Questions that boggle the mind

No one figured that the Pitt men’s basketball team would finish undefeated, or even go as long… No one figured that the Pitt men’s basketball team would finish undefeated, or even go as long as they did without a loss, so a one under the loss column isn’t too surprising.

What is surprising, however, is the team that defeated them – the St. John’s Red Storm.

The Pitt players always welcome a trip to New York City, which is most of players’ hometown, to play in Madison Square Garden. But as of late, their second home has not been too friendly.

Quick to forget, Pitt took out its frustrations on Syracuse Monday night on national television.

Thanks to its performance for everyone to see, the questions of whether or not they are for real are finally beginning to cease.

But still, the questions continue to flow.

Q: Pitt and Villanova don’t play each other this year. If they did, how would the two teams stack up against each other?

A: Pitt isn’t quite on Villanova’s level yet, but it would be fun to watch.

Villanova’s guards – Allen Ray, Mike Nardi, Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry – offer a rare four-guard starting lineup that very few teams can match up with. Most teams can’t offer two, or even one guard, that has the ability on the court that all four of Villanova’s possess.

That being said, it’d be a nice challenge for Pitt’s young guards Ron Ramon and Levance Fields.

Last season, just as Villanova was getting hot, Pitt traveled to Philadelphia for a game and the Wildcats ran away with it.

I’d see much of the same going on if they met this season, mainly because of the inexperience of Pitt’s guards outside of Carl Krauser.

For Pitt to have a chance, it’d need to slow up possessions every time down the court, meaning that Aaron Gray would need to touch the ball as often as possible. With little to match underneath by the Wildcats, Gray would end up with a big game.

But the Wildcats, I believe, would be too much.

Q: Does Pitt have any chance against Connecticut on Tuesday?

A: Sure, there’s always that chance, especially in college basketball.

Remember, Pitt wasn’t given much of a chance when they made the trip last year, and they walked away victorious.

Make no mistake about it, though – UConn is ranked No. 1 in the nation for other reasons than just the fact that Duke lost to Georgetown.

The frontcourt for the Huskies, which can easily be considered the best in the nation, will, by far, be Gray’s toughest test of the season.

Outside of Gray, the Panthers lack the total team size and depth to match up with Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong and Rudy Gay. With those three still around, it makes you wonder just how good they’d be had Charlie Villanueva not left school early.

On the perimeter, Marcus Williams leads the point and sees the floor well. He is not a score-first type of guard and always looks for that extra pass.

There’s a lot to stop when it comes to the Huskies, and I’m not quite sure Pitt can limit all of it.

The chance is still there, however, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Pitt pulled out a win. They have done it before.

Q: Who is the best team in the Big East right now?

A: This question can go two ways.

I’d have to say the best team in the Big East is Connecticut, I mean they are ranked No. 1 in the nation.

But since “right now” is stated in the question, I’d have to certainly go with the West Virginia Mountaineers.

West Virginia has suffered three losses on the year that came all in a row against Texas, LSU and Kentucky – all legitimate defeats. With those out of the way, though, the Mountaineers have been on a tear.

WVU has won 12 games in a row, including wins over Oklahoma, Villanova, Georgetown and Ben Howland’s UCLA Bruins.

They were a great team last year, and they’re even better now.

I would not want to play West Virginia right now.

Have a question about Pitt basketball? Send it to sports@pittnews.com and it may appear in next week’s installment of “Q’A with Alan Smodic.”