Rick Pitino

--Wayne Blackshear is physially healthy, but he's still completely out of shape. Was hoping to have him ready to play by the DePaul game, but getting him back into shape has proven harder than he thought it would be.

--The schedule in the Big East usually dictates where teams struggle and where they have success, and that's what we've seen with West Virginia this year. They're a very good team that has lost some games recently to other good teams.

--Kevin Jones is the best offensive rebounder in the country. He has a tremendous mid-range game and can also make the three. He's very long and will present a number of problems for us. Notre Dame held him in check by slowing the game down and limiting his touches.

--Deniz Kilicili's hook shot is very good and very difficult to defend.

--This will probably be the last time we go to Morgantown. It's a very difficult place to play, but we've always enjoyed going into hostile environments.

--They really need this game, but that's something we're going to hear just about every game for the rest of the season.

--Kyle always leads by example, he's not a vocal leader. The vocal stuff is left more to Peyton Siva.

--Hasn't seen any difference in this team from when they were 12-0, to when they were on the brief losing streak, to now.

--We're winning now because we've been able to keep a healthy team and practice together consistently. The players are all improving because of the increased practice time. We've also done a much better job from the free-throw line.

--Very excited about the addition of Memphis to the Big East. It really helps the rivalry with Louisville. They fit the culture of the Big East. They're an inner-city sports program with a focus on basketball.

--The Big East is going to be different, but it's still going to be great.

--Always thought Memphis and Temple were the two logical additions to help the Big East, and he still thinks that.

--John Marinatto has done a tremendous job getting the football schools out West and now strengthening the conference from a basketball standpoint.

--Admires South Florida for being selfless and allowing UCF to come in and strengthen the league.

--Can't say anything about Louisville's future in the Big East, because he knows it's not up to him. Obviously, he's a Big East guy and he would prefer to stay in the Big East and honor Dave Gavitt's dream, but he knows he doesn't have a say.

--Has never been asked a question by a recruit about Louisville's conference affiliation, and none of the assistants have either. That's the wild thing.

--"Loyalty means a great deal to me, and the Big East gave Louisville a monumental opportunity." Louisville is a top eight basketball program without question, but the big thing they were missing before was a major conference affiliation. The Big East changed all that.

--Really likes the way we're playing, the way we're practicing and how much fun the guys are having right now. We went double sessions yesterday and no one was tired, and that's all because of the attitudes of our players.

--We have seven really tough games left, but we're playing very good basketball right now. We still need to work on our rebounding, and cut down on our turnovers. The turnovers we're making aren't good turnovers, they're unforced turnovers.

--We all see Russ as a funny, jovial guy, but he's a tough kid. He grew up in a tough environment, but even though he's 160-165 lbs, he's very tough.

--Peyton Siva is one of the nicest guys he's ever coached. Kyle is a tremendous person, Gorgui is so much fun to be around, so is Swop...all 13 are terrific guys and coaching them is so fun.

--Ends by saying, "see you in Morgantown for those not afraid to come."

I must admit, a single fan base getting a word to trend on a dictionary website is awfully impressive...and hilarious.

Not sure I could love the fact that "irregardless" is the other recent trend any more.

Shirt of the week: "Envy Our Disposition, Irregardless Of Our Past."

Or...Tim McGraw? Yeah, I can't remember the dad's name.

Great story from my man, your man, our man, Pat Doney of WDRB.

Didn't think I could be a bigger Boo fan before this, but that is pretty tremendous.

Cross-posted from SB Nation...because we all like talking general college basketball too...don't we?...DON'T WE? I need your admiration for infinity. Not that this ain't lucrative, but I just need your energy.

On the evening where sports fans previously too immersed with football to properly focus on anything else officially shifted their attention to the hardwood, the opening night of college basketball's unofficial second season went beyond delivering. The sport's headline rivalry game was won at the buzzer, the two best teams in the Big East played an overtime contest that was decided by a single possession, and the Big 12's premier program made a monster statement on the road against a fellow top ten opponent.

Here are the five biggest things to take away from the biggest night of the 2011-12 college basketball to date.

1. The Season Has Its Defining Moment

Hate the Blue Devils, hate Duke-UNC and hate Austin Rivers all you want, but final shot of Wednesday night's game is the showcase moment of the season thus far. I mean this is the former No. 1 recruit in the country playing against North Carolina for the first time, and he almost single-handedly keeps his team in the game for 38 minutes before capping a furious rally by burying a trey at the buzzer to break the hearts of the team everyone had winning the national championship before the season. And then he walks over to the Tar Heel student section and says, "see y'all."

Let's just say the kid can't wear skinny jeans.

There's nothing else to say about the game's final two minutes that hasn't already been said, so let's move on to the fact that neither team looked like an eventual national champion on Wednesday.

Duke couldn't keep Verne Lundquist out of the lane, and their post players couldn't stop Kevin Connoly from bodying them up and getting easy baskets in the paint. Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller are both solid offensive players, but they aren't anywhere near as good as the Blue Devils made them appear Wednesday night.

The sad thing for Duke fans is that this group has about as much offensive talent in the backcourt as any Coach K team of the past five or six years, and that fact is essentially the lone reason they woke up feeling good about themselves this morning. But at some point over the next five weeks, Duke has to figure out what to do against a team that can take away the clean looks from outside for Rivers, Curry, Dawkins etc. and exploit their weak post defense on the other end of the floor. It's exactly what Florida State and Miami did, and exactly what teams with similar capabilities will do going forward.

Wednesday night was a huge win for both Duke's confidence and its ACC championship hopes, but I'm not one step closer to buying the Blue Devils as a legitimate national title contender.

As for North Carolina, the Tar Heels still just don't get it. Talent is useless when it isn't coupled with killer instinct, and that's precisely the dilemma Roy Williams is facing right now. There is no reason for that UNC team to squander a 10-point lead in two minutes against anybody, let alone playing against their arch-rivals on their home floor. Then again there was no reason for that UNC team to let UNLV drop 90 points on them or to lose by 33 at Florida State.

The bright side for Carolina fans is that if UNC wins going away Wednesday night then nothing changes, whereas if that final sequence doesn't wake the Tar Heels up then nothing will.

2. Baylor Is Who Most People Thought They Were

Baylor has at least two future NBA players in its starting lineup, its only lost three games heading into mid-February, and it is absolutely no threat to cut down the nets in New Orleans. Wednesday night's loss to Kansas was Exhibit C.

A home defeat to the 7th-ranked Jayhawks alone wouldn't be enough to draw significant criticism, but a 68-54 loss where the Bears appeared as interested in competing as Stephen Hawking is in the Kardashians (note: calls to Mr. Hawking to confirm said disinterest were not returned) certainly is. The problem with Baylor is the same as it was in their first loss to Kansas and their loss to Missouri: when the proverbial moment is upon them, they want no part of it.

BU's season from this point on is almost a foregone conclusion. They'll put up a valiant effort at Missouri because the Tigers will allow them to score enough to not let their focus wander; they'll beat most of the teams they should beat in the Big 12 but will drop another game or two to a Kansas State or an Iowa State; they'll earn a bye in the league tournament but will beaten by Kansas (again); they'll win at least a pair of games in the NCAA Tournament because of their talent, but will fall when a team with slightly less talent but infinitely more resolve puts them in a pressure situation.

There it is. Feel free to watch other games and simply check the Bear box scores in the future for validation.

3. Syracuse Finally Has A Go-To Guy

The "hot" question concerning Syracuse in recent weeks has been who Jim Boeheim should turn to in situations where a game is on the line. With seven different players averaging between 7.3 and 14.3 points per game, the Orange are as well-rounded as any team in the country, but with that balance comes the burden of not having an unquestioned star.

Against rival Georgetown Wednesday night, Syracuse had two possessions where it needed someone to make a play in order to win the game. The first came at the end of regulation, where Scoop Jardine had his penetration cut off and then threw a wild pass to Dion Waiters who clanked an awkward looking three. The second came at the end of ovetime, where Kris Joseph, who made play after play when SU needed him, buried a deep dagger to put the second-ranked team in the country up for good. Joseph hit 6-of-11 threes and finished with a game-high 29 points.

"The Quebecois Kid" should get every pivotal late-game touch (gross) for Syracuse going forward.

4. Pittsburgh Is Not Going To Make The NCAA Tournament

All it took was the Panthers to get Tray Woodall back and go on a four-game winning streak for every national writer who put them in the top ten before the season to say: "See? This is what I was talking about in October. These guys could definitely steal an at-large bid."

There's no question that Pitt is better now than it was when it lost its first seven Big East games without Woodall, but Wednesdays's 63-51 loss to South Florida should put to bed any notions of a miracle run into the field of 68. The Panthers' fairly impressive two-week run doesn't change the fact that they had some massive deficiencies before Woodall went down, that they were beaten by ten at home by Long Beach State or that they have absolutely no non-conference victories of any importance to speak of.

Jamie Dixon isn't going to let this team fold, and they're going to be a nightmare matchup for one of the Big East's top seeds in Madison Square Garden, but the path to the NCAA Tournament is far too precarious to be successfully traversed at this point.

5. Florida State Is Not Going To Win The ACC

The Seminoles are 7-2 in the ACC and have already knocked off their top competition for the league crown - North Carolina and Duke - in impressive fashion. They handed UNC a horrifically embarrassing 33-point beatdown at the Tucker Center, and then a week later ended Duke's nation-leading 45-game home winning streak with a dramatic win at the buzzer.

Those are a pair of tremendous accomplishments for a team that didn't look like it could score enough to beat anyone of consequence early in the season, but who a team was is always at least a slight indication of who they still are. That fact was undeniably apparent in FSU's awful 64-60 loss to 8-16 Boston College Wednesday night.

Junior guard Michael Snaer summed things up quite nicely:

"Starting off the game, what we did, not respecting that team - we weren't as focused as we should have been and that caught up with us at the end of the game. We got national recognition, and we didn't handle it well."

It's the type of inexplicable slip-up you simply can't have when you're competing for a conference title with two top ten teams. Florida State will have a first round bye in the ACC Tournament, but there won't be a little "1" next to their name when the bracket becomes official.

Not sure I could be more excited that this kid is going to be a Cardinal.

I kind of feel like we all just won twice.

Rick Pitino announced during his weekly radio show Wednesday night that freshman guard Wayne Blackshear has been medically cleared to participate in games beginning this Saturday against West Virginia.

Blackshear, a former McDonald's All-American and Louisville's top recruit in the class of 2011, has missed the entire season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder that he suffered during practice in late October.

With the team playing so well and the West Virginia and Syracuse games being so crucial, it's probably going to take an extreme circumstance for Blackshear to see the floor on Saturday or Monday. The leaves F-Dub's potential Cardinal debut for...DePaul Day II???

Mother of God.

A cool story from Monday night to brighten your Wednesday morning.

Nine-year-old Blake is a huge Cards fan who was born with a serious heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) with Protein Losing Enteropathy (PLE). With this defect, the left ventricle of the heart is severely underdeveloped and causes him to become very winded very quickly. Recently, Blake was also diagnosed with a very rare, but serious condition called Plastic Bronchitis. Basically, the branches in his lungs fill with mucus that hardens so much that he's not able to cough it out, causing him even more breathing difficulty.

Obviously, it's been a difficult stretch for Blake, but his spirits were brightened significantly on Monday when he was able to attend the U of L/UConn game and then meet some of the players in the locker room afterward.

He brought Ian Klarer's team drawing with him, and the following is what took place.

At the game:

Getting some ink from F-Dub:

CS5:

GORGS:

The King:

LOVE this shot with a tie-less Pitino:

Classic Peyton:

Good stuff, fellas.