I know Chas already put up the open Thread. I just got home and saw that and figured I’d set up a live blog.

The game is on ESPN at 7:00.

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I’m working on trying to put it in the thread, but no promises.

Edit: Just break it out. The in thread doesnt want to work for me

Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows for sure what will happen with the Big 12/Big East/West Virginia court cases. But this could very well be the final basketball game down at the concrete toadstool for Pitt for a couple years.

Now, I know I just wrote that Volvo post on how much I love doing the liveblogs, and here I go doing an open thread for this game. Timing is everything, and unfortunately I have the poor timing with some work that keeps me late.

Not sure how Nasir Robinson — or anyone on Pitt — is going to shut down Kevin Jones. He’s developed into an outstanding player on the ‘eers. Hoopies have lost a couple in a row including getting hosed by the refs on a goaltending call in the final ten seconds at Syracuse that would have given it a good chance at going to OT.

There should be no talk of Pitt making the NCAA Tournament at this point. As great as those last two wins — and particularly G-town — have been, Pitt is still without a Big East road win, and still just 2-7 in the Big East.  The final 9 games of the season have five on the road and four at home. This game always matters because of the opponent. But it has extra importance, simply because every game is huge the rest of the way.

Big Monday game on ESPN at 7pm. Beat the Hoopies.

Time for another Volvo Challenge. As always, please keep voting for me. I am not trying to win the popularity part. I just want some sort of impact above 1%.

This challenge is a simple one.

What are your favorite places to watch your team when you can’t be at the game?

When Pitt made that startling run in the Big East Tournament in 2001, my four closest friends and I were only connected by our e-mail chains regarding Pitt. We all lived at least a couple hours away from each other. One of us still in Pittsburgh.

After Pitt pulled the OT win over Syracuse to get to the finals, I fired off an e-mail.

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Reed has the nice rundown, and as usual on this site for Signing Day Wednesday, there will be an open thread for when recruits are “confirmed” by recruiting sites as signed.

Just a couple other things.

Demetrius Cox will be making his announcement tonight on KDKA-TV around 6:40 tonight. Unlikely that he chooses Pitt at this point, but who knows.

Rutgers seems to be doing a good job of keeping their class together. It also looks like Mario Cristobal could be the next coach there. Would hate to see that simply because the storyline would be so beaten into the ground about how close he may have come to being the next Pitt head coach. To say nothing of the comparisons to Chryst for however long it goes. That would be tiresome.

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While the recruiting season winds down for college football programs and the last scholarships are being filled, it is often the case that schools will take ‘a reach’ on players just to see if they will blossom later on.  This is, to me, is one of the most intriguing aspects of the recruiting season.

We’ve been able to keep the core group of inherited recruits together pretty well so far.  However, we have had some recruits who would have contributed to the program turn their attentions elsewhere; Conwell Dakota (LB) to ASU, William Parks (DB) to UofA, Marzett Geter (DB ) to a remedial tweeting class, Brandon Cook (C) to Miami of Ohio and Corey Jones to Toledo.  In what may be our biggest loss OT Adam Pankey is looking hard at WVU and I think he’ll fall that way.

What is interesting about those defections is the debate on whether the recruits were ‘encouraged’ to go elsewhere or whether they made the move themselves.  I think Jones, Geter and Cook didn’t really have a place under the new staff, but it doesn’t really matter in the long run because the fact is that they will not be at PITT in 2012.

In addition, Chryst has added everyone’s favorite J.P. Holtz, a TE who decommitted from PSU and who could see action sooner than later.  We also pulled in two lower ranked kids in CB Ryan Lewis of WA State who, due to an injury in his JR year, was somewhat under the radar to recruiters and LB Mike Caprara the leading tackler in Woodland Hills history which isn’t shabby.

I do think Paul Chryst and his staff is doing more long range planning right now, whether out of necessity because high impact players aren’t signing on at this late date or by staff choice, we really don’t know.  In two days we will see what’s what when the players start signing and faxing their Letters of Intent to the school of their choice.  We still have some HVTs (High Value Targets) out there who our staff still has a shot at.

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