Submit your Pitt basketball question

Q: With the graduation losses, Pitt has lost a lot and have had to start young freshmen. Do you think this is the year Duquesne wins, especially since the Dukes are home?

Chris Mitrik, Pittsburgh

FITTIPALDO: I love it. A Duquesne fan looking a few games ahead to Pitt. In seasons past this would have been bad form because the Dukes would go out and lose at home to Lafayette or some team like that before Pitt. But now that Ron Everhart actually has some talented players, it's kind of fun to take a peek ahead to this game.

For the record, Jamie Dixon is starting one freshman: center DeJuan Blair. He is playing other freshmen in his rotation, but his starting lineup other than Blair is a veteran-laden group with lots of experience.

I love what Everhart is doing with his five-man substitution system. He seems to be able to wear teams down with this. I'm kind of curious to see if this catches on anywhere else. Having said that, Pitt has one of the deepest teams in Division I. If Dixon wanted to, he could match Everhart and roll out two starting lineups as well.

It will be interesting to see how Dixon wants to play this game. It has been well-documented that Pitt wants to run more this season. But that would be playing into Duquesne's hands. Maybe Dixon will want to hold the ball and frustrate the Dukes to turn the tables on them.

This rivalry has become so stale in recent years because the Dukes have been pushovers. But I'm genuinely excited about this game. I think it will be a very competitive game. Here's hoping that's the case.