2011 Big East-SEC Challenge / Invitational Schedule: Pitt Vs. Tennessee Part II

So, I'm still not entirely sure if this is the Big East-SEC Challenge or the Big East-SEC Invitational. Leaning towards the latter, but whatever.

All that really matters is that Pitt is taking on Tennessee again in 2011 on one of the ESPN channels TBD ... which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The main reason for the rematch, I'm guessing anyway, is to schedule virtually a 'home and home' with each team as next season's game will be in Tennessee. But I would have preferred to have seen Pitt play a different SEC team on the road. Not because Tennessee is going to be a hostile environment, but it would be nice to see the Panthers suit up against a Kentucky or someone else.

And while it might seem like mixing the teams and ensuring that all of last year's home teams went on the road might have been a bit of a challenge, don't forget that only four teams were involved last year before organizers vowed to expand the event. There will be 12 teams this year, so it should have been fairly easy to mix them up while sending last year's home teams on the road.

All that aside, though, there are some pretty decent matchups.

Syracuse will take on Florida, UConn plays Arkansas, and St. John's gets the beast of the SEC - Kentucky.

So looking at Pitt/Tennessee, how will the Panthers fare? Well, for starters, Tennessee is now without its two returning scorers from last season as Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris have declared for the NBA Draft. If you remember anything about last year's game, you know that having Hopson was a one-man wrecking crew.

Pitt fans shouldn't worry, though - there will be a familiar face on the other side: