Is there a morning left for me to oversleep without missing something?

It is official. Pitt and Syracuse are moving to the ACC.

“The ACC has enjoyed a rich tradition by balancing academics and athletics and the addition of Pitt and Syracuse further strengthens the ACC culture in this regard,” Swofford said. “Pittsburgh and Syracuse also serve to enhance the ACC’s reach into the states of New York and Pennsylvania and geographically bridges our footprint between Maryland and Massachusetts. With the addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC will cover virtually the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States.”

The exact timeline is unclear. Big East rules call for a 27 month notice period — and the ACC stressed that they would abide the Big East bylaws. This may mean, a lot like what went down in the Big 12 last year that Pitt and Syracuse are going to have to surrender some extra money to the Big East to make it happen by next year.  We shall see on that front.

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I was significantly late to the wedding reception of one of my closest friends because of this game. He understood. And the blue streak of expletives deleted when I explained how it unfolded was impressive. That said, I have to conclude that this is his fault.

Back in 2003, another of our group got married. No big deal. An early wedding and the away game was at night. Plenty of time for the wedding and the reception. We gathered. We celebrated and later that evening we congregated at some bar in Altoona. And watched Pitt lose on the road to Toledo. He should have known better. Regardless of all the very good, logistical and logical reasons for having the wedding today — he should have known better.

Eight years later, history repeated. The wedding went quickly wedding receptions enough, and with the gap in time between the wedding and reception I went to a halfway point and to a place of nostalgia. I found myself in The Cage watching the game. Once there, with the way the game unfolded, I couldn’t leave. A good 2 hours late and I had to repeat to many what exactly happened. I felt shell-shocked after a while. And judging by the looks on their faces, they felt it just in the descriptions of the events.

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Maybe. We’ll see. Wow. I don’t know.

This could be big.

Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh, two bedrock members of the Big East Conference, are engaged in talks about joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks.

No one from Pittsburgh, Syracuse or the A.C.C. denied the conversations were taking place. Officials from all three entities declined to comment on the matter.

The person with knowledge of the talks declined to speculate on a timetable or the seriousness of the discussions. But in this delicate time for conferences and their futures, the discussions between the 12-team A.C.C. and two Big East members is significant.

The discussions show how the creeping trend toward 16-team super conferences that has concerned so many college athletics officials appears to be inching closer to reality.

As always, who knows for sure. But, wow. This would be huge. No question Pitt and Syracuse would and should go if the invite happens.

Not enough details, though, in the story to say much about it other than, “that would be swell.”

The insanely bizarre Next Media Taiwanese animation folk have their depiction of the Miami scandal.

This just keeps getting more entertaining.

Wow. Just. Wow.

There were so many topics I wanted to post on in the less than copious spare time, I have, but the bomb Yahoo! dropped in the college football world moves that to the front of the line.

I won’t lie, given Miami’s history. Given what happened with their departure from the Big East. I had a fair amount of bitter cackling laughter over this. I deeply mean this. I have been giggling like a school girl every time I look at that picture of Nevin Shapiro bowling with Frank Haith, while Miami Pres. Donna Shalala is greedily examining the check Shapiro gave her.

When you think of the possible consequences Miami faces for this. When you also think about the still ongoing mess with UNC football. Plus the penalties that were put on Georgia Tech over the summer. Well, it is clear that while the ACC may not be matching up with the big boys of college football on the field, they are overcompensating more than a little off of the field.

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Yes, I’ve noticed that Ralph Friedgen is apparently out at Maryland. Seems to be a trend this year. We all see the similarities. Whether it was pushing out Stewart at WVU. Pitt and Wannstedt. Even Syracuse fans see it akin to the tossing of Pasqualoni. What becomes apparent is that the money matters — and not the money for the coach.

Maryland has been unable to sell out all the suites at the remodeled Tyser Tower, part of Byrd Stadium.

Asked about the unsold suites in October, Anderson adopted a grim tone and said that leasing them needed to be a top priority.
…
Friedgen has had mixed support among Maryland boosters. Some alumni have applauded his loyalty to his alma mater and his coaching record, while others have said the school needs a splashy hire such as Leach to sell suites and more tickets.

The Terrapins, despite a significant turnaround and having a chance late in the season to win their division in the ACC, could not get a sellout (even on paper) for any of their games this season.

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There’s a natural tendency to focus on all the pressure on Pitt and the Big East for this game. The fact is, there is just as much pressure on Miami and Coach Randy Shannon, plus some ACC respect.

For all the success Shannon has had in cleaning up the image at Miami (though, a lot of the heavy lifting was really done by Butch Davis, but Larry Coker got lax) and scoring some big recruits, the Canes haven’t really been relevant in his tenure.

This is his 4th year as the head coach and he has a record of 21-17. He’s 0-2 in bowl games. He hasn’t won many road games against good opponents. This is supposed to be the year his players, his recruits step up and make Miami a true player once more upon the national stage. Not just a fringe top-25 team

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The AC in our house went last night. It’s a balmy 84 in the house at the moment. I’d be doing this in just my boxers but the kids have been traumatized enough by my parenting to this point.

In case you have ever forgotten that as much as the Big East is a basketball conference, the ACC is still a basketball first conference. The ACC Sports Journal has been bothered by the overall mediocrity (or worse) of the ACC since they expanded. Yes, the conference can claim 3 national titles (2 for UNC, 1 for Duke) since expansion but the overall depth of the conference has been rather meh.

Even with back-to-back national champions, the ACC’s NCAA tournament winning percentage has fallen to 59.67 percent; the Big East is now essentially even with the ACC in that category, with a 59.34 winning percentage during that time span. The ACC’s average seed has dropped to 5.21, while the Big East’s has risen to 4.6. And the two leagues have gotten teams into the tournament at an identical 46-percent rate.

Furthermore, just three ACC teams have advanced to the Final Four over the last five years, while four Big East teams have turned the trick. True, the ACC holds a 2-0 edge in national championships. But consider this: Only seven ACC teams – and only one (2006 Boston College) not named North Carolina or Duke – have made it as far as the Sweet 16 over the last four seasons. A whopping 16 Big East teams have advanced that far.

In fact, if you take UNC and Duke out of the mix, the ACC’s post-expansion tournament record is an unsightly 12-18. That’s Atlantic 10 or Mountain West territory.

Interestingly, they do not put the blame on the newcomers.

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I admit to being surprised by the new ACC TV deal that has apparently went down.

The back-and-forth bidding, which reached its final stages last week at the league’s spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., drove up ESPN’s rights fee from initial projections of about $120 million a year to $155 million, sources said, providing the ACC with more than double the revenue it was receiving from its previous football and basketball contracts.

ESPN’s increase was in response to an unexpectedly strong pursuit by Fox Sports and sources familiar with the negotiations say the bidding was neck-and-neck last week.

The ACC broke from its spring meetings without announcing a new deal, and the conference said a formal contract had not been finalized. But industry sources pegged a pending deal with ESPN at $1.86 billion over 12 years .

That annual figure of $155 million dwarfs the average of $67 million the league was getting from its previous media deals…

I’ve been thinking about it for the last 24 hours because there’s a lot to it.

One of the things I noted is that like the Big East deal with ESPN, it is all encompassing. In other words it appears to give up all rights including digital and mobile platform. That’s a significant difference from the SEC and Big 10 deals with ESPN that allows those conferences greater control over other and future revenue streams.

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It never ends well with pasty white people, tailgating, dancing and a video camera. The good folks at Black Heart, Gold Pants have the Nit fans, um, unironically rocking out to what I think is Miley Cyrus or some other bubblegum pop. The true embarrassment: the flags in the background. A confederate flag? Really?

Our friends at Marquette are celebrating being named the top Catholic party school by Playboy. Suck on that Notre Dame, Boston College and even Duquesne.

And closer to us, the Big East is taking action with unpaid consultant Paul Tagliabue? What?

The official party line is that Tagliabue will help assess the league’s strengths and weaknesses and help in negotiating future TV and other media rights deals.

TNIAMM has a list of possible ideas Tags may float. To which I’ll add the idea of moving WVU to Maryland for a larger TV market.

In a way he is perfect for working with the Big East. A Georgetown grad from the NFL trying to help in a college football issue. How can this not fail?

But there could be some other action. There has been speculation that the Big East is going after Maryland, and there has even been talk that it could send out an olive branch to see if Boston College would come back. Throw in Central Florida as a partner in that state with South Florida, add that to a core Northeast group centered around Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, Connecticut, and West Virginia, and you might have something.

Any inclusion of Atlantic Coast Conference schools probably would happen only if a league such as the Southeastern Conference dipped in. If the ACC lost schools such as Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, or Miami, Maryland and BC might be more inclined to look for safe haven in the Northeast.

Yesterday, SEC commissioner Mike Slive said his league would be proactive.

Critics suggest that the Big East is too big as a basketball league at 16 teams. What about 20?

“Who is to say we couldn’t go to 20 teams in basketball, but not have one 20-team league, but a league with pods of four or five teams?’’ said Marinatto. “You have to think strategic alliances — what strategic alliances could we create?

…

“We need a new way of thinking. Strategic thinking. We need to be proactive rather than reactive, and develop our assets. Paul’s theory is, ‘Think long-term, think over the horizon.’ ‘Out-of-the-box thinking,’ Jim is always saying to me, ‘You have to think differently.’

“So hopefully Paul is going to help us think differently.’’

Right. Because after the Big East and ACC would theoretically get raided, teams from the ACC would line-up for an unstable hybrid conference that has gotten less money in TV contracts. The Big East football teams would have no interest in going to the ACC.

/weeps into keyboard.

I’m sure there has been lots of arguing, angsting and general discontent between bowls, schools and conferences. But it sure seems that this yar it is a lot more public.

The Big 12 is trying to help Mizzou which has finished 8-4. Apparently the Tigers don’t have the best reputation for traveling in the conference (gee, that seems familiar). So that means the Tigers appear poised to fall to the Texas Bowl and being skipped by the Independence and Insight Bowls for 6-6 Texas A&M and Iowa State.

“This isn’t over,” Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe said Wednesday afternoon in a telephone interview with The Kansas City Star.

“I know (Missouri athletic director) Mike Alden and the Missouri folks have made a tremendous case to all the bowls they might be selected to,” Beebe said. “I don’t know that Missouri could do a better job than they are doing.”

And, Beebe added, he shares the concern of MU officials that the Tigers might be passed over for the Insight Bowl bid by a 6-6 Iowa State team.

“I am concerned about a bowl that would select a team that has two less wins and was beaten by that team head to head.”

Unfortunately, that is just the scenario Missouri officials have come to fear.

Of course, that is nothing compared to the boiled over frustration between the Gator Bowl and the ACC. We all know that this is the last year for the Gator Bowl and the Big East and ACC. The Gator has been stymied in multiple years at landing Notre Dame. Now they want FSU for Bowden’s last game. This in no small part because FSU went around the ACC offices and contacted the Gator directly about it. The ACC would rather send FSU to Orlando for the Champs Bowl.

Here’s where it gets problematic. Like most conferences the ACC has the pecking order where bowls can’t take a team that is more than 2 wins better than a higher team in the conference records. The Gator gets 3d pick. The Orange Bowl obviously takes the winner of the ACC Championship. The Chik-Fil-A picks next and likely will take Virginia Tech (6-2). So, for the Gator to take FSU (4-4), it would appear that they need GT (7-1) to beat Clemson (6-2) to be able to snag FSU. Otherwise GT would have to be taken.

Except that the Gator Bowl claims they have a different contract that allows them more flexibility to skip taking the loser of the ACC Championship. And since the Gator doesn’t have to play nice any longer they are threatening legal action.

“We have sat back so many times and taken it from the ACC,” [Gator Bowl executive director Rick] Catlett said, ” To have [ACC Commissioner John Swofford] trying to go around a contract is unacceptable.”

Of course, Swofford has to answer to the rest of the ACC and considering how many times he’s bent over in so many positions to take it from FSU for football, the rest of the members are probably not going to let him waive the rules to accommodate the Bowden farewell (and give FSU more money and exposure) at other members’ expenses.

Not sure who I want to fail more. The ACC of course, raided the Big East in no small part to benefit FSU. The ACC commish is a duplicitous dick so seeing him and his schools screwed once more would be nice.

On the other hand, the Gator Bowl people suck. They have acted like being associated with the Big East is a chore from the beginning, and made no secret that they would have screwed the conference this year to take a 7-5 ND team — if the Irish had won 1 of their final 2 games. They seem determined to take WVU regardless of tomorrow’s games. And Pitt could very well end up going to Birmingham.

Add in the sense of entitlement from FSU and Bowden, and it almost tips things in favor of the ACC.

I don’t know. I guess I’m hoping that it ends up in a lawsuit and costs both some extra money, time, and bad publicity.

Offline world interfered yesterday and all morning.

Right now it is time for the first cultural exchange of the 2009 football season. James of Yet Another NC State Sports Blog contacted me about swapping questions. You can find my responses to his questions here. This is what he had to say in response to my queries.

1. Pitt fans and local media are not sure about this Pitt team, given the competition faced. NC State seems even harder to get a sense of where they rank given the — let’s be honest — egg they laid against the Gamecocks to open the season and then smacking around a couple 1-AA patsies. So, what is it about this team that should make Pitt nervous?

The very fact that they’re such an unknown commodity. I do want to address the South Carolina game for a second…I know it wasn’t a pretty game with a lot of offense, but I think folks in Raleigh underestimated how good South Carolina was defensively, and were pleasantly surprised at how well State played defensively. The theme I’ve heard constantly about that game was how poor job both offenses executed…but let’s give a little credit to both defenses for taking away what the opposition hoped to run. And as we saw last night, South Carolina is a capable football team, so I think that SC loss will look better with time, for both teams.

Getting back to your question, I think it’s the return of our starting left tackle, Jake Vermiglio, to the lineup. He left the SC game early on with a calf injury and hasn’t played since, but he was absent on the injury report released yesterday and should play this weekend. His return should give Russell Wilson better protection and allow him a split second more time to let the passing plays develop down field.

2. Is the NC State offense Russell Wilson and 10 other guys? Does the Wolfpack have a guy that can run the ball, or are the O-line injuries wreaking havoc with the running game?

Well, it’s not much more than him. But as I mentioned above, Vermiglio’s return should help improve the line play, meaning Toney Baker may be more effective than he was in the SC game. Baker was playing in his first game in nearly two years following two knee surgeries, and I think he’s knocked off almost all the rust over these last three games. There’s a certain level of trust a player has to regain in their surgically repaired knee before he can regain the form he once had…I think Toney’s on the verge of being there. Establishing the run game against Pitt’s defensive front will be tough but necessary, so the O-line and Baker have to step up if State is going to be effective offensively.

3. The secondary for NC State is young and injured. How does the D-line look and can they generate the pressure to mask the secondary? Or am I doubting the secondary too much?

I think the secondary is young but talented. You never like to trust your last line of defense to a group of freshmen and sophomores, but I think these kids are good enough to compete with just about every team on the schedule. I mentioned getting an o-lineman back from the injured ranks — starting safety Clem Johnson is back off the injury report, as well, giving State some experience and leadership in the defensive backfield they were missing in his absence. I think the secondary will be tested but should play well.

The front four of State is the strong suit of the defense. Willie Young is strong and athletic at one end and Shea McKeen is disruptive at the other end spot. Expect to see a constant rotation at these spots, with Michael Lemon and Audi Augustine getting a lot of snaps. There’s not much drop-off in talent with these two (Lemon once played at Georgia) and O’Brien will try to keep all four fresh throughout the game. The tackles are solid, as well, with Alan-Michael Cash anchoring the group. In looking at Pitt’s offensive line, they look capable of handling State’s front four but don’t be surprised if Mike Archer dials up some zone blitzes to bring added pressure to Stull. He showed several blitz packages against our FCS opponents and should use some against Pitt, as well.

4. When was the last time NC State beat a Big East team? (Keep in mind that UConn was not a BE football team in 2003.) What does the Big East have on NC State?

You would have to make me do some research, wouldn’t you…unless I missed one somewhere, I think our last wins against the Big East came in ’97 and ’98 when we stunned Donovan McNabb’s Syracuse Orangemen two years in a row. (I actually covered that overtime win at the Carrier Dome for the school paper as a sophomore…probably my best memory as a young sports writer.)

The short answer is: I don’t know. We stood a great shot to beat Rutgers last year in the PapaJohns.com bowl and were leading by 11 at the half, but State fans all knew when Russell Wilson left with an injury and we had to rely on our two backup quarterbacks to hang on for dear life, the game was already lost. As close in proximity as our two conferences are, we don’t play a ton of Big East opponents. It seems like a natural fit, and I think Tom O’Brien — based on his comments regarding recruiting in the Pennsylvania area earlier this wekk — would love to play some more Big East opponents.

5. With year 3 of the Tom O’Brien era underway, how would you describe expectations at this point?

I would use a very commonly heard phrase among State fans — “Cautiously Optimistic.” I think some media publications went a little far in their preseason expectations for State based on the solid finish to last season to become bowl eligible. They started picking State to win the Atlantic division, had Russell Wilson in their preseason P.O.Y. discussions and predicted 10 wins. The truth of the matter is that this team is still lacking depth at critical positions and given our injury woes in the last three years, we’re not to the point where we can lose 5-10 starters over the course of a season and not have a drop-off in production.

Before the season I looked at our out-of-conference schedule and predicted a 3-1 mark, and predicted a 5-3 mark in-conference for a total record of 8-4. Losing that South Carolina game hurt our team’s perception nationally, and it stings to hear folks on the outside discount this team, but in the long run it might benefit this team to have lower expectations while O’Brien continues his rebuilding project. He’s not a fly-by-night architect, by any means…he builds teams slowly and methodically. I could see it taking all the way until year five before we get a true read on O’Brien’s potential as a head coach here. He’s got a tough job recruiting in-state against Butch Davis, but he’s beaten him twice since both coaches have taken over and that should help locally.

This is weird. Tom O’Brien’s BC teams are still rather familiar to me. It also creates a sense of confidence because Pitt owned BC in the years leading up to their departure from the Big East. I’m simplifying, but most of the time it was simply that O’Brien’s BC teams were so devoted to stopping the run that they struggled mightily when it came time for Pitt and a strong passing game.

That’s no longer the case for Pitt, which is a run-first team now. O’Brien left BC for NC State and he has not deviated from his approach. Focus on the lines and look to run. So, there will be a lot of similarities to the way both coaches want to have the game go.

What is different for an O’Brien team is the presence of Russell Wilson at QB. An athletic dual-threat QB that can run with the ball. This year, Wilson has run a lot less. Whether it is a conscious effort by Wilson and the coaching staff to keep him from getting hurt or to be a more traditional QB is not clear. Wilson also does not throw interceptions. Something that makes a coach drool.

The NC St. offensive line, though, has had trouble. Trouble staying healthy. The offensive line will go to its 4th different starting group in game four.

Heading into Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh, the status of left tackle Jake Vermiglio (lower leg), safety Clem Johnson (thigh) and corner Rashard Smith, who was on crutches last Saturday with an ankle injury, are still uncertain and expect to be updated in Thursday’s injury report.

“We really haven’t gotten the continuity at the two most important positions on our team, especially the last two weeks,” said O’Brien. “The only thing we have gained is we’ve gotten some young guys in the football game, which is down the road stuff, but for immediately getting better as a football team, with your fourth different offensive line, and your fourth different secondary, that’s not a good situation to be in.”

The left side of the offensive line is where the problems have been. Vermiglio injured his calf in the season opener against South Carolina, and that forced Julian Williams to slide over from guard. Williams, who had the flu last week, is back and is listed as the starter at left guard on the depth chart for Pitt. When Williams caught the flu last week, Andrew Wallace became the third player this season to start at left tackle.

Given how little Pitt likes to rotate players on the O-line, I can’t begin to imagine Coach Wannstedt’s reaction if he was dealing with that.

Additionally, just as they get one WR, Donald Bowens, back from injury, they lose Owen Spencer (concussion). Oh, and Jamelle Eugene their second leading rusher from last year (2008 leading rusher Andre Brown was a senior), has missed the last two games.

On defense, NC State will offer Pitt great temptation to throw. The Wolfpack secondary is both young and injured.

Meanwhile, N.C. State’s secondary is inexperienced and battling injuries. Freshman starting cornerback Rashard Smith left Saturday’s game with a sprained ankle in the first half.

Another freshman, Brandan Bishop, started at free safety because senior Clem Johnson had a thigh injury. N.C. State’s other starting safety, Earl Wolff, is a redshirt freshman.

“We just played Gardner-Webb and we just played Murray State,” Wolff said. “Pittsburgh is a little better team, so we have to practice better and practice harder.”

They did get back another starting cornerback in DeAndre Morgan from an ankle sprain.

Now, both teams are expecting old-school football. The players say the things you expect — even if they seem to be focusing on the wrong guys.

The prospect of meeting a Pittsburgh team that’s expected to try to overpower N.C. State on Saturday brought a twinkle to middle linebacker Ray Michel’s eye.

“Taking on the big, 260-pound fullback (Henry Hynoski) is something I’m looking forward to,” said Michel, who’s tied for the Wolfpack’s team lead with 22 tackles.

Delighting in an opportunity to play “old-school football,” N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien also was revved up during his weekly news conference Monday about Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game with Pittsburgh at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Michel is about 30 pounds lighter than Hyno. Hey, if you want to knock heads with the guy who’s doing a lot of blocking, great. Hopefully while he’s doing that, Dion Lewis will be scooting right past.

I’m still just trying to picture the stoic and occasionally somnambulistic O’Brien  “revved up.” Last time I saw that, was when he was whining about the treatment of his team by opposing fans when BC was bolting the Big East.

If No. 11 beats No. 2, No. 3 beats No. 11 and UR beats No. 1, what does No. 3 equal?

Down go the Tar Heels!

Pitt was ranked No. 3 going into the week.

No. 2 UConn fell to Georgetown . Than, Pitt knocked off the Hoyas.

Now, just seconds ago, the final variable fell into place.  The team most pundits have already given the National Title, No. 1 North Carolina,  fell at home, to our good friends the BC Eagles, 85-78.

Fan House already has a take on the game.

How they did it was pretty simple: BC was on fire from behind the arc and clamped down the Heels defensively. The Eagles also fought on the offensive glass and kept UNC from getting into their deadly transition game. That fact caused the normally poised Tar Heels to take frustration shots and make frustration fouls which fed the deficit.

I don’t see how anyone can’t pick Pitt to be No. 1.

The Panther’s have never been ranked No. 1 , and it will be interesting to see how the team will handle the bulls eye.

Pitt’s next game is Sunday at home against St. John’s (who beat ND this weekend).  The Red Storm  seem to have a knack for upsetting the Panther’s when they least expect it. You can bet the Pete will be buzzing a week from today.

6:40: Family (huge Duke fans) from North Carolina are here for Christmas and I’ll be watching the game with them tonight. I am prepared to win or lose excessive amounts of money tonight depending on the outcome.

6:50: On PTI today, Tony Korheiser gave Pitt a 4% chance of winning and Michael Wilbon gave us at 25% chance. Jay Bilas says on SportsCenter that Duke is also built more for the postseason. It’s still December…

7:02: The team looked fired up in the pregame.

We have tip-off. Go Pitt.

7:05: The clocks at MSG are performing about as well as the Knicks have this year. Still waiting…

7:08: Finally we’re actually going to play. DeJuan Blair gets an early 2 on a nice move. Already we’re seeing the Duke screen plays at the top of the key lead to a wide open lane. Can’t expect Blair to switch on a pick to cover a quick guard. Duke is picking up the defense at about 3/4 court, much earlier than we’ve seen from any other team this year.

7:11: Maybe Blair should have dished it to Fields for the break, maybe he shouldn’t. Oh well. Four offensive turnovers already — ouch.

7:16: Sam Young with a horrible missed dunk.

I feel like on at least two occasions, Ronald Ramon was maybe going to shoot a 3 but was confused by the NBA three-point line.

Stuart makes a good point in the comments: “Duke seems to have a good plan with making Ramon bring it up – its taking Fields out of the game and causing Ramon to turn it over way too much.”

7:28: Gil Brown has knocked down a jumper and blocked a shot which lead to Blair basically getting tackled. Both teams look sloppy — Pitt more than Duke, though. Duke is up 3 with 9:20 left in the half.

7:35: Even more turnovers. Traveling, stepping out of bounds, offensive fouls, bad ball handling…

Dixon takes his first timeout of the game after Paulus nails a three.

7:41: Duke is just a team of tall white dudes who know how to flop. The refs are starting to lean towards Coach K and we haven’t scored in about 5 minutes. The double teams on Blair are starting to work and he’s getting trapped in the lost post without a place to pass it to. On defense it looks like Pitt has never seen a team use a screen and Duke has all kinds of open shots and drives. The Duke family members have taken over my basement.

13 turnovers and counting.

7:55: So that was a pretty ugly half of basketball. We have no leader on the floor and the entire team needs to collectively calm down. Not at all impressed with Ramon, which makes me realize how much better I felt with Antonio Graves last year. If Ramon isn’t even going to hit his three pointers (0-3) then why does he even play? Sam Young and Mike Cook need to both settle for less jump shots and drive more. Too much of the offense is happening very far from the basket, which is a combination of Duke’s good defense plus Pitt’s offense which is playing like crap. The “help defense” being played on Blair has been working very well for Duke and ‘m sure we’ll see plenty more in the 2nd half. Oh, and hitting some free throws would be nice too.

Halftime: Duke 34 — Pitt 22
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