Pitt vs. Florida State: Open Gamethread

Safe to say that after the recent Clemson loss, there's a lot more nervousness surrounding this game for fans.

Pitt had a chance to right the ship, so to speak, against the Tigers, but were easily defeated and that made three consecutive ACC games where the Panthers have been lackluster.

The ugly thing is that Pitt has yet to even play any of the heavyweights and that will change when they play Duke, Louisville, and Notre Dame over the next couple of weeks.

With the Clemson loss, this is really about as must-win as it gets with so many difficult games still on the schedule. If you thought they needed the one against the Tigers, they really need this one.

At 9-7, Florida State is one more of those beatable ACC teams. But for the Panthers, obviously, there aren't any gimmes on the conference schedule. The Seminoles have some bad losses, but also own a win against Florida from a couple of weeks ago.

A huge problem for Pitt here, though, will be Florida State's size. They have three centers all 7'0" or taller that all play. None put up big numbers, but my guess is that we'll see Joseph Uchebo tonight by default because of that, as well as a good amount of double teams in the post.

One thing I'll be watching with Cam Wright's comments after the Clemson game is, of course, the effort level. Pitt may lose tonight because they're a young team not overloaded with talent. But if they don't win, it shouldn't be for a lack of effort. Needing a win as badly as they do, there's no reason not to come out in front of a home crowd and lay it all on the line.

None.

Gametime is at 9:00 p.m. and locally, you can catch it on Root Sports. Outside of the area, it will be on your ACC Network affiliate and/or ESPN3. Join us then to comment live during the game.