Friday's "First Call" features a look the Watt brothers and which one is better. Pitt looks to get back in the win column. And Duquesne is red hot.
T.J. > J.J.?
Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward said Thursday that linebacker T.J. Watt could end up being better than J.J. Watt.
Watt??? Uh, I mean, what???
That's a nice thing to say. But does Cam really mean it? T.J. seemed to play it off when ESPN's Jeremy Fowler raised the quote to him.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/1088538257531592708 [/embed]
Through two seasons, J.J. had 26 sacks. T.J. has 20.
Now what?
The Pitt basketball team got a lot of praise for hanging tough before losing in Syracuse.
Then Mike Krzyzewski heaped praise on the Panthers for the progress they've made under Jeff Capel.
The problem is Pitt lost those two games by a combined 26 points. So now they need to win again.
Saturday at 2 p.m., they face a team they have beaten already. The Panthers visit Louisville. That's a team Pitt edged by three points 15 days ago.
The Cardinals have been really good since then, though. They've beaten North Carolina, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and N.C. State. Louisville won those contests by an average of 14 points.
Can they keep it up?
The Duquesne men's basketball team is off to a 14-5 start. They have won five straight Atlantic 10 games to improve to 5-1 in conference play. On Wednesday, they defeated Saint Louis, which was previously unbeaten in the conference.
[embed width="350" height="450"] https://twitter.com/DuqMBB/status/1088293810692648960 [/embed]
The Dukes and Billikens are both 5-1, tied with Davidson for second place in the A-10. George Mason is alone atop the league at 6-1.
The Dukes will try to keep pace Saturday at home against VCU at 2 p.m. The Rams are 4-2, having lost to 4-2 Rhode Island on Wednesday.
Guess who Duquesne has after VCU? Yup. Rhode Island comes to town on Wednesday.
Prior to their win over Saint Louis, Dukes coach Keith Dambrot said this three-game stretch was big.
"It's going to determine how far we've come, whether we are ready to compete for championships," Dambrot said. "Are we middle of the pack? Or are we a year advanced of where we thought we'd be?"
1 vs. 2
The Robert Morris men's basketball team won a first-place, second-place showdown of their own Thursday.
The Colonials hosted Sacred Heart and won 72-64. Matty McConnell led the way with 19 points. The Chartiers Valley product added six rebounds, three assists, a block and two steals.
RMU improved to 11-9 and 6-1 in the Northeast Conference, all alone atop the standings.
The Pioneers fell to 8-12 overall and 4-3 in the NEC. They are now in a four-way tie for second in the conference.
'Off we go into the wild blue yonder'
Meanwhile, the Robert Morris hockey team is heading out to Colorado for an important road trip.
The Colonials are visiting Air Force. The Falcons have 21 points. That's good for second place in the Atlantic Hockey standings, four points back of American International for first.
RMU has 17 points, tied for sixth. So, a four-point sweep from Derek Schooley's skaters could tie them with the defending league champs from Colorado Springs.
The Colonials have one sweep this season, beating Mercyhurst back-to-back the weekend after Thanksgiving.
