Pitt Game and Some other Sports News for the Big East

Its that time of year again. Everyone is cramming in their studying for finals, but of course, like my other sport fanatic counterparts, I decided to head up to the Pete for the basketball game. Tonight Pitt played VMI (Virginia Military Institute). Turns out though, it wasn’t much of a game. Pitt was up by 20 points for most of the game. The Zoo was most excited for the return of Brad Wanamaker (a Pitt player who graduated last year and helped lead the team in points and assists). Everyone was very enthusiastic upon his return. Because Pitt was playing so well, I decided to venture back home in the freezing rain at halftime. The final score of the game was 97-70 Pitt.

In other exciting news, just as Pitt leaves the Big East and joins the ACC, the Big East will be welcoming Boise State, San Diego State, SMU, UCF and Houston. Boise State and SDSU will only be in the Big East for football but the other three teams joining the conference will become members for all sports. This is a particularly interesting add because of the loss of Pitt and Syracuse, but also because of the location for the schools. None of these schools are even close to being in the automatic 3,000-mile qualifier status. Clearly, this is not a disclaimer, but it will put these new schools at a disadvantage.

A lot of people are concerned however with the basketball changes that will be taking place next year. As a Pitt fan, I am already worried about how Pitt will be able to handle the change of pace that the ACC will bring. The ACC is a much faster paced game and it is much less of a game played with bigger players, and more so with faster point guards. Typically, Pitt does not recruit these types of players so it will be very interesting to see how they will play against a new conference and a new level of play.

These concerns are not just prevalent for me as a Pitt fan. With the new additions to the Big East, many other fans and sports analysts have posed questions about how college basketball will change next season. It will certainly be interesting to see if the Big East remains a powerhouse, and above all else, if Pitt can keep up with the new challenges presented to them and bring back a number 1 seed again.