Another Saturday of sitting on my ass watching college sports. I love the FanHouse gig.

The downside is that I have not done much today with the basketball game tomorrow.

No surprise that both beat writers ran stories on D.J. Kennedy coming home and facing off against his best friend in front of friends and family.

Kennedy hopes to bring about 50 family and friends to the game, which will be his first real action on the Pitt campus since playing AAU ball as a high schooler. But high demand to see Pitt has only increased since the team achieved its first-ever No. 1 ranking.

Said Kennedy: “It’s real tough to get tickets.”

Yeah. It would be.

Levance Fields does not think the team will take anything or anyone for granted — among other things.

“We’re not that kind of team,” Fields said. “We never look past opponents.”

That’s due to the Panthers toughness – especially with Fields, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. In fact, I’ve always wondered which of the trio is actually the toughest on the team.

“Myself,” Fields said. “But I think both Sam and DeJuan would say themselves.”

Between St. John’s upset of ND last week and the D.J. Kennedy motivating factor for Blair, the only  thing I worry about is that they will come out tight, trying too hard.

Fields got a nice piece at the beginning of the week as he gets closer to 500 assists to go with the 1000+ points scored.

Even with the extra time off, there was no change to Pitt’s practice schedule.

The Johnnies are gearing up for the game and insist that the win over ND taught them something.

There was the euphoria they felt from winning, and the swarm of congratulations they received from family, friends, classmates and even strangers. They enjoyed the fruits of their labors, so they continued working for another taste.

“We learned a lot about playing 40 minutes,” the sophomore forward Sean Evans said. “We have to bring this mind-set to every game.”

Evans spoke about how much more focused he and his teammates were in practice. The sophomore forward Justin Burrell said that the team was working harder in practice than he could remember, and that there was none of the bickering or distracting side conversations that had been too prevalent in the past. And the sophomore swingman D. J. Kennedy confirmed that that had been the way the team had operated since the Providence loss. Even Roberts was willing to acknowledge a rise in intensity, though he attributed it to preparing for a hard-nosed team like Pittsburgh (14-0, 2-0).

“We’ve emphasized being much more physical in practice,” Roberts said.

With Fields, Blair and Young set. Not to mention Tyrell Biggs being reliable inside. That means the only position to still angst over would be at shooting guard/wing guard. So, there are at least some wondering about getting Gilbert Brown more playing time or playing Wanamaker more over Jermaine Dixon.

I love Dixon’s defense, but Ray Fittipaldo did make a good observation regarding Dixon’s playing time.

The Georgetown game could be a peek into the future as to how Jamie Dixon divvies up the minutes among his guards. Against Georgetown, Brad Wanamaker played 22 minutes, fellow reserve Gilbert Brown played 20 and Jermaine Dixon 19.

Dixon isn’t just shooting poorly on 3s, he has had a hard time finishing his drives to the basket recently. One of the attractions of Jermaine Dixon is that he can attack the basket. The problem has been that his shots are coming up short lately. Take away the 7-43 on threes, and he is 32-57 everywhere else. It seems like it should be higher.

The way too early speculation of who can win it all has returned. Well, more precisely, it has rebooted after everyone’s pick, UNC actually lost just as conference play got going. Media punditry appreciates the timing.

SI.com does a roundtable of who they think can possibly take UNC. Everyone takes UConn, with one exception:

Luke Winn: Pitt.

It’s good to be Carolina this year, because the team that really should have the best chance — the one that fits the formula of NBA athletes, size, and a deep, star backcourt — is UConn, and UConn has no experience winning anything in the postseason. The Panthers may have slightly less talent top-to-bottom, but they have more experience (Levance Fields and Sam Young have three NCAA trips under their belts already) and seem to possess more of a killer instinct.

Mike DeCourcy runs through the contenders and leads with Pitt:

Primary strengths: Chemistry, toughness, discipline, leadership.

Areas of concern: Height, perimeter shooting, building depth.

Bottom line: This Pitt team is different from its predecessors because of center DeJuan Blair and forward Sam Young, who have developed into elite college players. If the Panthers again advance to the Sweet 16, this might be the first time in a while they enter that round with better individual talent than their opponent.

The Panthers aren’t likely to become a great shooting team by March, but they can overcome that by not making a huge issue of it. Never forget: UCLA won the 1995 NCAA title by making four 3-pointers in two games at the Final Four. If the Panthers execute as they did in beating Georgetown, they can generate enough points.

It’s not about being a great shooting team. It’s about being efficient with the possessions.