I’ll come back to the game itself later when I’ve calmed down enough to be rational. I blame Shawn — way to announce you aren’t the curse and then see the team lose, dude. I’m compartmentalizing right now.

On seeding, here’s how I am guessing 1-4 might look tomorrow:

#1s: UConn, Duke, Memphis, Villanova

#2s: Texas, Ohio St., Gonzaga, UCLA

#3s: Pitt, BC, UNC, Kansas

#4s: Iowa, Florida, Syracuse, Tennessee

Wildcards: Illinois and Louisiana St.

BC could be an absolute pain for seeding. They have one of the worst non-cons, but are hot at the end of the year, and what happens if they beat Duke after knocking off UNC. Florida is similar, but they should be expected to win the SEC at this point.

I don’t believe in destiny, fate and all that crap. By extension, I don’t by into omens and portents. If I did, I would have felt really good about what Pitt could do with UCLA under Ben Howland winning the PAC-10 and then Xavier under Sean Miller winning the A-10 before the Pitt-Syracuse BET Championship.

Think I’m feeling kind to the refs of this game?

Pathetic.

Not that Pitt didn’t do plenty to blow some opportunities on their own, but I was starting to think Pitt was playing Duke the way they were calling the game at times.

Still, Pitt blew chances late in the game, and could never quite get control.

This was not the same Syracuse team Pitt beat-up previously. The frontcourt was so much better and actually caring about the game.

Gray is in a tremendous funk or he is just worn down from the season. Either way, he needs to start getting it back together if Pitt is going to do something in the NCAA.

For all the Big East marbles.

Win or lose, Gerry McNamara is the BET MVP.

Comment before, during and after.

That win over Villanova had a huge impact on Pitt’s RPI. Rocketing the ranking from 15 to 7. While the other schools around Pitt still have some games to play to move them above or below, winning the BET would give Pitt a legit argument as a #2 seed. The non-con SOS may be held against Pitt — go South Carolina — to prevent the #2 seed, but win or lose I think Pitt is at least a #3.

Of course, I was certain Pitt was a #2 when Pitt lost the BET to UConn in 2004 so what do I know. I just think that winning the BET would make it very difficult not to give Pitt a #2 seed.

A little more than 6 hours.

Missed a couple more articles that are worth noting.

Andy Katz thinks that the Big East made the case for 9 teams.

Pick Pitt and Syracuse to advance in the NCAA Tournament bracket next week and you would probably be making a smart move.

The thinking here is that no set of teams will be better prepared for the NCAAs after this grueling four days.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said unequivocally that the Big East conference was the best, the toughest, not even close.

Pitt’s Jamie Dixon echoed those thoughts.

Think about it: Two teams that played on the first day of this 12-team tournament are in the Big East tournament final.

Gone are the top two teams in the country in Connecticut and Villanova. The next two top seeds — West Virginia and Marquette — are also gone. The Big East has never crowned a tournament champ that played on the first day, a team that had to win four games for a title. That streak will end Saturday night.

“Our conference has prepared us better than any other conference since I’ve been around the Big East,” Dixon said. “I’m not surprised how it has played out because of how many good teams there are here.”

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe really liked what he saw in Pitt.

His presence might not have made much of a difference in the second half last night, however. Pitt was the better team, beating Villanova at its own guard-oriented game with superb outside shooting and intelligent ballhandling. Anyone walking into the Garden unaware of just who was whom would have assumed that Krauser, Levance Fields, Antonio Graves, and Ronald Ramon were the wondrous guard quartet he or she had been reading and hearing about.

Pitt is a dangerous team. It is surely a fearless one, because it plays off the big-hearted Krauser, who will go down in both Pitt and Big East history as one of the toughest, most competitive guards ever. And in the rugged Fields, the Panthers might have his heir — both physically and emotionally. Fields, a freshman from the Bronx, has a mailbox body and a wicked crossover dribble, and he acts as if he would just as soon run over his defender as go around him.

The Big East Basketball Blog previews tonight’s game and goes with Syracuse and McNamara’s magic.

8 pm tonight.

Quotes from the press conference. Antonio Graves and Levance Fields got to do the honors for this one with Coach Dixon. Have to say, judging by the transcript, Fields is going to be really good at this.

Q. Coach, can you talk about the work off the offense.

COACH Jamie Dixon: Yeah, well, I mean, you know, last two games we’ve talked about it. I mean, going into this game, when you’re talking about a West Virginia team and a Villanova team that are very good at a lot of things, rebounding is not their strongest suit. They are great passers, great shooters, great defenders, a great defensive team, Villanova, but we really felt we had to beat them on the boards in a big way. We did that last night and we did it tonight as well.

It’s something, you know, certain teams focus on certain things. Ours is rebounding. We have to win the battle on the boards. We practice it every day. Our drills are based around rebounding, blockouts, getting the rebounds. You don’t finish a drill unless you block out. You don’t get the point unless you block out. I think that carries over and puts us where we’re at rebounding wise.
…
Q. The way you finished the regular season, did you come in here with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder this tournament?

Levance Fields: Most definitely. We definitely had a chip on our shoulder. Definitely because we lost our last game at home. Being undefeated at home, losing to Seton Hall really hurt us, and West Virginia on the road. Games we both felt we could have won. We wanted to come in and prove something, but at the same time, we’re taking it a game at a time. Now we’re going to get ready for Syracuse.

Q. Can you talk about Syracuse. You’re playing your fourth straight game, both teams. That’s even. Can you talk about playing them and the challenges they pose.

Levance Fields: First off, I’ll say that I know they said no team won four games in a row, so that’s gonna be broken tomorrow. But Syracuse, you know, they got Gerry who is playing excellent right now. They’re big down low. We have to attack the zone. We’ll have to be aggressive. We’ll have to run some of our plays and try to get a couple of baskets in transition. We’ll definitely have to attack the zone and play good defense.

Villanova Coach Jay Wright praised Pitt in his opening statement.

COACH JAY WRIGHT: We really haven’t had a game like that this year where we just felt like we couldn’t get things going offensively. Then I thought that Pittsburgh, once they got a hold of the game, did a great job of just controlling the tempo and hitting big shots, making free throws. We’ve usually been able to, when we weren’t scoring, take people out of what they do offensively with our defense and create some shots. I just think Pittsburgh’s guards did a great job of controlling the game and taking care of the ball. They just did a great job against us.
…
Q. Jay, you came close before. Given the depth of the conference now, did you think it was inevitable that some team was going to win four games in four days? Someone is going to do it this year, obviously.

COACH JAY WRIGHT: You know, I didn’t. I didn’t think someone would do it this year because of the depth of the conference, because of how much every game is going to take out of you.

This is real impressive, both teams, Pitt and Syracuse. It doesn’t surprise me, any of the upsets, because, you know, we knew we could get beat any night. But it surprised me that somebody is going to do this, and it’s probably the only way you could do it, if two teams played four nights and then play each other.

I have to agree with his assessment of how a team wins the BET with 4 games in 4 days. Tonight could be rather ragged.

At least one columnist in the Philly area is just down on the Wildcats after this — with an “I told you so,” column.

The long version of any analysis of Villanova and its chances for a national championship would include everything from the nuances of the 1-2-2 trapping press to the physics of the long rebound. These short versions would be more to the point:

No big man, no chance.

Too many jump shots, too many risks.

Short bench, short tournament life.

Pick one, pick them all. But the Wildcats must pick themselves up now, following a 68-54 loss to Pitt Friday night in the Big East semifinals at Madison Square Garden, and they must understand that this whole national-championship search might just be a little more difficult than a dedication to gang rebounding and depositing open jump shots.

One loss in the BET Semis and they are exposed as frauds? This would be weak-ass Chicken Little crap on a message board or in the comments.

Admittedly, people have wondered whether the ‘Nova line-up could succeed with 4 guards and staying small. Sure they got beat last night, but it’s hard to argue with the overall body of work. Besides, you have to play the best players you have.

Villanova starts four guards and has always given the appearance that it could be vulnerable against a physical group with strong interior players. Pittsburgh is just that type of team. It has the 7-foot center Aaron Gray, who clogs the middle, and receives solid contributions from the 6-9 Levon Kendall and the 6-6 Sam Young. Pittsburgh dominated the boards throughout the game, outrebounding Villanova, 45-27.

“Yes, that’s the type of team that can give us trouble.” Wright said. “We’ve found ways in the past to eliminate that problem. Pitt did a good job on the glass. They killed us on the glass. We’ve usually been able to be tough enough to outrebound people or spread the ball around a little bit so they aren’t able to be around the basket.”

Good shooting can offset poor rebounding, but Villanova did not do that well, either. The Wildcats shot 35.2 percent from the floor. Antonio Graves scored 18 points to lead Pittsburgh (24-6). Randy Foye scored 26 points to lead Villanova (25-4). Kyle Lowry (10 points) was the only other player to reach double figures for the Wildcats. This was the first meeting this season between the two teams.

In the BET, the NYC papers drop into open local homerism at times. In that respect, they have loved Pitt the last few years and especially this match-up.

With Ray and Newark’s Randy Foye in the backcourt, Villanova’s rise to the highest levels of college basketball has had a local flavor, but Pittsburgh has three city guards – Levance Fields from Brooklyn and Krauser and Ramon of the Bronx – and now has wrested the stage away.

“I’d expect New Yorkers to look to Pittsburgh for some really good stories,” Krauser said.

I’m truly impressed with Kendall playing. He really came in and helped Pitt establish the control of the glass. Snaring 7 rebounds and playing 23 minutes. And those 6 points all from the free throw line, put Pitt in a controlling double digit lead before halftime. His play really helped change the tone and gave a vibe that Pitt was in control of the game.

Pitt received a boost from junior forward Levon Kendall, who played one day after back spasms forced him to miss the quarterfinal victory against West Virginia. Kendall did not start, but he came off the bench to provide solid defense and rebounding.

“I felt good,” Kendall said. “I got enough medication in me that it didn’t bother me too much. Hopefully, it’s the same way [this] morning.”

Pitt had an 11-point lead at halftime and boosted the lead to 14 twice midway through the second half. A few minutes later the lead was 18 points after Graves and Krauser made back-to-back 3-pointers.

Sam Young is going to get so much better if he learns from Kendall about positioning and boxing out on rebounds. He’ll become a monster on the boards and get a lot of easy baskets on putbacks. Aaron Gray seems to still have his confidence despite some really amazing misses right at the basket. He’s at least feeling better about shooting free throws after the WVU game.

Smizik isn’t sure what to think right now. He too is stunned that Pitt could win and control the game without much from Krauser and Gray.

It was well known it would require Pitt’s finest effort to defeat the Wildcats, who came in at 25-3 and ranked second in the polls, and that is precisely what was forthcoming.

The most astonishing aspect of this victory is that Pitt won with minimal contributions from its two best players and leading scorers, Carl Krauser and Aaron Gray.

Krauser played only 20 minutes because of foul trouble and scored nine points, but five of those came from the free-throw line in the final minute, long after the game had been decided. Gray continued to have a terrible shooting touch close to the basket. He missed 7 of 9 shots and finished with five points and seven rebounds, well below his averages.

But what Krauser and Gray didn’t provide, others did. Stepping up doesn’t begin to describe the play off the bench of guards Levance Fields and Antonio Graves.

Krauser did provide 6 assists in his 20 minutes and Gray, tied with Kendall, led with 7 rebounds. They just didn’t do much scoring.

Joe Starkey is excited because the win over Villanova is the signature win for Pitt’s season to date.

Think about how close Pitt was to being a No. 1 seed: Before last night, its previous six losses were by an average of 3.8 points, none worse than five. It’s a credit to the coaching staff and to the internal leadership that Pitt did not have a complete stinker of a game all season (the St. John’s game was bad, but also quite winnable). How many teams can say that? None in the Big East. Every one of them lost at least once by double digits.

Pitt’s style sometimes prevents it from blowing teams out, but, more importantly, virtually assures it will be in every game. The last time the Panthers lost by double figures was two years ago against Oklahoma State in the Sweet 16 (63-51), and that game was plenty competitive.

Meanwhile, Pitt obviously has corrected its problems from last season in defending the 3-pointer. Those who still rip its outside defense should heed the words of WVU coach John Beilein, who said Thursday, “It was a bad matchup for us as far as quickness on the perimeter.”

What is there not to like about this team right now?

He’s practically giddy.

Now, it’s time to get ready for the ‘Cuse.

And yes, Matt, we all have our superstitions kicking into overdrive right now.

Allan Ray didn’t even spend the night at the hospital.

Standing on a podium surrounded by the media, Jay Wright was easily the happiest losing coach in the history of college basketball.

About to head out of the Madison Square Garden doors and rush to the hospital to see Allan Ray, who had suffered what looked like a terrible eye injury, Wright got a phone call that changed everything.

Doctors at St. Vincent’s Hospital called Wright to say that Ray not only was fine, but would be released immediately and be able to travel home with his Villanova teammates this morning.

“We just got great news,” a beaming Wright said. “This is the best news possible. When everything happened, we heard a lot of scenarios, and this is the best-case scenario.”

Wright said Ray’s vision was restored completely. He was released only with antibiotic drops, and suffered a soft-tissue injury, not a torn cornea or anything more serious.

On the subject of the instant replay:

The injury was so gruesome that after showing one slow-motion replay, ESPN elected not to show another.

Krauser was shaken and relieved at the news after the game.

Krauser, who played at Stevenson, also was more concerned about Ray, who played at St. Ray’s.

“Allan Ray’s like a little brother to me,” said Krauser, whose finger was swollen from the impact. “I know his whole family. It’s crazy to see one of my little brother’s go down. It’s crazy. I don’t even know what to say about it.”

Some see the injury to Ray in the context of just how star-crossed by injuries this ‘Nova team has been over the recent years.

Dealing with injury is nothing unusual for the Wildcats, of course.

They played all season without Curtis Sumpter, who tore a knee ligament in a preseason practice. The Wildcats played against North Carolina in last year’s NCAA tournament, when he tore the same knee ligament.

Through their four years, they have also seen Jason Fraser undergo seven surgeries for injuries.

And Mike Nardi was out with tonsillitis this year.

Prevailing without Ray would be a tough task.

“This gives us something we’re going to have to handle,” Wright said. “That’s life. We’ll find a way.”

The 6-foot-2 senior, who is a first-team all-Big East selection from the Bronx, averages 19.1 points and four rebounds per game.

As part of the starting four-guard lineup, Ray is the Wildcats’ best three-point shooter, averaging 38.1 percent on treys.

Without Ray, the Wildcats were too undermanned to stage a comeback against the Panthers (24-6), who will face Syracuse in tonight’s championship game. Syracuse beat Georgetown, 58-57, in the earlier semifinal.

The Panthers, whom the Wildcats did not face in the regular season, held Villanova to its second-lowest scoring performance of the season.

“They played well enough we might have lost with Allan,” Wright said. “We just didn’t have it today.”

Rob Evans at Arizona State has his office packed into boxes. Now the school has to wait before it can really try to get Dixon.

[ASU AD Lisa] Love said a search for Evans’ successor would begin immediately.

There has been widespread talk about candidates, with Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon at the head of the speculation list. Dixon grew up in Los Angeles and worked as an assistant to UCLA’s Ben Howland when both were at Northern Arizona University and Pittsburgh.

Love did not identify any candidates. But, she said, “There is a starting point, yes.”

She also said she has not spoken to anybody who might have interest in the job.

“Not yet,” she said.

Timing is critical and turns the search process into a bit of a gamble. There are questions about how long ASU will wait on a candidate. If Pitt goes deep into the NCAA Tournament, it might be awhile before ASU gets an answer from Dixon.

Of course, they do have an intermediary they can go through. Dixon finally hired an agent.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has hired Boston-based lawyer Dennis Coleman to represent him, and Coleman met Pitt athletic director Jeff Long at the Big East tournament.

Dixon did not have representation in his first two seasons as head coach. Coleman represents 35 college basketball coaches, including Arizona coach Lute Olson, Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser and West Virginia coach John Beilein.

Dixon has quickly become a hot coaching commodity. He has emerged as the leading candidate at Arizona State according to a newspaper in Arizona and is being prominently mentioned for the opening at Missouri.

Dixon could command at high price tag, which is why he decided to hire an agent for the first time. He is currently making around $600,000 a year at Pitt and is expected to get a healthy raise whether he decides to stay at Pitt or accept another coaching position.

Coleman attended the Big East tournament the past few days and had a chance to watch four clients Thursday. Coleman represented the four coaches who played against each other in the two evening quarterfinal games — Beilein, Dixon, Seton Hall coach Louis Orr and Rutgers coach Gary Waters.

Coleman’s meeting with Long did not get much past the introductory stages and no significant progress was made toward a new pact.

Long issued a statement through a Pitt spokesman earlier in the week saying that he would not negotiate or discuss Dixon’s contract situation until after the season. Dixon has four years remaining on his current pact.

I’m assuming AD Long was posturing about no negotiations until after the post-season. He may have meant it when Dixon had no representation, but not now. Now he has to get out in front and work on the deal. There is no reason not to, and plenty of reasons to. A shiny new extension with a significant buyout seems to be the thing to do. Don’t let it become the thing hanging over Pitt’s run so that things come to resemble in anyway the 2003 NCAA Tournament with UCLA and Howland just waiting to happen.

First off, thank God Allan Ray is gonna be o.k. For real.

Secondly, to those who curse me, that is, my so called “friends” – Chas, Pat, Lee (in Altoona) and John – I WATCHED ALMOST THE ENTIRED GOD-D****D GAME AND WE STILL WON; IN A DOMINATING FASHION!!!

So let’s shitcan the ‘jinx’ talk, o.k. ?

Thirdly, why do I get so much better looking the more I drink? Oh, wait, but that’s another story.

So, um, I just wanna say, bite a fart, dudes. 😛

It looks like Allan Ray is okay.

The new prognosis is that Ray’s condition is only a soft tissue injury — treatable with eye drops — and that he will be released from St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York tonight, allowing him to travel back to Philadelphia with the rest of the Villanova team in the morning. Ray’s playing status for the opening round of the NCAA tournament is day-to-day, according to Wright, who said, “I gotta feel pretty good [about Ray being available].”
…
By 12:30, the Villanova camp was breathing a massive sigh of relief. “This is the best possible scenario,” Wright said. “When I first saw [the doctors], they said [Ray’s] vision was starting to come back. Now they said his vision’s good and they’re going to release him.”

Here’s to a speedy and full recovery by Thursday.

Going into the BET, I was hoping for 2 wins. To expect Pitt to beat the #2 team and then #1 would be too much to ask. No team has ever pulled off the 4 wins in 4 days. Every time a team has come close, they have been totally gassed in that final game.

Now the script is out the window. Syracuse knocking off UConn a couple days ago changed it all. Now that Pitt has gotten past Villanova, I’m feeling greedy. I want it all. There’s no reason not to. History is on no-one’s side in this game. Both teams are playing with tons of confidence. Both teams have gotten hot.

No question, either team can win this game.

Now I need some crash time.