1. Kip Wells’ potentially season-ending surgery to repair a blocked artery could be a… 1. Kip Wells’ potentially season-ending surgery to repair a blocked artery could be a blessing in disguise for the Pirates.

Matt Sortino: Fiction. This is a loaded question, because if the Pirates were going to get the Kip Wells from last year in this season, then yes, anything would be better and that includes Victor Santos. However, I thought with a new pitching coach and new attitude Wells was going to improve, basically because there was almost no way he could get worse a year after leading the National League in losses. If the Pirates don’t make a trade, I think the injury works out badly for them because they don’t have an immediate solution for the loss of Wells’ talent. However, the Pirates have plenty of young arms and any one of them could be the next Zach Duke.

Dave Thomas: Fiction. You never want to see someone out for the year, especially when you’re as decimated as the Pirates are. I understand that they have a lot of young pitching talent eager to get on a big league mound, but Wells would help these young guys with his presence alone at spring training. Sure, he struggled mightily at times last season, but he has won 10 or more games in three seasons and has 55 career wins, and his experience could help develop these younger pitchers and push them and himself as well.

2. Pitt will become the first team to win the Big East tournament without a first round bye.

MS: Fiction. Not only has no team ever won the Big East tournament without the bye, the Panthers just don’t seem to have what it takes to win the big game away from home this season. Monday night showed again that the Panthers are much more comfortable at home, and that they are having real problems winning on the road. The tournament features too many good teams this year for someone to realistically make a run that includes wins on four straight nights.

DT: Fiction. As much as I would like to believe this will be fact, I just don’t see it happening. There’s a definite answer as to why no team has ever won four straight games in four straight days in the Garden to win a title. It might be one of the hardest feats in college basketball, especially with the makeup of this year’s field. Think about it this way: Pitt is currently ranked ninth in the country but will more than likely get the sixth seed in the conference because of tiebreakers. That’s how good the Big East is, but at the same time, it makes the Panthers seem like they still could possibly pull it off. It could happen, but I’d be very surprised.

3. With the news of Steelers’ head coach Bill Cowher recently buying a $2.5 million mansion in Raleigh, N.C., it seems as though his retirement is near.

MS: Fact. What else could it possibly mean? Cowher is apparently moving his family down south as soon as his middle daughter graduates from Fox Chapel this upcoming summer. That means Mrs. Cowher and their youngest daughter will live their everyday life in North Carolina, while Dad is up in Pittsburgh working? I don’t see that lasting very long, and with a Super Bowl under his belt, expect Cowher to hang ’em up in the next three years.

DT: Fiction. First off, Cowher went to school at NC State and his position coach then was Chuck Amato, who is now the Wolfpack head coach, so he has ties to the area. Secondly, although Cowher is the longest current tenured head coach in the NFL, he is still young and has no reason to be going anywhere. Finally, it just seems as if Cowher is using a little of his spending money – more of which will surely be coming his way, via endorsements and the like – because of the Super Bowl ring. I think Cowher wants to add to his Hall of Fame resume under the Rooney family. These guys have houses all over the country; it doesn’t mean he’s going anywhere.

4. After WVU fans stormed the court after Monday’s game, it’s safe to say that storming the court is getting a little ridiculous.

MS: Fact. Look, when a top-25 team beats another top-25 team, the court should never be stormed. WVU fans ran on the court after beating Pitt by five points, at home, and that is a shame. If there is one good thing about the way the Petersen Events Center is set up, it’s that it hasn’t yet allowed Pitt students to storm the court after a meaningless regular season game. Storming the court should be left for games when a No.1 team is beaten, or games in which a rival is beaten in a series that has been lopsided for a very long time.

DT: Fact. Storming the court should only be allowed when a No. 1 falls to an unbeaten team or when a serious underdog wins a championship (see Jim Valvano, 1983). I know it’s easy for two Pitt student writers to say WVU’s fans were wrong, but this is getting out of hand. Pitt was ranked ninth and WVU 14th. Those rankings were reversed when Pitt beat WVU at home on February 9. I know there was a lot of excitement in that building on Monday, but storming the court was unnecessary, and it is happening more and more when it is uncalled for.