You know, as Pitt fans and alumni we are a bit wrapped up in the future of our football team and who the next head coach will be.

Still, it is nothing compared to all the crazy coaching stuff swirling around the Penn State football team. I mean the latest Paterno pious press conference rantings that takes a blind, wild shot at USC and one of their WR from NJ. You have meaningless speculation on a Pittsburgh sports talk radio station, that a PennLive blogger thought was an actual report and caused a mild bit of hysteria. Then in apologizing for the confusion, a new conspiracy was advanced as to the reason.

Oh and once and what was expected to be future Penn State WR Maurice Humphrey was arrested again — he violated terms of his parole from an assault conviction.

I wonder if I can pull off the sympathetic voice when I talk to my dad about this. I just hope I don’t start giggling. That would be wrong. As wrong as this.

I mentioned yesterday that Pitt appeared to get signed letters of intent from its 3 recruits for the 2005 class.

It’s official. Pitt has a press release with more info on the incoming freshmen Tyrell Biggs and Sam Young and JUCO transfer Doyle Hudson.

Yes, I’m returning to a sore subject for me. Why? There was an article from ESPN.com’s “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi talking about scheduling and seeding for the NCAA Tournament (subs. req’d).

Here is what we know:

Strength of Schedule (SOS) still comprises 50 percent of the RPI.

A school’s conference schedule is essentially out of its control.

Each team has roughly 10-12 “electives” through which to build a solid RPI through non-conference scheduling.

And here is what Fran Fraschilla says every coach needs to know:

Play as many games as you can against the Top 150.

Play the best teams you can among low- and mid-majors.

Never schedule a potentially “bad loss.”

Play traditional powers who are “down.”

My job in this article is to apply the “known” outcomes of opponent selection to Fran’s “need to know” list in an effort to better understand the RPI/NCAA implications of the scheduling puzzle.

No. 1: Play as many games as you can against the Top 150

I would turn this statement around and say, “Play as few games as possible against teams in the bottom half of the RPI.” Proof of this axiom is found in the non-conference SOS numbers of the two teams that drew the most coverage and scrutiny last season: UConn and Saint Joseph’s.

One of these teams had the top-ranked non-conference schedule in the country and the other carried the anchor of a sub-100 (No. 102) non-conference schedule into Selection Sunday. You may be more than a little surprised at which team had which ranking.

That’s right, Saint Joseph’s had the No. 1 non-conference schedule in Division I last year (and the fact that the Hawks lost none of those games also gave Jameer Nelson & Co. the No. 1 non-conference RPI). Connecticut’s non-conference slate came in at No. 102, resulting in a significant difference between the Huskies’ overall RPI (No. 5) and their non-conference RPI (No. 26).

How can that be, you say? Saint Joseph’s only played one ranked team last year (Gonzaga), while UConn had non-conference meetings with Georgia Tech, Utah, Oklahoma and North Carolina? How could the Hawks be No. 1 in this category, much less 100-plus spots above the eventual national champions?

The answer is in a simpler version of the statement above: “Play as few games as possible against really, really bad teams.” The worst non-conference opponent on Saint Joseph’s schedule was Delaware (No. 130). UConn played nine teams lower than that, more than half of which were at 200 or below.

So, while the Huskies were able to post a greater number of “name” victories, the Hawks played a far greater number of non-conference games they could actually lose. Non-conference SOS rankings accurately reflect that important (but typically overlooked) reality, and my top guideline-otherwise known as “avoid the slop at all costs”-is the most significant factor in building a bid-friendly non-league profile.

I keep forgetting to mention that the Pitt 2004-05 Media Guide is available for free downloading (PDF).

Lots in the papers. Starting in the Tribune-Review with a puff piece on Carl Krauser taking over full leadership of the team. The piece also defends Krauser against the common complaint that he was a ball-hog.

The weakness in Krauser’s game last year was his shooting percentage. He shot 38.7 percent in Big East play, 33.3 percent in the Big East Tournament and 31.8 percent in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, he also won the NCAA tournament road game at Wisconsin with a fearless drive to the basket.

Krauser’s low shooting percentage can be misleading. Late in season, Pitt’s offense often broke down, leaving Krauser to freelance as the shot clock ticked toward zero.

Some viewed that as selfishness, when, in reality, Pitt was lucky it had a player who could make something happen when the natural progressions of their offense failed to produce open shots.

If all goes right this season, Krauser will shoot less and feed more. The team’s outside shooting is expected to be improved with additions such as dead-eye freshman Ronald Ramon.

“It’ll be a lot easier for me when I penetrate,” Krauser said. “I want to help my teammates grow, give them confidence, get them in position for good shots. You’ll see a lot of me penetrating, drawing people to me and kicking it out.”

Put me in the pro-Krauser camp. It’s very true that after the Syracuse game last February, teams were really collapsing down to force Pitt to take outside shots. That is why someone with consistency on the outside will get lots of playing time. It doesn’t even have to be a 3-point assassin, so much as someone who can shoot the 15-18 foot jumper.

Another story focuses on Pitt’s front court. Not just Troutman and Taft, but McCarroll, Gray and Kendall. Here’s actually a pretty nifty shot of all 5. It even has some interesting comments from former Pitt great, Charles Smith,

“It comes down to hard work,” said Smith, a New Jersey-based businessman and former NBA player who is Pitt’s all-time leading scorer. “I worked my butt off. And Jerome worked his butt off. We wanted it. We had guys back then like Keith Armstrong, who moved people around like Gray can do now. I will say that I think Jamie Dixon is a much better coach than Paul Evans ever could have been. I would have liked to have played for Jamie’s staff because it’s apparent they get the best out of these kids.”

Smith then sent a message to the Panther Nation.

“They have a chance to see some really great basketball in this era — and they had better enjoy it,” Smith said. “Because you don’t get this a lot in college basketball — kids with size and versatility.”

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a former player from the Paul Evans era speak well of him.

Another article focuses on the team’s expectations being higher once more. Good. The Big East is already going to be tough. That is no excuse for not thinking this team can’t get past the Sweet 16.

For those of you living in Pittsburgh, probably a good idea to pick up the Post-Gazette today for their special College Basketball Preview for the region.

Or maybe not. The depth of the Pitt articles are lacking, to be kind. There is a feature cover story about “Where Have All the Shooters Gone.” There are also companion pieces focusing on former Pitt star Jason Matthews opinions of what happened — he sees a big reason is the lack of practicing the shot and more emphasis on just playing. He doesn’t say the word, but it is obvious he is talking about fundamentals.

The P-G Pitt basketball beat reporter, Ray Fittipaldo, picks Pitt 4th in the Big East this year. He puts ND ahead of Pitt.

Taft is called the key player to get Pitt beyond the Sweet 16. There is a list of the “5 key games” for the regular season. No big surprise which games. Well, kind of. The South Carolina game will be important as one of the few non-cons that Pitt could lose, but I think only the Memphis game is really the only big non-con. The Richmond game seems more dangerous than South Carolina because I can see Pitt not taking it serious and getting burned.

Finally, Fittipaldo’s 3 keys to the season:

1. Outside shooting
2. Defense, defense, defense
3. Don’t peak early

He elaborates on each one. As for the final point, why am I the only one wondering about a) how Coach Dixon will work his bench more and use the depth that has never been there for this Pitt team; and b) why no one seems to consider the possibility that part of the reason Pitt shot so poorly in March was that the starters had logged so many minutes that they were just running out of gas?

November 20, the season starts, but the first game on ESPN (and that I’ll get to see) will be December 7 against Memphis. Whoo-hoo!

As regurgitated on this site, yesterday, Pitt and ND will take a 2 year break following next season’s game and then play home-and-home for 8 years. This makes Beano Cook happy. It came about with more than a little extra push from the Big East itself.

A nice article on Palko‘s determination and desire to win.

If you have the stomach for it, here is the review of the game from last year.

Notre Dame’s offense has not been consistent. They have gotten just enough from QB Brady Quinn to win some games, and everyone says the kid is getting better in the Irish’s west coast offense. Still, their offense struggles. They are 79th in total offense — 90th rushing and 48th passing.

Pitt on offense, well we know about the running game. Pitt is 100th in rushing, but 32nd passing. Pitt’s total offense, overall is not much better — 76th. The thing will come down to defense.

ND is strong up front on the defensive line that ranks them 10th against the run. While they are bad against the pass, 103rd, you have to figure that they will be looking to overpower Pitt’s O-line like they have done the last couple years and most teams have been able to do against Pitt. We can only hope Mike McGlynn and the rest of the O-line can back-up what they say they want to do against a Notre Dame team that is 45th overall in the nation on defense.

When ND has the ball, well despite Pitt’s supposed decent run defense — 37th overall — we’ve seen Pitt get plowed over by teams with a good running back and a strong O-line. While Darius Walker looked to be that back with 115 yards rushing against Michigan and 98 yards versus Michigan St., he has seen a diminished work load in the last 3 games. Still he averages 3.9 yards a carry. I expect them to test the Pitt run defense early.

Pitt’s pass defense, as we know, has been bad. It is 109th in the country, and given the way we saw both Nebraska and UConn use a West Coast, short passing game against Pitt with great success, I’m very worried. Quinn is very capable of burning Pitt all day long with quick outs and slants over the middle.

I think both teams will have trouble scoring. It will be as ugly as the last couple years. The fact that both teams will not score much will keep it close and force us to watch the whole way through. Unfortunately, I don’t see Pitt winning.

ND 20 Pitt 13