This weekend figures to be one of the greatest sports weekends in a while, with college… This weekend figures to be one of the greatest sports weekends in a while, with college basketball winding down and baseball getting underway Sunday night.

1. The two No. 1 seeds left in the Final Four, North Carolina and Illinois, will advance to the championship game.

Matt: Fiction. While I do think North Carolina will go on to win the national championship, I have picked against Illinois all year and said they are overrated, so it’s too late to turn around now. Rick Pitino is an excellent tournament coach, and I say he will have the Louisville Cardinals ready to beat the Illini.

Dave: Fact. I just think that these two teams have been the best all year and are too hungry to lose after coming this far. The Michigan State Spartans and the Cardinals have had nice runs, but what it comes down to in the tournament is experience. The veteran backcourt of the Illini (Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head) and the three superstars at Carolina (Sean May, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants) will refuse to lose.

2. Louisville is the team everyone should watch out for in the final four.

Matt: Well, obviously, this is a fact. Francisco Garcia is one of the best players in the country, and with Juan Palacios down low, the Cardinals are going to be tough to beat. They are upset they got snubbed with a four seed and they have taken it out on the rest of the field. Look out for the Cardinals to beat Illinois and give UNC all it can handle.

Dave: I agree with Matt, this is a fact. Not to take anything away from Garcia and the other Cardinals, but this is a fact for one reason and one reason alone: coach Rick Pitino. So he couldn’t save the Boston Celtics, but he has now become the only man to take three different schools to the final four. He is a great tournament coach and, with a week to prepare, his team will be ready.

3. The Pittsburgh Pirates will finish the 2005 season above .500.

Matt: Fiction. What a tough one. The Vegas odds have them winning 74 games, putting them eight games below .500 on their way to their 13th straight losing season. I still believe if Kip Wells is healthy, he and Oliver Perez make a good 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. However, Josh Fogg, Mark Redman and Dave Williams make up one of, if not the worst, 3-5 rotations in the majors. Their lineup lacks real pop, despite general manager Dave Littlefield’s repeating over and over again that they needed to add a good bat. He didn’t do it and don’t tell me Matt Lawton was the answer.

Dave: As much as I want to say fact, I think this is fiction. As a fan, I’d love to see the Pirates do well, but it just doesn’t seem feasible. They have so little depth that the 162-game schedule will just wear them down. It doesn’t help that they play in the same division as the Astros, Cubs, and Cardinals — three teams that have a chance to represent the National League in the fall classic.

4. The Yankees and Red Sox (who will match up in this weekend’s opening series) rivalry is the best in all of sports.

Matt. Fact. It is a shame the way the Yankees and Red Sox win championships — by buying them, that is. But still, when they take the field, everyone watches because you never do know what will happen. This was a great rivalry last year heading into the American League Championship Series, but when the Red Sox came back from being down 3-0, it made it the best rivalry in sports.

Dave: Fact. As much as I want to say Carolina and Duke hoops, you just can’t deny what is between these two clubs. Not only have they gone to game seven in the ALCS the past two seasons, they have an 80-plus year history to match. With all the drama that has unfolded, and roles swapped (the defending champs and the team that blew it), this season looks like it will be adding another great chapter to one of the greatest stories in sports history.

Dave Thomas and Matt Sortino are both staff writers for The Pitt News.