You're probably not all that interested in the intimate details of DeJuan Blair's Valentine Day's date last night, but we'll provide some anyway. "McDonald's," Pitt's big man said of his dinner plans with his lady after the No. 4 Panthers dished out a thorough 85-69 beating of Cincinnati at the Petersen Events Center.

No need to thank us.

Now on to the Blair date that really matters, the one tomorrow night at No. 1 Connecticut against Huskies 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet, the man many are saying is the best player in the college game. Much will be at stake for all concerned. For the teams, it will be first place in the Big East Conference and perhaps a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Individually for Blair and Thabeet, it could be the conference player of the year award.

Big Monday, indeed.

"I'm going to say I'm ready, that's all. I'mREADY," Blair said, emphasizing that last word.

Of course, Blair had much more to say a little later before heading off into the night for his quarter-pounders.

"I'm really not worried. He's a good player. But so am I ...

"I know he can block shots and I know he's improved a lot. But I'm going to try to put my body into him. I'm going to go after him.

"I'll be ready for the show. I was ready for [Georgetown's 7-foot-2 Roy] Hibbert last year. I'll be ready for him."

Blair has reason to feel good about his chances. He outplayed Thabeet when the teams met in Hartford last season. "It was cool," he said of their match-up.

Blair shot 5 of 14 and had 13 points and 13 rebounds, including 9 offensive boards. Thabeet shot 2 of 4 and had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. The trouble was Connecticut won, 60-53, outscoring Pitt, 9-2, in the final 2:32. The Panthers played that night without injured point guard Levance Fields, who had 13 assists and no turnovers against Cincinnati and is, in coach Jamie Dixon's words, "playing unbelievable basketball right now." This time, Connecticut will be without second-leading scorer and top perimeter defender Jerome Dyson, who's out with a knee injury.

Thabeet has improved so much from last season that Connecticut didn't even miss Dyson in its 62-54 win at Seton Hall yesterday. He had a mind-boggling day -- career highs of 25 points and 20 rebounds to go along with 9 blocks -- which prompted Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez to say afterward, "I don't know who has a better player than him, who is a more dominant guy than him, in the country. He, to me, is the No. 1 player in America ... If I was an NBA franchise, I would take him No. 1 in the draft."

You should have seen Blair's look harden when told of Gonzalez's observation. "He hasn't seen me play yet [this season]," he said, steely.

Blair also has improved from a year ago. He had a relatively quiet game against Cincinnati, yet still finished with 7 rebounds and 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He's a monster as a rebounder, playing much taller than his 6-foot-7 height. The guess here is Thabeet won't get 20 rebounds tomorrow night despite his 8-inch edge.

"His heart, his mind, his intensity, his length, his physical skills ... Those are what make him the player that he is," Dixon said of Blair.

Blair's improvement has been so dramatic that speculation quietly has started that he could leave Pitt for the NBA after this, his sophomore season. Some NBA scouts say he could go in the bottom half of the first round -- should he come out -- even though they aren't convinced he shoots well enough yet or is explosive enough around the basket to get his shot off against bigger opponents. They'll know a lot more after tomorrow night.

All of us will know a lot more after Blair lines up against Thabeet.

"Not even thinking about that," Blair said when it was suggested he soon could afford to buy a lot of Big Macs with NBA money. "I'll worry about the future when it gets here, whenever that is. All I'm thinking about now is winning the Big East regular-season championship and the national championship."

Thabeet and Connecticut stand in the way of both goals.

Those are fairly significant obstacles, aren't they?

"I'm sure DeJuan will be the underdog in this game," Dixon said. "I think he likes that."

Loves it, actually.

"This is the biggest stage for me to show what I can do," Blair said.

The man sounded hungry.

Not for double cheeseburgers.

For something much more filling.

Respect.

"He's out to prove," Dixon said.

Don't be surprised if that want-to isn't worth at least 8 inches of height tomorrow night.