Pitt men’s soccer will enter the 2021 NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed with a bye in the first round. The Panthers regular-season success has them poised to make their mark on the NCAA College Cup.

Nonconference games against non-power five programs aren’t supposed to be stressful. The Panthers first two games of the season featured tight matchups, but Pitt (2-1) finally earned a worry-free blowout victory on Saturday, defeating the Northern Illinois Huskies (0-3) 89-59 at the Petersen Events Center.

Metal plus time equals rust. And when you leave a basketball team to rest in the Steel City for 10 days, they’re bound to develop some rust as well. Finals week kept Pitt men’s basketball idle for ten days before hosting Northern Illinois on Monday night. 

It was 5:30 in the morning in 1996. Instead of sleeping, a then 23-year-old Matt Canada was hanging a banner for the Indianapolis 500 on a bridge on 16th Street in the city. He was serving as Butler University’s...