Tonight is the beginning of a totally new season. Conference play is much different from non-con games. You see the teams a lot over the years, know the players, start rivalries, and grow to hate the coaches. (Actually in the case of Boeheim and Calhoun it took about 25 seconds.)

For a team in Pitt’s position, it’s even better to come to the beginning of the “second season”. Losing both of our tougher games, and having them both be rather recent losses too, could only call for a remedy like starting over. As of now, we have a 0-0 record and the players have to enjoy that. I can only hope they won’t let it slip to 0-1 tonight.

Syracuse is excited and it’s hard to not be; hosting a pretty beatable Top 10 team in your own dome is something that doesn’t come around every week.

“It’s the Big East,” Syracuse senior forward Demetris Nichols said. “You know you’re playing the top teams in the country. If you’re not excited to play this game, you shouldn’t be playing.”

(Quote from The Syracuse Post-Standard)

There’s also a discrepancy between number of possessions each team averages per game. We average in the low 60’s per game while the Orangemen average somewhere in the low 70’s. The winning team is likely going to be the one that forces the other to to play a different pace than usual.

If I may also add a little about B.E. foe West Virginia: during the Gator Bowl on New Years Day while the Georgia Tech band was performing on the field, a Mountaineer fan took a little bathroom break…

…in the GT band section. Photographic evidence can be found here. I’m frightened to think that when they say “S*** on Pitt” they might actually be serious.