Well the first round is complete, and what an interesting 2 days. First Pittsburgh loses to Pacific, which anyone who follows Pitt hoops would know that when you saw the starting lineup include McCarrol and Graves, you could see the end looming ahead. The Big East as a whole is still on track to have 50% of their teams in the tournament survive to the Sweet 16 for another year. West Virginia has a tough task ahead battling Wake Forest today, I say bring on the hoops!

Let me first say that my affiliation and alma mater ties have no bearing in what I’m about to post. With that said…

The BCS was created to play 1 vs. 2 and the 4 bowls that were associated with the 6 large conferences at the time wanted a piece of the money pie, agreeing into that. Before the BCS, the respective games were tied (and still are outside of their year of hosting the BCS Championship) with the conferences they contracted with (Rose Bowl (Pac-10, Big 10), Fiesta Bowl (Big 12), Sugar Bowl (SEC), and Orange Bowl (Big East, ACC)). Before the BCS noone whined about their team not making these bowls when they were making almost as much money on a yearly basis. With that said, I think tying in all 4 games as the BCS instead of just the 1 vs. 2 game has clouded some fans / media as to why the other spots exist. They never existed so the best teams period go to the bowls. They existed so the bowls could still guarantee attendance with those historical conference matchups to fill their seats.

Does this mean that people have to like it? No.

Frankly, I think each conference champion should get a BCS spot. It would help fund those mid-major conferences on a yearly basis and add even more competitiveness to the already diverse collegiate football landscape. I know some of you would argue “But that would take away from the meaning of the big bowl!” Well if the only bowl that determines the national championship is the BCS 1 vs. 2, with the occasional outsider in another top bowl, then didn’t they already take away meaning from the other bowls, non Championship BCS bowls included?

I finally got my pictures off of my HP PhotoSmart 318 digital camera, and I’m disappointed with the results, especially the fact that the scoreboard of Pitt’s victory came out as one big blur.

Here’s 2 highlight pictures:

Right after the game:

The Grotto(sp?) at Notre Dame (Click Link for larger picture)

As you can see by the larger picture, the relatively low megapixel count makes the details look a bit washy and noisy at the same time.

All in all a fun weekend!

I finally got the pictures from the Flyers / Sabres season opener @ the Wachovia Center. The Flyers ended up lighting the lamp to a 2-0 victory. Box score can be found here.

Click on the links for larger versions of the original.

Last night Pitt beat West Virginia 82-46 at the Pete, smiting the rival to the ground. Hopefully the performance will help quiet critics about the team. Next up Seton Hall on Saturday at noon. Lets Go Pitt!!!

The pieces are beginning to fall into place…. Arizona lost last night to Stanford, opening the door for Pittsburgh to be on top of the polls for the first time ever, as long as they can pull out a win @ Syracuse on Saturday. Lets Go Pitt!!!