Pitt Panthers Ranked #1

Finally......

For the first time in the 101 year basketball history of the Panthers, Pitt is ranked #1. The #1 ranking comes after the Panthers stomped Georgetown in D.C., and are one of four unbeaten teams remaining in college basketball. Pitt is 14-0 overall, and 2-0 in the Big East, both road wins.

The Panthers being highly ranked is nothing new to this team, especially recently. The Panthers have been to the tournament 7 straight seasons, making 4 sweet 16 appearances, and basically have been ranked in the top 25 for the most part all 7 seasons throughout. The Panthers always have a good Big East record, and always do well in the Big East tournament. The hurdle that this team has to get over is getting past the Sweet 16 in March Madness, and hopefully advancing even further. We have seen Pitt get high seeds many times, only to blow it come March Madness.

This Pitt team is built to make a long run in March, with a lot of toughness and experience, with guys like Levance Fields, Sam Young, and DeJuan Blair. So while the #1 ranking is well deserved, and something every Pitt player and fan should be proud of, this team will be judged come tournament time, and I think this is the team to get past the Sweet 16.

NBC Loses Its Mind

Imagine you’re one of the thousands of Detroit auto workers out of a job, or living in fear hour to hour that the axe is about to fall. Having no real pro football team of your own, you attempt to find a few hours of soothing escape watching other teams in the playoffs. You got your popcorn, you got your chips, you got your pizza, you got your Miller’s. You switch on the NBC pregame show on Saturday and your jaw drops to the floor in disbelief. Could that really be Matt Millen sitting next to Costas, offering up pearls of wisdom about the upcoming contests? Matt Millen, arguably the worst GM in the history of the NFL? Matt Millen, whose football expertise directly contributed to the Lions’ historic 0-16 season? Matt Millen, first class loser and utter incompetent, has the balls to be taking money as an NBC analyst? Competent workers in Detroit are being laid off by the thousands, and the city’s pro football team is in ruins, but NBC hands a contract to this incompetent hack who destroyed a franchise? What the hell were they thinking? Who the hell cares what Millen has to say about anything? The guy should have been tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail – but here he is with pancake makeup, lucrative contract in his back pocket, sharing his deep NFL insights with little Bobby Costas! For any true NFL fan from any city (other than Dallas where no true fans exist), this has to be sickening, but for the poor SOB’s in Detroit, this has to be downright nauseating! NBC has clearly lost its freakin’ mind!

Eagles Advance to Divisional Round

The Eagles beat the Vikings in the wild card round to advance to the divisional round of the playoffs to face their division rival New York Giants.

Back to the game at hand, the Eagles pulled away in the 4th quarter in a close game throughout. It felt like the game was 16-14 for most of the 2nd half, and the Vikings were just a field goal away from taking the lead, but the Eagles defense held strong. The Vikings were everything they were advertised to be, a very good defensive line that didn't give the Eagles much room to operate on the offensive end. Correll Buckhalter's 27 yard run was really the only long run the Eagles had all game. The Eagles ended up with only 67 yards total on 23 carries. The Vikings defense was also constantly pressuring Donovan McNabb on passing plays. The Eagles only offensive touchdown came in the 4th quarter, and essentially won the game, a 71 yard screen pass touchdown by Brian Westbrook.

Donovan McNabb played great in this game. He ended the game with exactly 300 yards passing and a touchdown and an INT. He was constantly pressured, and escaped the Vikings pressure well, and was able to hit his check downs a lot, and take what the Vikings gave him. Brent Celek and Jason Avant had some big catches, a lot on 3rd down.

The Eagles defense was also solid, and made sure the Eagles would not give this game up in the 2nd half. The Vikings had two long scoring drives, which both resulted in Adrian Peterson touchdowns runs, but that was all the Eagles would give the Vikings. Overall, the Vikings only ended up with 301 total yards, and Asante Samuel scored on an interception return for a touchdown. We knew coming into this game how good the Vikings rushing attack was, with Peterson, who was the league's leading rusher, and also Chester Taylor. The Eagles did a decent job on both of them, but more importantly, did not let Tarvaris Jackson beat them. Trent Cole, Brian Dawkins, and Quintin Mikell were beasts on the defensive side of the football.

Also, DeSean Jackson's punt returns were solid, and always seemed to give the Eagles good field position. Jackson had over 100 yards on punt returns including a 62 yarder. Also on special teams, David Akers was 4-4 on field goal tries, including a 51-yarder. For a guy who couldn't make a 40+ yard field goal halfway through the season, Akers has really stepped it up in this playoff run. Hopefully it will continue at New York.

It was definitely a nerve racking game, and the Vikings game it their all, but in the end, the Eagles prevailed, and advance to play the Giants next weekend.

Eagles-Vikings Breakdown

Breaking down the Eagles-Vikings game--

QB

The Eagles have a resurgent Donovan McNabb, who when the play calling allows for it, is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The Vikings will start Tarvaris Jackson, who has only made 5 starts this season, but does have 9 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. McNabb has much more playoff experience and very good numbers against the Vikings.
EDGE: EAGLES

RB

The Vikings feature what might be the best running back in the game right now in Adrian Peterson, who led the league with 1760 rushing yards this season. The Vikings also have a good 2nd running back in Chester Taylor, who can come in and spell Peterson when need be. The Eagles also feature two solid running backs in Westbrook and Buckhalter. While the Vikings simply run Peterson over and over, the Eagles use Westbrook in a variety of ways, running the ball, and splitting Westbrook out wide to run receiving patterns. While Westbrook is one of the best in the game, it's hard to pick against the NFL's leading rusher.

EDGE: VIKINGS

WR/TE

Neither team is particularly solid at this position, as the Eagles feature a rookie as their leading receiver, and an underachieving tight end. The Vikings top two receivers were Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade, and at tight end, Visanthe Shiancoe had a solid season. Neither team had a 1000 yard receiver, but Berrian and Shiancoe both had 7 touchdown catches this season. No Eagles receiver had more than 3 touchdown catches.

EDGE: VIKINGS

O-Line

Again, the Vikings have the NFL's leading rusher, which definitely counts for something, but the Eagles offensive line can also run block, and the Eagles offensive line allowed fewer sacks than the Vikings offensive line.

EDGE: PUSH

Defensive Front 7

The Vikings have the #1 rush defense in the league and also one of the best pass rushers in the league in Jared Allen. The Eagles have the #4 ranked rush defense, and also have some good pass rushers. The edge for the Vikings may come on the line, but the Eagles probably have a slight edge at linebacker, led by Stewart Bradley.

EDGE: PUSH

Secondary

The Eagles defense is #3 against the pass, while the Vikings defense is #18 against the pass. The Eagles secondary features two pro-bowlers in Asante Samuel and Brian Dawkins, and the Eagles are deep in their secondary. Because teams are not able to run on the Vikings, it may exploit their secondary a little bit, and the Vikings secondary did have a lot of interceptions this season.

EDGE: EAGLES

Intangibles

The last game the Vikings played in the playoffs, they lost to the Eagles. As stated before, McNabb has very good numbers against this Vikings team. However, the game is in Minnesota in the dome, which is a hard place for a visiting team to go in and win, even if the Vikings still can't sell this game out.

EDGE: VIKINGS

Overall

It looks like the weaknesses of the Vikings play right into the Eagles hand, and if the Eagles are smart, they should be able to exploit the Vikings. Donovan McNabb is playing very well lately, and if the play calling is good, the Eagles should win this game.

EDGE: EAGLES

PREDICTION: 27-17 EAGLES

Pittsburgh Panthers Basketball 13-0

Due to my Pitt Panthers disappointing finish to the college football season, I would like to officially welcome in the college basketball season to the forefront. The New Year means the bowl season will soon end, and conference play starts in college basketball, which is a very exciting time for anybody who likes college basketball.

There are six remaining undefeated teams in college basketball, the Pittsburgh Panthers being one of them, standing at 13-0 after a solid win at the RAC yesterday. The #3 Panthers will face the #8 Georgetown Hoyas this Saturday at noon on ESPN. This Panthers team boasts a "Big 3" with 3 players averaging in double figures, led by Sam Young. DeJuan Blair and Levance Fields also score double digits, and DeJuan Blair averages a double-double, and is 2nd in the nation in rebounding.

While Pitt has been to the tournament for 7 straight seasons, we have never been past the Sweet 16 in any of those seasons. This season may be our best chance to break through that Sweet 16 barrier.

Either way, it should be an exciting year as we welcome in conference play in the college basketball season.