Kevin Ollie and Geno Auriemma will be among the renowned group of basketball coachese on a visit to the Pentagon Wednesday for a strategy seminar with military officials. They will also conduct a panel discussion on leadership for more than 400 service members.

The event will be carried live on the Pentagon Channel and webcast starting at 1:30 p.m.

Joining Ollie and Auriemma will be Jim Boeheim, Jamie Dixon, Tom Izzo, Tubby Smith and Jay Wright. Jay Bilas will moderate the panel discussion.

     

Anyone want to hear what John Swofford has to say about poaching Syracuse and Pitt (and, soon, maybe others) from the Big East? Here ya go

And Jamie Dixon's take? Here 'tis.

Jim Calhoun, as only he could, set the stage to what promises to be another physical, memorable showdown between UConn and Pitt tomorrow night at the Petersen Events Center.

"When you play at Pitt, it's come to mean you're visiting the Steelers," Calhoun quipped. "At least the officials seem to think that."

And away we go ...

The Huskies made it out of Bradley on their charter early this afternoon, touched down in Pittsburgh at about 3:15 p.m. and were at the Petersen Events Center for practice by 4 p.m. Calhoun and Kemba Walker (as well as Pitt's Jamie Dixon and Gary McGhee) met with the media and talked about the idea of playing such a huge game with potentially big implications just two days after Christmas.

(A reminder to follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/DaveBorges)

Calhoun doesn't like it -- a point he made as far back as on Big East media day in October.

"I don't like seeing (one) of our teams playing the team that is, right now, as good as anybody else in our league – maybe the best," he said. "Let's give us a chance to get through the holiday season and go."

He continued: "The day after Christmas, you're traveling to play the best team in the league. And I'm not just saying that about us, I'm talking about some of the other games in our league. I personally don't like it, (but) the league's not going to change because I don't like it.

"When it comes down to the end and people are looking for high seeds in the Big East tournament, I wouldn't want to see a game here, two days after Christmas, cost somebody. I think everybody should have that time period."

So why are the Huskies playing at Pitt on Monday (8:30 p.m. espn2)?

"We play Texas and Tennessee, that takes away two dates the Big East can use for us," Calhoun noted. "Conversely, I counter that by saying, we might be doing a little something for the league by playing those two schools. I think their power ratings might be among the top 15 in the country. I think our Maui games probably help."

Dixon isn't thrilled with the timing of the game, either.

"It is what it is. We don't make the schedule, the conference does," he said. "Obviously, over the years we've had incredibly close games with highly ranked teams coming together. Every game has been really a battle. Whatever date we've played it, it's lived up to its billing. I'm expecting the same this game."

Not everyone is against the timing of the game. McGhee, Pitt's 6-foot-11 senior center, welcomes it.

"I like coming right from Christmas into a big game like this," McGhee said. "I’m looking forward to it."

Calhoun could perhaps be swayed to that opinion, as well.

"If we're fortunate enough to be on the left-hand (winning) side of the column, I'll say what a great idea it was to play two days after Christmas," he joked. "I won't say that. I just think teams should have as much of a chance to get ready."

***Dixon isn't surprised by UConn's 10-0 start, even though it was picked to finish 10th in the conference by Big East coaches.

"I don't know how you can be surprised by anybody in our league that's had a history of success," he said. "You go through the league, you've got to pick somebody ninth and 10th that has won year after year and had success. Last year, we were picked in the same spot, ninth or 10th, and we finished second. It shouldn't be a surprise.

"Every year, I'd think Syracuse would be rebuilding, and I've finally given up. Same thing with Connecticut and certain teams in this conference."

***Expect a typically physical game. The Panthers are outrebounding opponents by 16.2 per game, easily tops in the conference. They're holding teams to 61.1 points per game – seventh in the league, just ahead of UConn (62.4). The Huskies' frontcourt of Alex Oriakhi, Charles Okwandu, Tyler Olander and (perhaps) Enosch Wolf will be key.

***It takes a village to stop Walker these days. That seems to be the mentality the Panthers will go in with tomorrow ight. Brad Wanamaker, Ashton Gibbs and Travon Woodall will all likely take turns guarding Walker, but in the end it's the entire Pitt team that must fill gaps and keep Walker from penetrating and getting out in the open floor, where he can either score on drives to the hoop or dish off to teammates.

"You can't guard him with just one guy," Dixon said. "All five guys on the floor have to be doing what they're supposed to do."

***Why is the game being played at 8:30 p.m.? Well, it follows the 5 p.m. Independence Bowl (Georgia Tech vs. Air Force) on espn2. Gee, there's a must-see game.

***Pitt and UConn, respectively, are the Big East's winningest programs of the 21st Century. Since the start of the 2001-02 season, the Panthers are 257-66 (.796) overall and 109-41 in league play. UConn is 235-79 (.748) and 103-47.

Over that span, Pitt has made nine NCAA tourney appearances, UConn seven. The schools have met in three of the last nine Big East championship finals. In the last nine years, both programs have appeared in five Sweet Sixteens.

Of course, UConn has a national title and a Final Four in that span (not to mention a national title just before that time period). Pitt has never reached the Final Four.

***Calhoun feels plenty of "love" from the fans at The Pete.

"It's good to get back to one of my favorite places, the Peterson Center," he quipped. "I know the fans here love me, so it's always nice to come back where you are loved."

Greetings from balmy Pittsburgh ... well, relatively balmy, anyway, compared to what's going to hit Connecticut later today. Nut much snow here. There's maybe an inch on the ground, but it doesn't appear that it's snowed at all this morning to this point.

As of last night, UConn planned to fly out of Bradley on its charter at 1 p.m. today. Not sure if that has changed at all.

Otherwise, looking forward to a great way to kick off the Big East season tomorrow night. We'll be talking to Jim Calhoun, Kemba Walker, etc. today around 3:15 p.m.

Also, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has been named the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, for what it's worth.

OK, back to reading the new Keith Richards biography.

So Joe Lombardi ... er, Lunardi has UConn in the NCAA tournament right now. One of his last four in, right along with Notre Dame. Interesting.

Sorry Joe, but I just don't see it. Not now. Not at 17-13, 7-10 in the Big East. Not after whatever that was Wednesday night against the Irish.

Now, granted, I didn't major in Bracketology while at URI. More like Astronomy -- as in, I took up a lot of space in class. Joey Brackets apparently remains impressed with the Huskies' RPI (49) and strength of schedule (2), and that's all well and good. But Lunardi seems to be too much of a prisoner of the numbers, and not taking into account the human element. He's like one of those sabermetricians in baseball, who think a guy should get into the Hall of Fame because he's got a great career OBP, without taking into account if the guy was a dominant player over his career.

Please. Hate to trot out the term "eye test," but did your eyes see Wednesday night's ugliness?

UConn has a great win at Villanova, a very good win over West Virginia and a pretty good win over faltering Texas.

But the Huskies are hardly surging into the postseason (4-6 in last 10, two straight losses). They're 3-9 away from home (2-7 on the road, 1-2 neutral). They're in 12th place in the Big East, and they've lost to 11th-place Cincinnati twice.

They've lost to Providence and Michigan, both on the road. There aren't a whole lot of bad road losses, in my book -- especially in the Big East. Winning on the road in this conference isn't easy, no matter who you play. Except DePaul. And Providence.

It's all well and good that the Huskies have played a tough schedule, but you've got to do more than just play good teams. Gotta win some. They did beat Villanova and West Virginia, and they deserve all the credit in the world for it. But those big wins are somewhat cancelled out by the Providence/Michigan/Cincy losses. Almost beating Kentucky, Syracuse, Georgetown and Duke doesn't mean a whole lot.

The tournament selection committee may not take all of the above factors into consideration, but the bottom line is, it's hard to agree with Lunardi right now. And a win Saturday at South Florida won't change that, either.

The Huskies really need to do A LOT of damage in the Big East tourney next week. Win at USF and I'd say UConn needs to at least get to Saturday nignt's championship game to feel comfortable on Selection Sunday. Getting to Friday's semifinals might do the trick. And here's the kicker: THEY CAN DO IT!

Nothing you saw Wednesday night would convince you that the Huskies can make a conference tourney run. Nothing they've done in the past four seasons (in which they've been one-and-done in New York all four times, stunningly) would make you believe that, either. But it's hardly impossible.

As it stands right now, UConn would play Rutgers in their opening game. They've already handled the Scarlet Knights on the road this year, and it's hard to believe they couldn't do it again. Next would be Marquette. Wouldn't bet the house on that one, but not impossible, by any stretch.

Then would come Pitt. Again, a tough challenge. But remember this: in recent years, teams that have already locked up an NCAA bid don't always play as well in the Big East tourney. Last year, three of the Big East's top four seeds (including UConn) lost their conference tourney openers. UConn and Villanova, of course, wound up going to the Final Four.

Not saying that hard-nosed Pitt, under the terrific tutelage of Jamie Dixon, would fall into that same trap. But again, it's possible.

And while we're at it, if UConn somehow gets to the semifinals and finals, it's already proven it can beat Villanova, West Virginia and (almost) Syracuse.

So, there you have it. Can't agree that UConn is in the Big Dance right now, but I'm predicting a decent run at Madison Square Garden. Get to the finals, and they're in.

Provided, of course, they beat USF on Saturday ...

Some observations tonight from the XL Center, after watching Pittsburgh out-tough UConn to a 67-57 victory.

***The Panthers are hardly the most talented team in the league, but they get the most out of their players with hard-nosed, gritty defensive play. How else do you win three straight Big East road games against, two of them against ranked opponents (Syracuse and now UConn).

How do they do it?

"Good players is probably the first thing," said Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. "The second thing is probably good players, and the next thing is probably good players."

Oh, and good coaching. Dixon is easily the early frontrunner for Big East Coach of the Year, and it's not even close.

***UConn doesn't exactly have an imaginative offense. Particularly over the last 10 minutes of the second half, the Huskies were far too reliant on letting Jerome Dyson or Kemba Walker drive to the hoop. And while Dyson made some big shots and scored 10 of his 14 points over the final 10 minutes of play, not enough other players were involved.

"If you had Jerome Dyson … you'd send him to the rim, too," Jim Calhoun pointed out. "He's pretty effective doing that. But that's late in the shot clock, when we haven't got anything out of our offense."

Stanley Robinson had 13 points by halftime but scored just six the rest of the way – none over the final 13 ½ minutes. He admitted afterwards that "at times" he gets frustrated not sniffing the ball enough.

"Sometimes," said Robinson, "I get in a rhythm and score easily, but … yeah, I think I do want more touches."


The 6-foot-9 jumping jack also grabbed just two rebounds on the night.

"That's almost bewildering to me," said Calhoun, "and the way he was playing, he wasn't going to get more than two rebounds … Stanley Robinson, soup to nuts, may be the most gifted kid on the court. He didn't look like the most gifted kid in the last 10 minutes, and that's a great time to be the most gifted guy."

Calhoun continued: "He's a great kid, but he's got to be a great player. And right now, he's a great talent who knows how to play basketball and knows how to score the ball, but he's got to do more than that. His man (Brad Wanamaker) scored 19 … if he holds him down to 12, maybe we win the game."

***Pitt is tough. Always has been, seemingly always will.

"That's what the Big East is about, out-toughing the other team," said Wanamaker. "In the second half, I think we did that."

After being out-rebounded by four in the first half, the Panthers easily won the battle of the boards over the final 20 minutes, 26-13. Pitt finished with 19 offensive rebounds – 12 of them in the latter half – as it spoiled some strong UConn defensive stances with second-chance points.

"We're not playing with a sense of toughness," said Calhoun. "At times, we stopped them stone, cold dead … and then we'd give them a second chance."

***Ater Majok made a "where-did-that-come-from?" low-post backdown hoop with three minutes left (to go with a two-handed putback dunk earlier in the half) and had four points and two blocks ini 10 minutes.

***Expect Pitt to move up several slots in next week's Top 25. They certainly will on my ballot.

"We haven't lowered our demands or expectations," Dixon said. "Nothing's changed for us. Other people may look at us differently, but any team that commits to playing together can be as good as they want to be."

The Huskies? Right now, they're perilously close to falling out of my Top 25. A loss at Michigan on Sunday and they definitely will.

Somehow -- a product of good, tough teams and gritty, physical battles, etc. -- UConn-Pitt has emerged as the Big East's best rivalry, at least over the past decade.

As Pitt's game notes eagerly point out, the Panthers and Huskies, respectively, are the Big East's two winningest programs over the past 10 years. Pitt is 233-58 (.801 winning percentage) overall and 99-36 in the Big East, while UConn is 218-67 overall and 98-38 in league play. During that period, Pitt has made eight NCAA tournament appearances and UConn has made seven. The schools have met in three of the last eight Big East championship games (with UConn winning two of them), and both boast five Sweet 16 appearances in the last eight years.

(Pitt's notes conveniently neglect the fact that the Panthers have yet to reach a Final Four, while UConn has been to three and won a pair of national titles).

Over the series' last 10 games, it's tied at 5-5, with each game decided by 10 points or fewer. In nine of the last 10 matchups, both teams entered the game ranked in the AP Top 25, as they do again tomorrow night (UConn at No. 15, Pitt at No. 16).

Their battles over the past decade have left indelible images on the college hoops landscape – from double-overtime classics in the Big East tournament championship game to DeJuan Blair flipping Hasheem Thabeet over his back last February.

Both teams suffered huge defections to the NBA last spring (Thabeet and A.J. Price from UConn, Blair and Sam Young from Pitt) and other key losses (Jeff Adrien, Craig Austrie, Levance Fields, Tyrell Biggs).

“Jamie Dixon probably has done as good a job of getting his team ready (as anyone in the country),” Jim Calhoun said of the Panthers’ seventh-year head coach. “They lost some very, very good players, certainly – as we did ourselves … We have some good players back, they have some good players back. They’ve been able to avoid a couple of losses that we haven’t been able to avoid.”

The Panthers, who entered the Top 25 for the first time this season this week, have topped No. 5 Syracuse on the road and won at Cincinnati on Jan. 4. The Huskies, of course, lost at Cincy in their Big East opener.

The Panthers have won six straight and nine of its last 10. After early-season losses to No. 1 Texas, as well as a double-overtime set back to Duquesne and a loss to struggling Indiana, Pittsburgh has been bolstered by the return four games ago of Jermaine Dixon (right foot injury) and Gilbert Brown (academic suspension).

Pitt has won four straight road contests and nine of its last 12 away from home. A win over UConn would give the Panthers three straight Big East road wins for the first time in school history.

***It's hard to believe, but tomorrow night will be just the second time Jerome Dyson has ever played against Pitt and the first time since his freshman season. Dyson was sitting out a suspension two years ago when the Panthers came to Hartford and missed both of last year’s battles after suffering a season-ending injury against Syracuse.

“I feel like I’ve watched a lot more games than I’ve played in,” Dyson noted. “This time last year, I was looking forward to the big game, and I got hurt. It’ll be nice to get out there. We definitely need the win.”

***It will be interesting to see how UConn responds in its first game since squandering a 19-point lead Saturday in a loss to Georgetown. Jim Calhoun said he’ll know if his team is over that loss “somewhere around 9 p.m. (tonight),” adding that the team had a decent practice Monday after Sunday’s day off. According to Dyson, the Georgetown loss “is still tough for me, even now … It’s definitely still lingering around us.”

***Calhoun was asked today at practice about the recent firing of DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright, who hasn't won a league game over the past two seasons.

“It’s hard to believe that, all of a sudden in the middle of January, it’s going to change anything. If you have those plans, you’re going to be able to execute them in the first week of March. It doesn’t make anybody look good – the university, college basketball. I happen to know both the A.D., who I like very much, and Jerry Wainwright, who I have great respect for, one of the best guys in the business. If you pull the plug in mid-season, it’s not exactly the best example to make."