I’m still trying to figure out how Pitt got dropped to a 9 seed. I keep coming back to the non-con. The argument regarding the last 10 games doesn’t wash. Yes, Pitt went 5-5. But look at the losses. All to Tourney teams — Villanova (X 2), WVU (X 2) and UConn. The 5 teams Pitt beat were Syracuse (BET Champs), BC (BE regular season co-champs), ND (X 2, Bubble team) and St. John’s. Pitt’s schedule was back loaded, and it was clear to see.

As for the opponent, the University of Pacific Tigers. No irony here. Just because it was former football coach, Walt Harris’ alma mater.

This is a team that might as well be a West Coast version of Pitt. Look at their stats. Now look at Pitt. Both teams average 72.4 points/game. Pitt allows an average of 63 pts/game; Pacific, 63.5. Both teams have balanced scoring with 3 players in double figures, but no one more than 15.6 points/game. Almost all the stats are similar, except that they are a better free throw shooting team. Obviously, the conference competition is a little different.

Still, looking at Ken Pomeroy’s Basketball Shrink, still shows them to be very similar teams. Pitt is a bit better on defense and rebounding. This will be a brutal 8/9 game.

Thanks to Jamie for the info. This is big stuff.

When the Panthers step onto Heinz Field against Notre Dame on Sept. 3, they’ll do so headed in a different direction.

Sometime before the annual Blue-Gold Game, Pittsburgh will unveil uniforms modified slightly to play off the program’s glory years of Johnny Majors and Jackie Sherrill. The color scheme that was introduced in 1997 and the “PITTSBURGH” lettering across the chest, above the numbers, will remain.

However, the disembodied Panther head that previously graced both sides of the gold helmets is out.

“PITT” is it again.

Sort of.

The “PITT” seen on the new helmets isn’t the script that appeared on helmets worn by Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino, but rather a more modernized version. Visualize the current “PITTSBURGH” lettering and chop off the “SBURGH.”

Lukas described the concept as “updating a classic” — not unlike what the Pirates pulled off when, in 2001, they switched to a sleeveless uniform modeled after those worn by the club in the 1960s.

“It makes sense,” Lucas said of teams playing off their past. “Pitt is selectively cherry-picking from a design that fans preferred.”

And, as Frank Rosato of Brookline proclaimed for all University of Pittsburgh alumni: “I’d rather see the ‘PITT’ script. But any ‘PITT’ is better than no ‘PITT’ at all… or that floating wolverine head.”

Yeah, it’s only a uniform — but it’s so much more.

Nothing on the Pitt site yet. Nothing about the colors — a very important factor. Still, it is good.

Steals a little thunder from one of my posts I have planned for the off-season regarding Pitt logos. You’ll have to trust me on this, when I finally get to it, it will be worth it.

A 9 Seed???!!!

WTF?

Not sure how much the ESPN selection show will get into that. They generally get more into the top5 seeds.

This is a huge blast at the non-con. It’s about the only explanation I can figure. I don’t think it could be made any clearer. As much as I’ve moaned about the non-con, I didn’t think they’d be penalized this badly.

It seems that the Big East got dissed overall. The selection committee seemed to treat the BE as being a very shallow, but wide conference. Hell, the Big 11 teams that got in, got more respect.

Venting in the comments, please.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Pitt and Penn State are talking again.

The two schools’ athletic directors have reopened informal discussions about renewing their football series.

“Jeff (Long) and I have talked a number of times about a lot of different things, including football,” Penn State AD Tim Curley said Friday. “But I wouldn’t say we’re at a stage where we’re near an agreement.”

If it happens, great. I’m not holding my breath. I will, however, engage in pointless speculation about it’s related meaning.

The earliest it would happen would be 2007. More likely 2008. When does Joe Paterno’s latest contract end? 2008. Who’s the biggest obstacle to a renewal of the rivalry?

You can now let the wheels turn on this mindless conspiracy theory.

Miss me? Family duties started much earlier than expected yesterday, so I never got on the computer (around 10 pm, I started getting real twitchy from withdrawal, thank goodness for scotch).

Not sure I’ll be able to watch all the selection shows, the wife is only so tolerant of my behavior. And for some reason, she doesn’t buy the excuses like, “but honey, I’m only thinking of you. I’m waiting to get the reason why Cinci (her school) was made an #8 seed,” any longer.

Pitt will be anywhere from a #5 to #7 seed. Pitt’s a #5 seed, if the selection committee concludes that Pitt only lost to 2 teams not making the tournament. Bucknell winning the Patriot League may end up helping Pitt. If Pitt ends up a #7 seed, it will be punishment once more, for scheduling a weak non-con after being explicitly told last year to start scheduling better. Pitt will be a high 6 or low 5. Not really sure which would be better.

Pitt needs to work some things out still.

The team still has trouble with full court pressure and traps. The guards and small forward continually fail to work and help out when a player is trapped or stuck with the ball. They seem to stand around or hover too far away, rather than come to the ball and the player to help out.

Staying with guard play, the outside shooting picked a bad time to go south. Pitt isn’t going to win with perimeter shooting, but it needs to make a decent number to keep the defense honest and not collapse inside.

The other big thing on offense, is finishing. In the last few games, we’ve seen the guards (not just Krauser) actually try to drive and go inside to score. This is good. Pitt has needed to do this. Now they need to start getting the basket, contact or make a good pass. Too often they have just gotten stuffed or made a bad shot. The need to finish also applies to the guys inside — Taft, Gray and Troutman. All 3 have been having some trouble finishing strongly. Instead, settling for a bad hook, or not going up strong.

Pitt’s color analyst, Dick Groat, gets a puff piece today.

Mike Starkey does a piece about the changes to the Big East membership next year, with a lot of quotes from BE Commish Mike Tranghese. Anyone else notice that of the 6 Big East locks for the NCAA Tournament, only one school (Villanova) doesn’t play football? Anyone see that trend changing anytime soon?

Tranghese insists there won’t be a divorce after that, either. The football-playing members, he says, will not wave goodbye to basketball-only members Marquette, Georgetown, DePaul, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova.

“If this was going to break up, it would have happened when Miami and Virginia Tech and Boston College left (to join the ACC),” Tranghese said. “Others could have left, but they sat for three months and didn’t want to do it. They said, ‘Reconfigure this.’

“We need to get as good as we can, to where we’re so attractive that nobody wants to leave.”

Tranghese also pointed out that if the football-playing schools formed their own conference, they would lose a New York City presence, including the Big East tournament. That could seriously hurt a program such as Pitt’s, which relies heavily on Big Apple recruits.

It’s not like he would say otherwise. I’m not sure the BE would necessarily lose the NYC footprint. There are too many BE-football schools within the area: Rutgers, Syracuse and UConn. As for the conference tournament, maybe the Garden might not be so welcoming, but there is going to be a new basketball arena in the 5 boroughs in a few years for the New Jersey Nets. Think the Ratner family might be interested in having their new arena host?

On the recruiting front, Kevin Gorman has a good, level-headed perspective on Herb Pope verballing to Pitt.

He is well traveled for a 16-year-old, having attended a handful of schools while living with various relatives and foster families. After growing up in Beaver County, Pope spent his freshman year at Montrose Christian in Rockville, Md. He lived briefly with the Costo family in Hopewell last fall before moving in with his grandmother in Aliquippa.

Francis says Pope is rumored to be considering a transfer to Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, Md., for his junior year. Riverdale Baptist already features two of the nation’s top-10 sophomores in 6-7 forward Michael Beasley, a Charlotte recruit, and 6-3 guard Nolan Smith.

This would make sense, Francis said, because Beasley, Smith and Pope were teammates on the DC Assault Club, which won the 16-and-under division of the Adidas Super 64 tourney in Las Vegas last summer.

Francis also reported that rumors swirl that Pope is not the only high-profile player headed to Riverdale Baptist. HoopScoop has been hearing for months that two of the nation’s top-20 juniors — 6-9 forward Kevin Durant and 6-foot point guard Tywon Lawson — could transfer to Riverdale Baptist from Oak Hill Academy this fall.

Sounds like a burgeoning national powerhouse.

“I think he’ll go back to DC Assault and Riverdale Baptist because they all play together,” Francis said of Pope. “I think his allegiance is to them rather than his high school. The people who control the DC Assault also control Riverdale Baptist. It’s bad for business from their standpoint if he remains in Pittsburgh.”

As a result, Pope has been exposed to the underbelly of the sport, where talent is treated like a tradable commodity. With Adidas, Nike and Reebok already battling over him to attend their invitation-only summer camps — as well as AAU clubs trying to get him on their summer travel teams — Pope is realizing that he can parlay his services.

Read the whole thing.