It turns out that their Achilles' Heel—fouls on the big man—is the same as UConn's, the team they unseated to earn the No. 1 ranking. Flavor of the week DeJuan Blair had a decent night against Providence, but was limited by second half foul trouble and the Friars (which led by as much as 20) held off a rally to knock off the nation's "top" team. This drops the Panthers out of a first-place tie in the Big East, moves Providence into the upper half of the conference (and back in line for a tourney bid) and gives people who concern themselves with excessive student celebrations something to think about.

This will also end Pitt's second brief stint as the No. 1 ranked team in all the land. Judging by the way they handle such success, it's probably for the best.

Friars Shock #1 Pittsburgh! [Friar Blog]
RTC Aftermath: Providence 81, Pittsburgh 73 [Rush The Court]
stfhoops: Providence: Most violent f ... [STF Twitter]

Barnes recently sat down with current Providence big man Geoff McDermott for what appears to be some sort of interview or, at the very least, a discussion about the beauty of the game between two generations of Friar basketball. What it turned into was an extensive lecture from Barnes about McDermott's lack of effort and enthusiasm and the proper way to deliver a forearm shiver to an opponent.

The local TV station that arranged this meeting of the minds, was probably hoping for more of an actual "interview", but Barnes had other things on his mind. For the first three-and-a-half minutes, McDermott got in exactly 12 words (I counted) and seven of them were some variation of "yes." He was only able to get in three responses with any level of detail, but not before Barnes could accuse him and his teammates of quitting in crunch time ... excuse me, "superstar time!"

Few things in life beat an outrageous "back in my day" rant from a delusional old man, but I'm just glad that someone had a video camera on for this one. The blank stare of confusion on McDermott's face is reason enough alone to watch the whole thing.

Face to Face: Marvin Barnes, Geoff McDermott [Channel 10 Providence]

From Sportscards Uncensored:

Is this awesome because his name is lord? Is this awesome because he signed his FULL name? Is this awesome because his handwriting is that of a fourth grader? All of the above are true. Consider me among the saved.

Hoops Addict recalls the greatness of Shammgod, whom, I understand, is now playing for the Portland Chinooks of the International Basketball League.

This Could Be The Coolest Sports Card Ever Created [Sportscards Uncensored]