Jay Bilas’ ESPN.com chat (Insider subs.) gets asked about the Pitt-Wisky game.
Ryan (Oshkosh, WI): Hey Jay, who do you think comes out victorious at the Kohl Center this Saturday?
Jay Bilas: Ryan: I like Wisconsin at home. The Badgers had better take care of the ball better, though. They had 22 turnovers against Marquette, which is what you would expect in two games from a Bo Ryan coached team. I think Wisconsin is very good, but I would not be surprised to see Pitt win if they shoot it well.
Way to be decisive.
Over at SI.com, Grant Wahl looks at the remaining unbeatens and lumps Pitt in the group of “jury still out”
Kudos to Jamie Dixon for taking on a tougher schedule this season, including his willingness to play Buffalo (in a squeaker) on the road. The game of the week is clearly going to be in Madison on Saturday, but we’re also curious to see how the Panthers perform against Oklahoma State in a virtual road game on Dec. 21. If Pitt can win at least one of those games, we’ll fess up and admit that we undervalued them to start the season. (We’ll already cave on the so-far-exemplary performance of Levance Fields at the point-guard spot.)
The Cowboys, by the way, he placed among the teams that could back up being undefeated.
Back to the Buffalo game, Jamie Dixon will defend that game and is working the media to join him (Insider subs.).
“If it’s so easy to win these games, then why aren’t people playing them?” said Dixon, whose Panthers are in a stretch of playing four of five games away from Pitt including games at Auburn (win), Buffalo, Saturday at No. 7 Wisconsin, and then next Thursday against Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City (an hour from the Cowboys’ campus).
“No one understands how hard it is to win these games,” Dixon said. “They were [No.] 55 in the RPI when we played them and so it’s a win on the road, a hard win on the road. And that’s why a lot of people don’t do them. When we go to Dayton next year, that could be another good road win if we can get it.”
The win over the Bulls hardly was a no-win situation for Pitt. It was the first real late-game test for the Panthers (Auburn played Pitt to an eight-point game). They had to bunker down, score late, and hold on defensively during a final Buffalo possession that could have tied the game (a 3-pointer missed).
Lord, help us all, Doug Gottleib is backing Pitt.
I agree with Jamie Dixon’s comment in the Daily Word — it is tough to win at Buffalo, and if the Panthers beat Wisconsin and Oklahoma State, they will be my No. 1 team, hands down. Even if Pitt splits those two games they should not drop out of the top five.
Stop the world, I want to get off. I’m forced to agree with Gottleib.
