Pittsburgh vs. Villanova
Free Pick: Pittsburgh -2.0 (-110)
Sat Mar 28 ’09 7:05p – Click here for odds
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The Villanova Wildcats have certainly looked impressive while running teams off the floor in this tournament, but never forget that defense wins championships, so we will side with the gritty Pittsburgh Panthers in this all Big East Elite Eight battle.

After all, the Panthers are now 31-4 this year, thanks to a defense that has limited opponents to 64.2 points per game overall on just 40.8 percent shooting from the floor. This is not to say that the offense has not done its part, as according to the Pomeroy Ratings, Pittsburgh is now second in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency. It also helps that they lead the nation in offensive rebounding percentage, thanks to DeJuan Blair.

Now we have a lot of respect for Villanova, and they really are a Final Four caliber club. However, they just drew a terrible matchup here, as they would probably have a better chance of advancing vs. any other of the Elite Eight clubs this year except North Carolina. Yes, the Wildcats did beat Pittsburgh 67-57 during the regular season, but that was in Philadelphia.

Here on a neutral court, we simply feel that Pittsburgh is the better, more balanced team, and we do not expect Villanova to have as easy a time running the floor as they have the first three games of the tournament.

As long as Blair avoids foul trouble, the Panthers should prevail.

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