Hello. There is a game tomorrow. Nationally televised on the entire East Coast. Philadelphia is so enamored with St. Joe’s, that Villanova barely gets mentioned. They haven’t put a story up since the Wildcats blew a lead against Miami on Tuesday. Not that the Pittsburgh papers care much. They ran puff pieces yesterday on Taft and Krauser. Today both beat writers do pieces on the Coach Dixon’s love for the seniors on the team.
At least the athletic sites have something. Here’s Pitt’s press release and game notes. Villanova’s game notes are here. Nova needs this game if it wants to have a realistic shot at the NIT. They are 14-14. If they lose to Pitt, they would need to win two games in the Big East Tournament — likely against Seton Hall and UConn — to finish with a .500 record.
Villanova will be desperate. Their head coach, Jay Wright, may be looking at trying to save his job. The team has gotten worse under him, and they’re off the map in Philly. You can talk about the fall of St. John’s but there hasn’t been anything at ‘Nova since Kerry Kittles. Of course, they are 0-7 on national games this year, but Pitt can’t take them lightly.