MVN: Most Valuable Network

If you've ever played basketball competitively, you've almost certainly been to clinics. When things click, they click. It's fun to watch.

That's why I had so much fun at the Verizon Center on Saturday when Pitt annihilated Georgetown on national television. The Panthers put on a show, providing the rest of the nation with the blueprint on how to win in the Big East. Jamie Dixon's bunch outrebounded Georgetown, 48-23, pushed around the Hoyas on both ends and barely made mistakes.

But the biggest factor in Pitt's dominating win was its defense. Against Georgetown and its modified Princeton offense, the Panthers shut off backdoor cuts, filled passing lanes and forced the Hoyas into jump shots. Dixon's meticulous game-scouting abilities shone brightly for all to see, and Georgetown, a team riding high after a huge upset at Connecticut last Monday, had no shot once Pitt started scoring in bunches.

That's why Pitt is the best team in the nation right now. Right now.

North Carolina spent Sunday night turning the ball over and shooting miserably. That's how Boston College scored the biggest upset in recent college basketball history, beating the Tar Heels, 85-78, in Chapel Hill.

At this point in the 2008-2009 season, there's a clear way to beat North Carolina, albeit nearly impossible: Challenge every shot (and hope they go cold), turn them over and stick with them on the glass. It's not easy, but it can be done -- Wayne Ellington could just as easily miss 12 shots as score 20 points, Tyler Hansbrough could be the only Tar Heel producing, etc. That's what happened Sunday night, and North Carolina lost its first game of the season.

But show me the way to beat Pitt. There are just as many elite scoring options as North Carolina on the Panthers roster. Pitt's Big Three -- DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields and Sam Young -- can do a lot of damage. But highly effective role players like Tyrell Biggs, the quintessential "glue guy" who does a little bit of everything, defensive stopper Jermaine Dixon, explosive athlete Gilbert Brown and rapidly improving Brad Wanamaker all make their own presences felt.

Pitt can win multiple ways. It beat Florida State and Washington State despite shooting poorly, using its defense and rebounding to grind out wins by holding both clubs under 50. The Panthers can win in style -- they've hung 80 or more points on opponents seven times in 14 wins. But Pitt is at its best when there's a combination of those styles: a grinding defense paired with rugged rebounding and a transition game as good as anyone's.

What's more, there's a big difference between this Pitt club and all the other teams that have flourished in the past eight seasons under Jamie Dixon and his predecessor Ben Howland -- Pitt's halfcourt scoring. Ken Pomeroy's ratings at kenpom.com say Pitt has the fifth most efficient offense in the country. So, while the Panthers cut off passing lanes and rebound like their lives depend on it, they're playing elite-level offense, too.

That's why you can't look at the 08-09 Panthers the same way you've looked at the old Pitt teams. And that's why Pitt is the best team in the country right now. You don't just come to the Verizon Center and put on a clinic against a Georgetown team that hasn't lost at home in 29 games and just won convincingly at Connecticut

That is, unless you're college basketball's team to beat.