The Panthers have an uphill battle today. That's not to say they can't win and to be honest, I wouldn't be all that surprised if they did. But for Pitt to win, they can't afford to revert back to their 40% shooting outings and will need to put points on the board.

My favorite stat about Georgetown's defense? They've held six teams to 50 points or less this season. Think about that - six out of 19 games is nearly 1/3 of their opponents. They held another five to fewer than 60. In a nutshell, Pitt's going to need guys like Woodall and Nas to contribute and will probably need the help of at least one more guy playing well offensively ... Dante Taylor or Talib Zanna, anyone?

Pitt might not need to score a ton since Georgetown's offense is pretty average, ranking 99th in all of college basketball. But shooting 40% from the field today ain't gonna cut it.

Safe to say that this game is huge. Lose, and much of the small amount of momentum built up after beating Providence is gone. Win, and the team should have a good amount of confidence going forward.

Leave your pre-game thoughts below and check back and comment during the game.

Great Q&A session by Anson with the Casual Hoya to get you primed for Georgetown, but I wanted to expand on that with one key to today's game.

Getting to the free throw line.

Georgetown did an above-average job getting to the line in the non-conference, but in conference play they have taken it to another level. In eight Big East games, they attempt nearly 22 free throws/game on only 51 FG attempts/game. This free throw rate of 43% dwarfs Pitt's conference free throw rate of 27.2%. Sadly, it takes us 58.4 FG attempts/game just to reach 15.9 FT attempts/game. Fortunately, the Hoyas struggle converting on those chances, shooting a measly 65.1% during conference play. And, not that we're much better at 66.1%.

The two main contributors to these numbers are Henry Sims and Jason Clark. Both rank in the top ten in free throws attempted in conference play, helping to shoot a combined 100 free throws. Nasir, leading Pitt in free throw attempts, isn't even close with 27 trips to the line; good for only 32nd in the conference.

What does this mean?

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No one expects Pitt to beat Georgetown. And yet, I remember another time when Pitt and Georgetown met up and the Hoyas seemed like the clear favorites. Great times were had by all (well, expect for Georgetown fans).

Going into Saturday's matchup, Pitt has essentially nothing to lose at this point. An NCAA berth is extremely unlikely, barring some bizarre UConn-like run through the rest of the regular season and Big East tournament. But the Panthers have some momentum after finally winning a game (albeit against a really bad Providence team) and this team was actually almost Pitt-like in the victory. It's obvious, but I'll say it: With Tray Woodall in the lineup, this is the Pitt team most of us were expecting throughout the season and they are a completely different (and better) team than what we've had the misfortune of seeing for the past month.

Anson predicted a narrow Georgetown win in the Q&A with Casual Hoya. But I'm going the other way and think Pitt beats the Hoyas on Saturday.

Nice win on Wednesday, gentlemen. ESPN3 blacked it out in NYC because Providence, RI and Pittsburgh, PA are very close to the Big Apple. Huh?

Regardless of the outcome again Providence, I've been wanting to do a piece on Jamie Dixon's recent struggles in the context of the proverbial hot seat. I mean, all of us are on the hot seat at some point point in our lives, either in the form of poor semesters, missed project deadlines, strained relationships, mismanaged fantasy teams, etc.

Coach Dixon, for all the good he's done at Pitt, is not immune to this topic of conversation. Bloggers do this type of meaningful work. Well, in a series of posts, I'll be looking at his connection to current and former hot seaters across the Big East and college basketball landscape.

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As a native Pittsburgher, I was raised to be one thing if nothing else: a Steelers fan. From the day that a person is born in to a family of Steeler fans, they're expected to wholeheartedly (albeit, sometimes blindly) support their team regardless of record, score, scandal, etc. Now at Pitt, I've developed that same passion for the Panthers.

Never has that passion and allegiance been tested more than by the past football and current basketball seasons. We all know about the dismal season that was the first and last of the Todd Graham Era. We're also fully aware of the struggles impeding Jamie Dixon and his usually-successful basketball team. Both programs are elite when it comes to funding and sponsorship (it doesn't get much better than Nike). The marketing and public relations departments have also been doing a solid job with promotion and billboards and signage around the city.

Clearly, the athletic department and the university are dedicated to making both of these programs even more nationally known than they already are. One thing that hasn't been consistent throughout this past year? Fan support.

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I really enjoy the Q&As with opposing blogs and had a chance to do one recently with Andrew over at Casual Hoya, SB Nation's awesome Georgetown blog in advance of Saturday's big game. While the Providence game certainly makes me feel a little better about Pitt (particularly good to see Tray Woodall break out), I'm still not all that enthusiastic about matching up against what might be the best team in the Big East.

Can Pitt win? Sure. But I'd still call it an upset and while I think the game will be close, it's hard for me to pick Pitt to win this one.

Here are his answers to some of my questions. Be sure to head over there and watch for my answers to his questions.

Cardiac Hill: Is Georgetown the best team in the Big East right now?

Casual Hoya: At the midway point of the Big East schedule the Hoyas are a top 4 team in the conference and a strong contender for a 1^st round bye in the Big East Tournament. For Hoyas fans, this is much better than we could have imagined heading into this season which was supposed to be a transition year during which most of the college hoops pundits predicted Georgetown to finish 10^th in the conference. So, is Georgetown the best team in the Big East? Probably not. But I’m not going to suggest that a team that plays its home games in Canada and didn’t play its first true road game until January and just announced an alternate gray uniform is either.

Casual Hoya: I think you are right to say the defense we are playing is significantly better than previous years. I think JT3 has proven himself to be an excellent offensive coach who has struggled teaching defense and rebounding, so it feels like he made a conscious switch in recruiting to find players who are excellent defensively and can be taught offense. Players like Austin Freeman were superb offensively coming into school but never got better defensively, whereas you look at our current freshmen and guys like Jabril Trawick and Greg Whittington really get after it defensively but will take some time to get there fully on the offensive side. Just so we're clear, I am thrilled with this change in mentality. This year we have had some excellent offensive games shooting the ball (Memphis, Marquette, Cincinnati) and some truly atrocious shooting efforts (Rutgers, Providence). I think we will get better offensively by the time tournament play rolls around, and as long as we can keep up the effort on defense, no reason to think we can't get to the Sweet 16. From there, as you know, it comes down to luck of the draw and things bouncing the right way. But if we've learned anything, our teams under JT3 that can play defense (2006-2008 versions) fare much better in tournament play than those that don't (2009-2011 versions).

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First off, let me say this. It absolutely sucks for Rutgers to lose their coach less than a week before Signing Day. However, if Scarlet Knight fans are looking for sympathy, Pitt fans are not the people to be going to. It sucks, but I don't feel any sympathy for them because of what has happened to Pitt the past two seasons. Call me bitter, but that's how I feel. Last season when Dave Wannstedt got the ax, Rutgers jumped on it and took a number of Pitt assistants and commits. Now, it's Pitt's turn to do the same.

But back to the main point. If reports are true and Greg Schiano is heading to become the new head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pitt can gain some ground on some pretty good recruits and possibly grab one in the wake of the coaching move. The main one is obviously J.J. Denman, who was considered a Pitt lean until he went to Piscataway for his official visit this past weekend and ultimately committed to Rutgers after being a commit to Penn State and then Wisconsin.

But there are other targets as well that Pitt could convince to switch their commitments.

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