Yesterday, Nestor put up a post which described some potentially raw feelings between the Pitt fanbase and Ben Howland. But this AP article by Ken Peters clears the air between the programs quite a bit and shows that there's a lot of good will between the programs and the coaches:

"This is the only game I'll never be pulling for Pitt. I know Jamie pulls for us," Howland said Monday during a conference call. "Win or lose, we're still going to be best friends for life.

"We're just happy we can create some good exposure (for the tournament)."

BFFs? I hope they have the matching pendants! This brought up some interesting news about why the Bruins did not schedule any matchups with the Panthers this year:
The Bruins' coach said they wouldn't have scheduled a non-conference game against each other, so the only way the schools would meet would be in the NCAA tournament. The teams have played only six times, with UCLA winning five but the Panthers taking the most recent game, a 91-79 victory at home in 1992.

Howland also put emphasis on the point that UCLA will not let up against the Panthers with a funny quote here:

"It's the players playing the game. They (the Bruins) have no history with Pitt except they have this fat, bald coach who came out here four years ago," he said.

And who's Meredith Howland rooting for?

Howland's daughter, Meredith, is a student and former cheerleader at Pitt.

Asked who she would be pulling for, Howland said, "If your dad was the coach, who would you pull for? It's an easy answer."

It's a pretty short, but interesting article and an interesting read for all Pitt and UCLA fans. It's great to see that Howland has nothing but respect for Dixon and the Pitt program. I'm looking forward to a great matchup on Thursday against the Panthers.

Go Bruins!