Fields should start at point guard — Fact!

1. Levance Fields should be in the starting five for the Pitt basketball team.… 1. Levance Fields should be in the starting five for the Pitt basketball team.

Joe Balestrino: Fact. Although it is early in the season and the lineup could potentially change by the time Pitt opens its Big East schedule, to me this is a no-brainer.

Fields should absolutely be in the starting lineup. With all due respect to coach Dixon, Fields has been nothing but consistent since putting on a Panthers uniform, and he proved that last season as a true freshman. As Carl Krauser’s primary back-up, Fields averaged 6.8 points and 2.2 assists per game — not a bad average for a non-starter.

Additionally, he led the team in 3-point field goal percentage and ranked second on the squad in assist-turnover ratio. Fields has a wide range of coveted skills, including ball handling, passing and scoring, all necessary for a ranked team’s starting point guard.

Dave Thomas: Fact. As good as Pitt’s frontcourt will be this year, everyone knows you can’t get it to them unless you have a true point guard distributing the basketball. I know it doesn’t really matter who starts as much as it matters who finishes games for Pitt this year, and I’m sure Jamie Dixon will get his bench plenty of minutes, but Fields needs to be on the floor.

He can penetrate and create openings for Aaron Gray and company down low. He will be just as critical as anyone if Pitt wants to live up to that No. 4 ranking that just came out in the AP poll.

2. WVU will put up more rushing yards against Pitt than it did last year — a staggering 451 yards.

JB: Fiction. This does not mean I’m jumping on the Pitt bandwagon, but I still believe it will lose this game, and that the run defense will give up close to its total of a year ago, just not the full amount.

When you consider the fact that Pitt has been scorched on the run by the better teams it has faced this season, namely Michigan State and Rutgers, there is no reason to believe it will be able to stop an even better Mountaineers rushing attack. I look for Pitt to give up about 420 yards rushing, which is amazingly an improvement from a year ago.

DT: Fiction. And while I don’t think Pitt will be able to contain WVU’s running attack, I just don’t think I could justify saying it’ll put up those astounding numbers again. Most of those numbers came from a ridiculous performance by White. He ran for 220 yards, while Slaton was “held” to only 179.

While Pitt has had its troubles against the run this year and in recent memory, I would like to think that a 451-yard performance was an aberration.

3. After a sideline injury where he broke his leg, Joe Paterno should retire as the head coach at Penn State.

JB: Fiction. This pick isn’t about so much what I believe is the right decision; rather, it is in fact a statement of what is going to happen. JoePa would not in a million years leave in this fashion. To recap, the Penn State coach fractured his leg and has ligament damage in his left knee after being run into by Lions tight end Andrew Quarless in Saturday’s loss at Wisconsin.

As a result of the incident, the question has once again been raised, whether or not it’s time for JoePa to hang it up. JoePa epitomizes Penn State, and at 79 years old, it is apparent that the only thing that can keep Joe from the sidelines is the Grim Reaper himself.

Plus, with Penn State due to play a home game this Saturday against one of the nation’s worst football programs, the Temple Owls, JoePa could realistically coach via teleconference from his home if need be (to the extent that coaching is even necessary against a team that bad).

DT: Fiction. Say what you want about him, but JoePa has earned the right to do whatever he wants and retire whenever he wants. The fact of the matter is, he should be commended for being 80 years old and being able to return to work on a Saturday after having knee surgery the previous Tuesday.

I don’t know how many of us will even be here when we’re 80, let alone worrying about coaching a football team. Joe might not be the same guy he once was, but the guy is tough; you have to give him credit.

4. The team that loses the No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan game next week deserves a rematch and the right to play for a national championship.

JB: Fiction. Although I believe both teams are deserving, if there is a team that is undefeated when the season ends (i.e. the Louisville Cardinals), then it deserves to be in the national championship game.

The upcoming Ohio State vs. Michigan matchup features what are now the nation’s top two teams, but the loser does not deserve to stay atop the standings. Of the teams in the BCS top 10, only Louisville is undefeated, and the rest have one loss.

If the Cardinals do indeed lose a game, then I would say that the loser of the Michigan/Ohio State matchup deserves to be in the title game if and only if Louisville loses.

DT: Fact. While I think it will never happen and I can understand why a rematch won’t draw as much appeal nationally, I think it makes sense because it seems pretty obvious that these two teams are the best two teams in college football this year.

It’s not their fault they are in the same conference. They can’t help who they play just as the Big East schools can’t help it that, with the loss of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, their schedule is no longer as tough. The Wolverines and Buckeyes have done everything to prove they are the best two teams.