1. An undefeated Big East team should play for the college football national… 1. An undefeated Big East team should play for the college football national championship.

Geoff Dutelle: Fact. I’m sorry, but I just don’t subscribe to the theory of punishing a team for playing a weak schedule. Athletic directors make these schedules five to six years in advance. How could West Virginia, which lost to the likes of Rutgers in Rich Rodriguez’s first season, have scheduled top-10-caliber teams back then? An unbeaten Big East team will have two top-10 wins by knocking out the other two unbeatens and has every right to play for all the marbles, especially since the conference is so much better this year. Keep in mind that every team in the Big East has at least three wins. Bottom line, they will beat whomever they have to play and that is as well as they can do.

Dave Thomas: Fact. And if they don’t like it, change the BCS system. The fact that this is even a discussion proves that the BCS has flaws and only perpetuates the problem it was set up to solve. The Big East is a member conference of the BCS and has two teams in the top six. Both Louisville and WVU deserve to be there, and we’ll see how this things shake out after the two teams meet. What makes this whole scenario all the more exciting from a Pitt Panther fan and Pitt student is the fact that Pitt still has to play both of these teams at Heinz Field. Pitt has an awesome opportunity to play a spoiler to either one of these squads and gain some national recognition.

2. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ season, at 2-5, is over.

GD: Fact, and I know it’s a mistake to write off not only this team, but also any defending champs. The fact remains that this team is clueless in so many different facets of the game, which is baffling considering how sound they were a year ago. Ben is simply trying to not die out there, and the defense is at its breaking point with all of the offensive turnovers. Pittsburgh is three games out of first and the Steelers have too much ground to make up and a schedule not conducive to doing so.

DT: Fiction. And only for the simple fact that it’s not over ’til it’s over. But even that seems like a bit of a stretch at this point. One thing is certain: If the Steelers wait any longer to turn things around, the season will definitely be over. As it stands now, they would probably need to go 8-1 over their final nine games to have a chance to steal a wildcard spot and get into the playoffs. While it’s unlikely, it could happen. I don’t know if I’m willing to write that it will, but it could. Good enough to garner a “fiction” from yours truly.

3. NBA Commissioner David Stern’s wanting players to leave their firearms at home is a reasonable request.

GD: Fact. The NBA’s image is so bad that Stern has to start showing his paternal side. It may be a player’s right to carry a gun, but it doesn’t mean he has to. It starts with not putting yourself in a position where you might need one, a task easier said than done for a league with so many thugs in it. How many times has a gun saved the life of a pro athlete anyway?

DT: Fact. But the fact that this even needs to be said is ridiculous and shows why no one cares about the NBA. It’s a shame that stories like this and others like it – last year’s dress code and the design of the new ball this year – take precedent over covering the extraordinary athletes who are the superstars of this league. LeBron James is doing things that are simply amazing, while Dwayne Wade showed that he has the ability to carry a team on his back like a guy named Jordan, but no one seems to care. Personally, I’m more excited about the start of college hoops, because we’d all rather watch basketball where they play defense and actually care about winning and losing more than their shoe contracts.

4. Pitt basketball (preseason ranked No. 5) will win the Big East this season.

GD: Fact. You just get that feeling that there could be a two- or three-team tie atop the standings, but the Panthers’ schedule is a favorable one. Pitt and Georgetown are going to be neck-and-neck all season, even though the Hoyas match up better with the Panthers than any team in the league. Pitt, however, gets a depleted West Virginia squad twice while the Hoyas have to double up against Villanova and Cincinnati.

DT: Fact. I really like the Panthers squad this year. Aside from their favorable schedule, they are going to be able to pound the ball inside to their enormous front court of Aaron Gray (7-0), Sam Young (6-6) and Levon Kendall (6-10) and wear teams down on offense and then come down to the other end and play that infamous hard-nosed man-to-man defense. That combination could just bury teams who will be tired because the Big East is so tough. While I think Pitt will win the conference this year, be careful on how much stock is put into these preseason rankings. Remember it was only a year ago that Pitt was predicted to finish seventh when the team actually finished second after losing in the conference tournament final.