So, who’s ready for some B-ball?
Both articles today focus — deservedly so — on the toughness of California (PA) University’s head coach. Good stuff.

Pitt won’t be taking this team too lightly since they put more then a scare into Maryland earlier this week. Taking them to the very final seconds with Maryland eking out a 1 point win.

Feeling a little bitter this morning as I realize that Gameplan is not showing the Pitt game on the air (they are doing it online, but I’m not springing for that as well). The only BE game today, and it’s only on regional channels. Thanks. So I’ll be stuck with net radio and the ticker scrolling.

Pitt wants this game. It wants to get the 7th win now. Not to mention avoiding back-to-back losses.

“The speed they have is going to cause us some problems if we don’t match it from the beginning of the game,” said Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades. “But we have had a long time to think about our last loss, so we’re hungry and we’re eager to get out there and play another game.

“This is a big one for us, at least, because the worst thing you can do is follow a loss with another one.”

The Bulls are focused on stopping Palko as the key. They also have not forgotten that they have lost 2 straight to Pitt.

Pittsburgh’s 74 points against USF the past two seasons are the most points USF has allowed to the same team in consecutive seasons since Hofstra scored 92 in 1998-99.

“It’s always been little mistakes here and there,” USF senior linebacker Patrick St. Louis said. “They had big plays every now and then. We have to try to limit all the big plays.”

The biggest challenge for USF will be limiting Palko, ranked No. 2 in the nation in passing efficiency.

“It’s going to test everybody on our defense,” Leavitt said. “Certainly you need to have a good pass rush and you need to be in the right areas. You’ve got to do both. You’ve got to do a number of things to have a chance to slow them down.

“He’s going to make some throws, he’s going to complete some passes, there’s nothing you can do about that, but it’s going to have to be the whole defense playing together.”

Pitt had the bye to get healthy and think about all that they did wrong against Rutgers. The key for Pitt on defense is to stop QB Matt Groethe. Groethe has had a week to get healthy, but will be wearing a protective shield on his face mask to protect the stitches on his nose from gashes suffered in the Cinci game.