Not sure much of an introduction is needed for this. It’s the Backyard Brawl. It’s at the Pete. It doesn’t start until 9pm on ESPN. On a Thursday night. The best thing for public safety in Morgantown may be a TV blackout.

The last 9pm Thursday game was a year and a week ago at Marquette. That worked out rather well, even if I did overdo the Gemini.

I’d like to hope that Pitt wins this one going away, but I think we all know that isn’t going to happen. Dante Taylor will be a game-time decision. If he can’t go, that means Richardson is the primary back-up to McGhee.

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Backyard Brawl games at the Pete, have been some of the most stressful, taut, exciting games for Pitt in the last few years. Ramon’s game-winning 3 and the 3OT game are some of the best wins at the Pete. Pitt is 6-1 versus the Hoopies in the Pete. Huggins-based Hoopies are winless at the Pete.

Beyond the hatred and never wanting to lose games at home, this is a big game. This game is something of a must-win for Pitt if the team wishes to win the Big East regular season outright and lock down a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

“We know what’s at stake,” senior forward Gilbert Brown said. “We want to win the Big East regular championship. We know we have to do it in these last four games.”

To that end, Pitt needs to go 3-1 in the final four games of the season. Not trying to look ahead much, but beating Louisville on Sunday at the Chicken Center is going to be a toss-up at best. Not losing any more home games this year is vital.

The thing is, WVU is almost in a must-win situation in their final four games. At least if they want a good seed in the NCAA Tournament and the Big East Tournament. Remember this factoid, Huggins coached teams have never finished worse than 5th in a conference regular season. This year the Hoopies sit at 8-6. Finishing 11-7 gives them a good shot at finishing at worst, tied for 5th in the conference. A 3-1 finish for them would be about what they need.

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