There is no way to claim there will be any measure of revenge that can be extracted from this game. There just isn’t. So, no matter what any hack writer tries to concoct for a storyline — forget it. Just as beating Vandy in some regular season or preseason tournament after Barry Goheen could never have made up for 1988. This is as much a notice for any sports writer who comes here looking to gauge Pitt fan feelings for some storyline, as it is for everyone else. There is no revenge here, because there is no equivalency.

Not that we can ignore last year. No. That isn’t going to happen.

Butler’s Andrew Smith and Ronald Nored spent part of Tuesday viewing footage from last year’s NCAA tournament game against Pittsburgh.

They still can’t believe what they saw. The foul at midcourt, the missed free throw, the inexplicable foul on Matt Howard and finally Howard’s free throw to win it.

The final 1.4 seconds of that game will go down as one of the craziest finishes in tourney history. Now, 367 days later, Butler and Pittsburgh have a chance to do it all over again Wednesday night in the College Basketball Invitational tournament semifinals.

“I guess it took about 20 minutes to figure out what was going on because I really didn’t know,” Bulldogs center Andrew Smith said after looking again at the tape.

Sorting it all out is confusing, even now…

Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking. Too early to start drinking.

Onto other aspects.

Butler has apparently expanded its hoirzons and looks to be heading to the A-10 (no, I’m not proud of making that joke). Not sure if that will make it into the telecast banter, but worth noting.

I know I was confused after the blowout of Princeton, that Malcolm Gilbert only played a couple minutes with the scrubs — especially when Coach Dixon admitted after the Wofford game that he should have played him along with others some more. We do get an explanation. Albeit one, that is once more a bit Wannstedtian Coachspeak.

“J.J. Moore (18 minutes), I should have gotten more minutes for him. Both times we subbed him in, he was waiting on the sidelines for awhile. Travon is probably as healthy as he’s been getting back.”

…

Injuries and matchups limited the minutes of three freshmen — guard John Johnson, center Malcolm Gilbert and redshirt Cameron Wright.

Johnson missed practice with back spasms, and Wright was bothered by a wrist injury. The 6-11 Gilbert would have been matched up on Princeton center Mack Darrow, who went 3 for 3 from 3-point range in the first half.

Apparently dragging Zanna or Taylor out the perimeter was a better idea? To be fair, Zanna did have a really good game.

Now the article does note that Gibbs and Robinson have played less than their season averages. More rest seems to have helped Woodall.

Coach Dixon also felt the need to continue defending Pitt playing in the CBI.

Dixon reiterated that “we are getting as much out of it as we can,” following a game that cost Pitt a $50,000 minimum ticket guarantee to the CBI. He said the practices have been as good as all season. With 3:20 left in the game and Pitt ahead by 15, a much-healthier Woodall was diving on the floor after a steal. There was no doubt the Pitt players are glad to keep playing.

“They’ve shown it in everything they’ve done, from practice, being there early to how we’ve come out and played from the start in both games,” Dixon said. “These guys wanted to play. They didn’t do what they wanted to do during the year. They felt like they disappointed themselves and each other.”

I had no problem with Pitt taking the CBI rather than just end the season after not getting an NIT bid. Maybe I’m just rationalizing it. Maybe I’m just hoping this is the case. But I am of the opinion that the CBI is actually better for the guys coming back than the NIT would have.

The season was humbling enough for them. But then to find out that they weren’t considered one of the best 32 leftovers. That stings. That whatever this team has accomplished. Whatever it’s reputation has been over the past 10 years — it meant nothing — because of the way they have played and lost this year.

They have seen extremely few fans show up for the first couple of games. They may have seen what happens. If they use it to drive them for next year. If they realize how thin the line can be between the winning and losing. Then hopefully it pushes them a little harder in the offseason. Hopefully it is a reminder.

The game is 8pm on HDNet,