WTAE did a pleasant story on the Oakland Zoo. Here’s the video version.

At least one UConn beat writer has had a miserable trip to the ‘Burgh.

Flown from Hartford to Baltimore, a flight that included this announcement from the pilot: “Well, we missed the approach. We’re going to have to circle around. Sorry for the inconvenience.” … flown from Baltimore to the Steel City … scrambled to find a rental car at a reasonable price (Kia Spectra) … gotten lost downtown a handful of times before finally pulling up in front of the hotel … gotten out of the Spectra (navy blue), shut the driver’s side door, went to open the back and realized I had locked all four doors and left the keys in the ignition … called Enterprise to, um, apprise them of the situation … called AAA to have them bail me out of the situation … waited outside the hotel for an hour (thankfully, it was 68 degrees) … and finally got into my car and got my luggage, including my computer.

Plus he’s cranky about not being able to get some wings at Fathead’s tonight.

Doug Gottlieb sees this coming down to Blair-Thabeet once more.

UConn may try to take Thabeet off Blair so he can be free to roam and block shots, but Biggs and Young can both shoot it well enough to make it a difficult rotation. This matchup comes down to Thabeet continuing to try to play behind Blair and block his shots, but UConn would be smart to try and “dig” out the ball as Blair backs in.

Let’s face it, as much as Blair is key for Pitt, Thabeet is the same for UConn.

Calhoun brought up Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech of 1910 when discussing Thabeet’s task in today’s regular season finale. It seems, if the former Rough Rider and president is to be believed, Thabeet’s face will be “marred by dust and sweat and blood.”

“He now is going to be thrust into a pivotal position as the pivotal guy on our team,” Calhoun said of the battle between top-ranked UConn and No. 3 Pittsburgh. “And if he were to be deserving of player of the year, All-American, all those kind of things, then a lot of what we do revolves around him.”

UConn (27-2, 15-2 Big East) can win the Big East’s regular season championship and secure the top seed in the upcoming league tournament with a victory today. But if they are to do so, the Huskies will have to correct a few of the problems which led to Pittsburgh’s 76-68 win on Feb. 16 in Hartford, and that resulted in Blair’s 22 points and 23 rebounds.

“A lot of what we do depends upon Hasheem. Sometimes it comes down to being that simple,” Calhoun said. “That’s the price tag you pay for being a great player.”

Levance Fields is apparently 50-50 for the game as insane rumors swirl.

As for the rumors that Fields suffered a season-ending lower back injury or a serious groin injury, those notions are completely false, multiple Pitt sources said.

Yay, insane crap.

Apparently there was something of a theme. That the rematch of Thabeet-Blair would also decide the Big East Player of the Year race.

“It will be the same as last time,” Blair told reporters Wednesday. “It’ll be a celebrity death match.”

“Starring,” Jeff Adrien added Thursday, “him and Hasheem.

“Whoever can win that battle will definitely be on top of the celebrity status.”

It seems that many are undecided between Blair, Thabeet and McNeal. Confession time. I didn’t pick any of the three. My choice for BEPOY is actually Louisville’s Terrance Williams. His defense. Playing essentially a point-forward on the team. Scoring inside and out. His leadership. He’s been everything you could want. Without Williams, Louisville is just a better looking version of Providence.

Yet the media seems to love Blair (and I’m not coing to complain, I’m just admitting he wasn’t my pick in the conference).

If it indeed has come down to this week, then Blair has now got to be in the driver’s seat. Against No. 13 Marquette Wednesday night, he had 23 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the floor and 9 of 12 shooting at the line. He added nine rebounds, three assists and four blocks in the Panthers’ 90-75 win. More importantly, he stayed out of foul trouble (this is our concern, dude) and logged 35 minutes of action.

Rival POY candidate, Jerel McNeal, also had 23 points, but he got his on 8 of 24 shooting (4 of 12 from three) as the Golden Eagles lost their third straight (all against top 6 competition). To win POY, McNeal needed to carry his team without Dominic James, and in his first game attempting to do so, he shot 3 of 19 from the floor. Although he’s been extremely reliable all year, this 11-for-43 stretch could cost him the award.

It’s Blair, however, that has the distinctive edge come Saturday. If he does anything close to what he did last time against the Huskies (22 and 23, one block, one reverse arm-bar suplex), he’ll take home the hardware. He’s certainly a deserving winner, despite the fact that he’s only a super-soph. The Bilastrator calls him the best offensive rebounder in the nation.

Back to the game on Saturday, Thabeet is saying it’s not about him.

“It is not about Hasheem against Pittsburgh,” he said Thursday. “It’s about UConn basketball.”

Yet, those ways of thinking are not mutually exclusive — especially now, especially under these circumstances. Top-ranked UConn closes the regular season Saturday at No.3 Pittsburgh, a game that presents the Huskies (27-2, 15-2 Big East) with an opportunity for an 11th conference title.

We’ll see.

A couple other things. A list of 3 reasons each way why Pitt  or UCon can win.

And finally a video preview from CBS.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Here’s the 2009 Pitt football schedule.

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
09/05/09	vs. Youngstown State	Heinz Field	TBA
09/12/09	at Buffalo	Buffalo, NY	TBA
09/19/09	vs. Navy	Heinz Field	TBA
09/26/09	at North Carolina State	Raleigh, NC	TBA
10/02/09	at Louisville	Louisville, KY	8:00 p.m. ET
10/10/09	vs. Connecticut	Heinz Field	TBA
10/16/09	at Rutgers	Piscataway, NJ	8:00 p.m. ET
10/24/09	vs. USF	Heinz Field	TBA
11/07/09	vs. Syracuse	Heinz Field	TBA
11/14/09	vs. Notre Dame	Heinz Field	TBA
11/27/09	at West Virginia	Morgantown, WV	TBA
12/05/09	vs. Cincinnati	Heinz Field	TBA

I’m sure some more games will be added to TV. The NC State seems like a good possibility.

There are two Friday night games on the road this year — Louisville and Rutgers.

It’s going to be interesting from a standpoint of getting people to the games. While 2 of 3 games to start the season are at home, the first is a 1-AA warm-up. The Buffalo trip seems a more than a little scary. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would do to interest and attendance if the Panthers blow that one.

Luke Winn’s power rankings in SI.com put Pitt in the #2 spot. It also gave a little love this way, which is always appreciated. Fox Sports.com also had Pitt at #2.

Meanwhile the ESPN.com power poll still keeps Pitt at #3.

By every count, UConn-Pitt  is the biggest or second biggest game of the weekend.

Only a Duke-North Carolina showdown for the ACC title could knock a game between No. 1 Connecticut and No. 3 Pittsburgh off the top line. But the good news is you don’t have to choose. Why? Because UConn-Pitt is Saturday! And it’s an early tip! So what we have are four possible No. 1 seeds playing against each other in the same weekend on opposite days, and isn’t March Madness just great?

My couch has already indentations from my rear over the course of this season. Saturday, alone, will be a marathon.

It also led the list for USA Today’s weekend.

1. Déjà vu: Stop us if you’ve heard this one. In the weekend headliner, Connecticut puts its No. 1 ranking on the line Saturday at No. 4 Pittsburgh. OK, it was a Monday before and it was in Hartford, but the shuffling at the top in recent weeks gives the Panthers the rare opportunity to knock off the same No. 1 team twice in less than a month. The two could definitely meet again next week in the Big East tournament final, and both would almost certainly be No. 1 regional seeds in the NCAA tournament should that occur. But neither of these teams will treat this as a mere exhibition. An epic battle inside could develop between Huskies big man Hasheem Thabeet and Pitt’s DeJuan Blair if they can avoid early foul trouble.

Useless factoid.

Based on the coaches’ poll, the game between No. 1 UConn and No. 4 Pitt is the fifth matchup of top-5 Big East teams in the past 10 years. The fourth-ranked team has won all four games, including Pitt’s win at UConn in February. The others winners include: No. 4 UConn over No. 2 Villanova in ’06, No. 4 Villanova over No. 1 UConn in ’06 and No. 4 Pitt over No. 5 UConn in ’04.

Just not sure if this number coincidence counts. Pitt is #3 in the AP and #4 in the ESPN/USA Today sponsored Coaches. The game is on CBS, so they will be using the #3 ranking for Pitt.

It’s as scientific as any other system.

Hat tip to UConn Blog, which feels extremely betrayed by the lack of canine solidarity.

It’s no more reliable than “expert” picks.

A UConn and Pitt fan rationally discuss the UConn-Pitt game on Saturday.

Of great concern for Pitt has to be Levance Fields’ tailbone. I think he will be ready for the game. The issue is, should he? Over at FanHouse, I discuss why Pitt should at least consider sitting Fields. Hint: it involves the Blake Griffin injury defense to protect seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, Pitt (and us) want to win every game.

But more than league championships and tournament seeding, this game has come to mean a lot to each team no matter the stakes. With the victory last month, Pitt and Connecticut have split the past 12 meetings in the series that has turned into the best rivalry in the Big East and one of the best in the country.

“We’re ready,” Jermaine Dixon said. “We’ve been waiting for this.”

In addition to the rivalry and the high stakes, it will be an emotional day for the seniors. It’s their last home game at the Petersen Events Center. They have a chance to become the fourth team in school history to finish the season with a perfect home record. The previous time it happened was when the 2002-03 team went 16-0.

“It would mean a lot,” senior forward Tyrell Biggs said. “We have great fans here. We want to keep a perfect record here for us, the fans, the coaches, everybody.”

DeJuan Blair vs. Hasheem Thabeet, round II is a big topic. If they don’t meet again in the Big East Tournament or the NCAA Finals, the next time the face each other might be in the NBA.

No matter how Thabeet plays, Blair’s toughest task might be controlling his emotions. It’s senior day, the final time teammates Levance Fields, Sam Young and Biggs play at the Petersen Events Center, where Pitt is 18-0 this season and 114-10 overall. That makes for an emotional day by itself, but …

“It could be my last game here, too,” Blair said, quietly. “I’m not saying it will be, but it could be.”

There has been speculation Blair — a sophomore — will leave for the NBA after the season. Some projections have him going in the second half of the first round of the June draft. You’re talking guaranteed millions if that’s the case.

Everywhere Blair goes on the Pitt campus, he’s asked about his plans. Most people beg him to stay another season. He’s not just a fabulous player, he’s one of our own, having grown up on The Hill and played at Schenley High School. Others merely say, “Hey, kid, you gotta do what you gotta do. If you stay, that’s great. If you leave, well, thanks for two great years of entertainment.”

“That means a lot to me,” Blair said.

Yes, senior day. The day to honor a class that still wants to do more.

Consider: in their four-year tenure, Pitt has had four consecutive 20-win seasons and 10-win Big East regular seasons — the only class in the league to do so in that span — and reached the Big East Tournament final three times, the NCAA Sweet 16 once and achieved its first-ever No. 1 national ranking.

Not that they’re satisfied.

“When me and Levance first stepped on campus, we told each other, ‘We have to take this program to a higher level,'” Biggs said. “We definitely wanted to get a ring. We always talked about that, especially with (former assistant) Barry Rohrssen. ‘Coach Slice’ told us, ‘This is the class that’s going to get the championship. This is the class that’s going to get all of those accolades.’ We believed in that. We always believed we had a team that could go to the championship. We failed a couple times but we truly believe this is the year we can win the national championship.”

First things first, the Panthers have to do something only six teams have accomplished — beating the nation’s No. 1 twice in the same season — and in a two-week span, no less, after a 76-68 victory over Connecticut Feb. 16 in Hartford. Prior to that game, they were 0-13 against top-ranked teams.

More to come.