Originally posted on The Hall by ANameLikeSmuckers.

Answer 1

I think Pitt pulls it out tonight, but we still wont get a double bye. I think we finish at 11-7 with losses to Cincy and Syracuse and the two wins at home.

Originally posted on The Hall by ChadB.

Answer 2

I don't think we lose at Cincy but we still won't get double bye

Originally posted on The Hall by T-Bone74.

Answer 3

Has USF improved that much or is PITT that bad? The Bulls look really sharp.

Originally posted on The Hall by jeffdavis76.

Answer 4

I think the answer is both, jeffdavis. USF owned Pitt at home a couple weeks ago.

Originally posted on The Hall by ANameLikeSmuckers.

Answer 5

Pitt looks really bad. No fire. They gave us a much better game. Whats up with the crowd. The Zoo is more like a petting zoo.

Originally posted on The Hall by jeffdavis76.

Answer 6

oh my, Dem Bums from Pitt are turrrrible.
USF at 10-4 in the BE... never thought I'd see the day...

Originally posted on The Hall by UofLHouse.

Answer 7

And their best player from last year has even fallen off a little. Looks like Heath is going to keep his job. Great year for them.

Originally posted on The Hall by J-Rye_UL.

Answer 8

Being able to play Pitt and Providence twice helped

Originally posted on The Hall by cardsfan53.

Answer 9

If you needed any more proof the Big East is down, now you have it. USF 10-4.

Originally posted on The Hall by Ipartiedwithhopgood.

Answer 10

I cannot fully agree. I like looking at the RPI ratings to get a feel for how good a conference is from year to year.

Today, the Big East has close to half the conference (8 teams) ranked in the top 37. 11 teams are ranked in the top 100 with Nova sitting at 104 for #12.

Last year, 11 teams were ranked in the top 100 with Seton Hall sitting at 102 for #12. 10 were ranked in the top 38. There are 8 in the top 38 so far this year. Not a huge difference in my opinion.

What we see is a shift in power but that doesn't mean the conference is way down per say. It is a little down compared to last year but it really isn't significant. It's still tough to win on the road in the Big East and most every game is a grind.

Originally posted on The Hall by Cue Card.

Answer 11

Be careful!! This is how the football world spews its opinions of the football landscape. IF Florida, OSU, USC, Michigan, and Oklahoma are not in the top 5 then college football must be in a down year AND college football is BETTER when these traditional teams are really strong. What a load of cr@p! So, just because a couple of different teams are having successful seasons doesn't mean the conference is not as good.

Originally posted on The Hall by Bardman.

Answer 12

Cue, Bardman,

I base my opinion on the obvious- ND and USF played poorly out of conference. It's really simple to review. It has nothing to do with a name on a jersey it has everything to do with the results of USF and ND out of conference and then comparing those results to what they are doing in conference.


Tell me what USF's and ND's out of conference resumes look like. The fact that they are succeeding in this league when they couldn't succeed outside of it is all you need to know.

Never mind, I will tell you. ND is 8-5 out of the league, 11-3 in it. They got trounced, humiliated by Gonzaga and Missouri. They also have losses to Georgia (ouch, that's bad) and Maryland (see Georgia) and a double figure loss to IU. They do not have one single out of conf quality win. Not one. Maybe the best win was Detroit or Dartmouth, you tell me.

USF is 10-4 in league play, 7-6 outside of it. They have losses to ODU, Penn St, VCU, Kansas, Southern Miss, and sit down for this one, a double figure loss to Auburn. Their best out of conf win is Clev St.

The Big East has great coaching and difficult environments to play in, I just think the quality of the teams is significantly down, and I think it's fair to use ND and USF as examples of why. This isn't a "changing of the guard" here, this just feels like a couple teams winning close games against similar mediocre teams.

Originally posted on The Hall by Ipartiedwithhopgood.

Answer 13

All true but the one thing you may be overlooking is some teams actually get better as the season progresses while others either taper off or regress.

The Big East is down some. That we do agree on but it's not so far down that the conference sucks. It's still strong and that was my only real point regarding our mild disagreement.

Originally posted on The Hall by Cue Card.

Answer 14

usf didnt have Poland(2nd leading scorer) the first 11 games, didnt have Collins(difference maker at point guard) the first 5 games, and Gilchrist missed 3 games in first 11.........hopefully the committee takes that into account

Originally posted on The Hall by dausfbulls11.

Answer 15

Nova and Pitt being down is really hurt the league, the past 5 years they have been the top of the league and I think thats helped a team like South Florida. ND knows how to slow the game down and make it ugly to beat BE teams. Usually that backfires when you play less talent teams it keeps them in the game. Thats why a team like DePaul isn't as successful IMO they play a fun style of ball but doesn't have the horses to run with many teams in this league.

Originally posted on The Hall by cardsfan53.

Answer 16

CUe I agree teams get better. And I do think USF might fit that profile. I don't see it in ND. I see them as just fluking their way to their record but I truly admit these are just opinions.

To the USF fan that responded that is fine I have no doubt you know more about your team than I ever will, and it's certainly possible those missing players have huge impact on your team's season. Trust me, I don't have any problems with seeing USF make post season noise, the program deserves it if it happens. Maybe USF is having a break out season.


All I know is, in years past, when I get a bracket, I could make a case for 3-4 Big East teams hitting the Final 4. I cannot say that this year.

Originally posted on The Hall by Ipartiedwithhopgood.

Answer 17

Hop,I'd have to respectfully disagree about ND.I don't want another shot at that group this year.I think that's 8 straight for them over Villanova.

I also think that even though the BE's hype machine is bogged down this season(that's a good thing)it could be a tourney where the BE has more teams crash the Sweet 16.

Originally posted on The Hall by earsky.

Answer 18

Good points, all. I think that the fact that there is new blood on the leader board is good for the league, the teams, the wannabes and the fans.

Whodathunk that we would be hoping that Pitt would UPSET USF to advance our cause? That thought alone adds interest to the equation, albeit not in Western PA.

Originally posted on The Hall by 71card.

Answer 19

USF is certainly better, but they still have:

@ Syracuse
vs Cincy
@ Louisville
vs WVU

10-4 could turn into 10-8 in a hurry.

Originally posted on The Hall by gocards1234.

Answer 20

I hear you.

I guess what I'm saying is, I would be pretty shocked if ND made the Sweet 16 this year. I really would. And, they are 3rd in the league I think? They are just getting by. They don't have much talent at all. Their coach knows how to win in this league and the league is down, so there you go.

I could be wrong.

I think if UofL played ND again we'd win, perhaps even by a decent margin....and I'm a pessimistic guy.

Originally posted on The Hall by Ipartiedwithhopgood.

Answer 21

No doubt USF finds out wat they are in next 4 games, we need two to even stay in conversation, 3 gets us in for sure

Originally posted on The Hall by dausfbulls11.

Answer 22

In three games this season Pitt has scored, 51, 39, and 47 points total. And you thought UofL's point total vs. Syracuse was bad.

Originally posted on The Hall by Majestic Red.

Answer 23

Yeah,they're not the most talented group(nor do I think they're as talented as us)but their basketball IQ is off the charts.They understand the gameplan and they execute it.It kind of reminds me of Butler's last couple teams,execution wise.Oh well,we'll see.

Originally posted on The Hall by earsky.