Bad news, Seth Davis at SI.com picks Pitt in his weekend picks.

DePaul is ranked 234th in the country in defensive efficiency, yet the Blue Demons shot 51.1 percent against Villanova on Thursday night. Even with Pitt suffering from injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields, they have too much experience for the young ‘Cats to overcome.
Pittsburgh 72, Villanova 69

The good news, he was 7-0 in games played so far. The downside, is he has to be wrong at some point.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sportsline apparently got a lot of e-mails from Pitt fans about the team after the injuries. He includes today’s game in the weekend watch.

Game worth driving to see in person: The sentiment from Pittsburgh fans is that everything will be fine despite injuries to Mike Cook and Levance Fields, but I have my doubts because it’s difficult to envision too many teams not slipping after losing their second-best and fourth-best scorers. So the question isn’t whether the No. 13 Panthers will slip, but how far? Are they still a legitimate Top 15 team? Top 25? Sunday should provide some answers when Pitt visits 17th-ranked Villanova.

Part of why ‘Nova  lost to DePaul was that they were 6-26 on 3s. That was on the road. Call it a hunch, but I don’t think they’ll shoot that badly at home.

Despite the embarrassing loss by ‘Nova, some seem to think Pitt’s injuries will make it an easier game for the Wildcats.

As of two weeks ago, Sunday’s matchup looked to be a tossup, but with a depleted Pitt roster visiting the Main Line, Villanova could pick up a solid win early in Big East play.

Of course, ‘Nova is lacking one of their best inside players in Casiem Drummond who has a fracture in his foot. The game is being played at ‘Nova’s on-campus site. Pitt hasn’t won there in the last five tries (the Wachovia Center is a different issue). Despite all the questions, naturally the players and coach remain upbeat and positive.

But many national analysts are now writing the Panthers off and don’t believe they can win the conference title.

“I’m pretty sure if I was an analyst somewhere I would do the same thing,” senior Keith Benjamin said. “That’s their job. That’s what they’re supposed to do. When you lose key guys like a Levance Fields, who has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the country, and Mike Cook, who is one of the best wingmen in the country, you have to write us off.

“It’s our job to try to prove them wrong. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We keep it very in-house. We know we can play basketball. We’re just going to go show them now.”

Young said he tries not to pay attention to what is being written and said about the Panthers.

“I try not to feed into that stuff,” Young said. “Coach told us he has just as much confidence in us now as he did at the beginning of the season. I still think we have a chance. It’s just a matter of people stepping up.”

The questions will not stop coming for Pitt.

4. How much trouble is Pittsburgh in? A promising season for the Panthers looks like it could get ugly quickly. Within the past two weeks, they have lost starters Levance Fields (broken foot) and Mike Cook (torn ACL), and redshirt freshman Austin Wallace (fractured patella) was lost for the season in early December. That leaves coach Jamie Dixon with nine scholarship players, and not all of them are healthy either. Senior guard Ronald Ramon, who will move over from shooting guard to replace Fields, is dealing with injuries to both of his shoulders. He’s shooting just 19.2 percent over his past four games, so maybe the Panthers will be better off if he’s thinking pass first. Pitt opens Big East play Sunday at No. 17 Villanova.

We’ll see if everyone steps up with increased minutes in a much tougher game.

The game, if you aren’t in the Pittsburgh area is on the ESPN FullCourt package. It just so happens that the week long free promotion kicked off yesterday. So, find where they are stashing those channels and you can still watch the game even if not showing in your area. (It is being shown on MSG, MASN and FoxSports-Pittsburgh.)