Pitt vs. Syracuse: Open Gamethread

I went over this in the game preview earlier, but this isn't a must-win for Pitt. Still, it is an absolutely huge game and with the Louisville loss earlier this week, it'd be real nice to get this one.

The good news is that the Panthers should have a nice look at it, too. They always play well against Syracuse and with the game at home, to say they have a fighting chance would be an understatement.

I expect they'll be a bit more focused for this game, too. The Louisville game was a comedy of errors with all of the turnovers in the first half, the sloppy play, and the terrible free throw shooting. If the team still comes out flat for this one, I won't know what to tell you. But Jamie Dixon should have the boys ready to go and I'm expecting a good game.

I picked against Pitt for Louisville, but I'm just not sure about this one. The trendy thing to do would be pick Pitt, but Syracuse has only two losses this year by a total of eight points. The other factor is that they're fresh off a loss to Villanova so they'll be coming in with a bit of a fire of their own. This is just a tough one to call ... so I won't.

Be sure to check back in at noon for the game to comment live as it happens. And Byran M. from our site will be at the game as well with the media folk.

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