Pitt has announced it’s 2003-2004 basketball schedule. It features a high profile, neutral site game at the beginning against Alabama (RPI #38) and a home game against Georgia(RPI #5, but wracked with scandal and transferred players). Aside from that the non-conference schedule features powerhouses St. Francis (PA) (RPI 221), Robert Morris (RPI 284), Albany (Albany 294), Duquesne (RPI 243), Penn St. (RPI 202), Youngstown St. (RPI 280), New Hampshire (RPI 309), William & Mary (RPI 265); and a bizarre holiday tournament hosted by Pitt — Murray St. (RPI 135, but not actually scheduled to play Pitt), Florida St. (RPI 81), Wagner (RPI 103), Eastern Michigan (RPI 205) and Chicago St. (RPI 314).

RPI from the 2002-2003 season out of 327 schools.

Now the Big East schedule actually looks difficult because the new 16 game season means playing 10 of the teams only once, but 3 teams twice. The 3 teams Pitt will be facing twice are: UConn, Notre Dame and Syracuse.

Now Pitt has had really easy non-con b-ball schedules for a while, and it hurt them 2 years ago in the seeding for the NCAA tournament. Last year, despite being a Top 10 team, the strength of schedule (SOS) for Pitt was only 56. It doesn’t look, judging by the non-con, that the SOS will be that much better. So to read this from Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon in the press release, just makes me roll my eyes.

“By far, it’s the most difficult schedule we will play in my five years here,” Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said. “The Big East will again pose a tremendous challenge. I’m excited about our non-conference schedule as well. We’re bringing in teams from three of the major conferences — the ACC, SEC and Big 10. I doubt there are many schools nationwide who can say that.”

You’re not exactly facing in Duke, Florida and Michigan St.

So let’s keep the schedule in perspective. The doubters of Pitt will have every right to point at the schedule once again before conference play begins and ask “But whou have they played?”