Is Chris Taft (PDF).

Taft averaged 19.0 points and 9.5 boards while shooting 66.7 percent from the field in a pair of road wins. He scored a career high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in an 85-77 victory at Notre Dame. Earlier in the week, Taft had 12 points and eight rebounds in a 72-50 win at Boston College.

He shares the honor with Ryan Gomes.

Since there was significant interest, I have set up a group on ESPN’s NCAA Tournament Bracket.

The group’s name, unsurprisingly enough is Pitt Sports Blather (hopefully this direct link will work).

Obviously, you can’t make picks yet, but you can sign up.

The Big East Tournament site is here.

Here’s an interesting thought.

Ask yourself this question today as Pitt prepares to head to New York for the Big East tournament: Are the Panthers playing better entering the postseason this season than they were last year when they had three losses by a total of seven points?
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Pitt was 27-3 heading into the Big East tournament last season and was playing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

But that team wasn’t exactly hitting on all cylinders before heading to Madison Square Garden to defend its championship. Despite winning five of their final six regular-season games, the Panthers were mired in a late-season offensive slump.

There was that 49-46 home loss to Syracuse in late February, a game in which the Panthers scored their fewest points in 22 years. Then there was the regular-season finale against Villanova, when they scored 17 points in the first half of a come-from-behind 59-45 victory.

Here’s the thing. Last year, I picked Pitt to win the BE Tournament against UConn. It was all about match-ups. The way the BET was set, Pitt had a relatively clean line to the BET Championship game.

This time things are a bit different, if for no other reason than the first game against Villanova. It’s not that Pitt lost to ‘Nova earlier, it’s that ‘Nova’s style of game — with Sumpter able to go inside and out, along with guards who don’t live just on the perimeter — is a match-up headache for Pitt.

So whether Pitt is playing better or not, is not an issue. It’s whether Pitt has figured things out.

The Big East Tournament will decide Pitt’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament. In most published “bracketologist” boards, Pitt is a #5 seed (BTW, ESPN.com has Pitt with a potential 2nd round match against Holy Cross (Ralph Willard) and even a Sweet 16 against UCLA (Howland), but take this bracket with a grain of salt since it puts Kent St. in the Cleveland pod as a 12 seed.). If Pitt wins their first game, they might move up one spot to a #4. Make it to the Championship, and it is clinched. If they win the BET, then they almost have to be a #3 seed.

Bendel’s notebook observes that Kendall has seen his minutes drop to next to nothing as his production has plummeted. Benjamin has played 1 minute in the last 4 games.

Pitt has already put out its game notes for Villlanova (PDF) on Thursday. The Big East Tournament Media Guide is here (PDF) with Seniors Hakim Warrick and Chris Thomas on the cover (Where’s Troutman?).

For those who are working or unable to get to a TV, the Big East will be providing live stats during games.

Boston College seems to be getting ready for the BET by convincing the team that the BE is out to screw them. The charge is led by their, oh so honorable, AD Gene DeFilippo.

Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo lashed out yesterday at Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese for presenting the University of Connecticut with a championship trophy after the Huskies clinched a share of the league’s regular-season title with an 88-70 victory over Syracuse Saturday afternoon, and not doing the same for the fifth-ranked Eagles, who not only clinched a share of the league title but earned the top seed in this week’s conference tournament with a 78-66 victory Saturday night at Rutgers.

“It was not surprising and very petty that the commissioner and the Big East Conference would go to Connecticut and present their coaches and their players with a championship trophy and not do the same for our players and our coaches and our fans,” DeFilippo said at the Big East women’s tournament in Hartford.

DeFilippo claimed the move was an attempt to punish BC for joining the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

“Our coaches and our players had absolutely, positively nothing to do with Boston College’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference,” DeFilippo said. “If they want to blame somebody, they should blame me and they should take it out on me, and not on our players and not on our coaches.”

DeFilippo was also not at the BC-Rutgers game to, you know, honor the achievement. BC is up in arms because a co-championship trophy was given to UConn that day, because the game was played on UConn’s home court.

Tranghese said UConn got the trophy because the Huskies played at home, and the Eagles didn’t get theirs because they were playing on the road.

In 26 years, we have never presented a trophy on a foreign floor,” said Tranghese, who arrived at the women’s tournament after BC had already played (coincidence?).

Tranghese also said he attended the UConn-Syracuse game Saturday to present awards to coaches Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim for winning their 700th games.
“Connecticut called me and asked if I’d give (the trophy) to them if they won,” the commissioner said. “There was no slight intended toward BC. I just wouldn’t do that to Al (Skinner) and his kids.”

The facts back up the Big East since the Rutgers women’s basketball team won the regular season on the road and did not get a trophy presentation.

This is simply BC’s AD trying to game the BE officials and refs in advance of the BET, generate sympathy in the media and get the BC team convinced they are alone against the whole conference.

Well it’s worked in one way. The crowds at MSG should be very, very hostile to BC when this gets wider play.

If anyone thought we got down on Pitt after its recent slide. It’s nothing compared to how the ND players and coach were treating themselves. Warning: those who find high levels of self-pity and self-flagellation annoying might want to skip further down the post.

Senior Chris Thomas, definitely didn’t say anything remotely near earlier comments about how he feels they should have won. He admitted who the better team was, then started getting down on his own.

“They were big-time men today,” said Irish guard Chris Thomas. “We couldn’t match that. We just didn’t have any kind of fight at all.”
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“We need to approach the games in a better tone,” Thomas said. “Our body language needs to be more confident. If you look out there, we don’t play confident anymore.”

Even Mike Brey said who were the men — repeatedly.

“They’re men; they’re men; they’re men,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “They’re a tough bunch, have been, especially when they go on the road.”
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From the moment it trailed, Pittsburgh was more physical, more determined and flat-out more aggressive. The Panthers made themselves mighty comfortable on the Joyce Center floor in a second half that saw the visitors shoot 66.7 percent.

“You didn’t guard,” Brey said. “You didn’t meet them physically around the basket.”

Brey had more to say about his team.

“When we couldn’t get after their shots, when we could not stop them and get anything in transition and had to go in a halfcourt offense Â… then we struggled,” Irish coach Mike Brey said.
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“I never thought we were a great defensive team,” Brey said. “We’ve been a program that has to put points on the board.”

But wait, there is more from Brey.

“The men won that game — and they are men,” said Brey of the Panthers. “Pittsburgh is a very good basketball team and, quite frankly, theyÂ’re a lot tougher than us. Against a team like Pitt, you need to do it 40 minutes. You can’t just wait for a rebound to fall into your hands. We need to get ready for New York. This would have been a huge win, but we have a chance on Wednesday to add to the body of work.”

Senior Jordan Cornette seemed to be saying it was a team effort.

If Taft played like a man, the boyish Irish (17-10) felt the sting of his parental paddling.

Afterward, an angry Jordan Cornette called out his teammates after Pitt shredded their non-existent defense for 20-of-30 shooting in the second half.

“Our toughness was seriously challenged,” he snapped. “To be out-toughed like that was embarrassing. Right now we’re at a crossroads. We’ve got to sit down and figure things out.”

Jordan Cornette fouled out of the game at the 6:06 mark, when he was pushed around by Troutman inside, once more. On his fifth foul he couldn’t stop Troutman from scoring. I’m guessing he was standing in front of a mirror when he offered up that critique.

With this latest loss, people are really harshing on Chris Thomas.

“He played like a man,” said Chris Thomas, who may have to settle for NIT home games after a miserable effort in a disappointing regular-season finale. “He’s going to get drafted after this.”

Thomas will graduate as Notre Dame’s No. 3 all-time scorer, but has regressed from a projected first-round choice to a doubting Thomas in three years.

Coach Mike Brey, a tireless apologist, blamed Thomas’ 2-for-13 marksmanship on guard Chris Quinn’s ankle, which kept him from driving or cutting.

“Chris was pressing because No. 2 (Quinn) wasn’t there to take the heat off him,” said Brey after Notre Dame’s third loss in its last four games.

Well, if the ND players are going to question their own toughness, it isn’t surprising to have a columnist do so.

Unfortunate but alarmingly typical for this Notre Dame team, which in the last week has lost two home games by a total of 19 points and had its hands full with woeful Rutgers in between. This is not the way you want to end the season, if you’re looking to go Dancing. And it is certainly not the way you want to respond to a game like Saturday, with history in the house and Enberg just waiting for a chance to say “Oh, my!” one more time.

Maybe he did, come to think of it. But it surely wouldn’t have had the connotation it’s had so many times here before, when the stakes were high and the drama was red-lining and the Irish were rising up one more time to smote the mighty.

Here’s the ugly truth about this team, or at least a piece of it: Not only do the Irish tend to play small, they come up small, too, on too many occasions. This is not a particularly tough team right now, sad to say. It needs a grit transplant. It could also use a dependable go-to on the blocks, too, but maybe that’s all part of the same thing.

Yes, the Irish whipped Connecticut here, and they brought down unbeaten Boston College, but what have they done since? What do you see in this team, if you’re a member of the NCAA selection committee?

You see a two-point loss at Pittsburgh.

You see wins over Georgetown (8-7 in the Big East) and Providence (3-12).

You see a 14-point loss at UConn, and a 10-point loss to UCLA, and finally you see Saturday’s inexplicable heart failure — in which the Irish once again lived outside the arc, until such time as they died there.

When it was over the Irish locker room was decorated with vacant stares and empty shrugs, and Thomas talked vaguely about “body language” and approaching games “in a better tone.”

Not a good year for basketball in the State of Indiana, when the best team in the state is on the bubble (teams if you think IU is also on the bubble).Now, outside of Indiana, this game was about Chris Taft.

Yesterday, Taft was stellar, and knows what it could mean if he keeps it up.

“That guy,” junior point guard Carl Krauser said, pointing at 6-foot-10 sophomore center Chris Taft, “can be our championship horse. If he plays like he did today, we can ride him a long, long way.”

Krauser paused, briefly.

“Maybe all the way to a national title.”
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For at least a day, Taft showed why some are projecting him as an NBA lottery pick as early as this year. He also helped the Panthers lock up a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament and a fourth consecutive 20-win season.

“That was the real Chris Taft,” freshman guard Ronald Ramon said.

Added Krauser: “When he’s playing like that, you feed him and feed him and feed him.”

The victory earned the 24th-ranked Panthers (20-7, 10-6 Big East) a No. 5 seed in the Big East tourney, where they’ll face four-seed Villanova (21-6, 11-5) at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

“I told myself I have to be aggressive today, make sure we get that bye,” said Taft, who had just one point and was benched for the final 12 minutes of the last Notre Dame game, a 68-66 Pitt win three weeks ago in Pittsburgh. “I wanted to put the team on my shoulders in this game. There was no way I was only scoring one point again. The whole world knows I’m better than that.”

Taft said he wants the world to know that he can do what he did yesterday on a regular basis.

“I’d rather it come now, than have it never come at all,” said Taft, who’s had an up-and-down season. “This is the perfect time for it to come.”

Last week, Ron Cook used most of his Sunday column to blast Taft. Today, Cook pats himself on the back for inspiring Taft.

Maybe I should have called Pitt center Chris Taft soft in December.

Maybe Pitt would be undefeated and right there with No. 1 Illinois as a national championship contender.

Word out of the Pitt locker room yesterday after Taft’s phenomenal performance in an 85-77 win against Notre Dame was that Taft was inspired by a column in the Post-Gazette last Sunday. In it, I accused Taft of playing with little heart in a home loss to Connecticut the day before and criticized him for making teammates Chevon Troutman and Carl Krauser do the heavy lifting most of the season. I also might have mentioned how inexcusable it was for a player with potential to be an NBA draft lottery pick this summer to give his team so little.

Taft was handed the paper during Pitt’s flight to Boston that day by one of the coaches. After he read it, he was told by more than one member of the traveling party that the criticism was fair and legitimate.

Taft hasn’t been the same since.

No need to thank me, Pitt fans.

I’m glad I could help.

Actually, he mentioned “not liking the things written about him” in a brief post-game interview with Jay Bilas after Pitt crushed BC on Monday night.

And of course, with that win over ND in South Bend, Pitt didn’t just spoil Senior Day.
They celebrated 100 years of Notre Dame basketball yesterday with a halftime celebration, trotting out the legendary names of the Irish past. The Notre Dame Victory March could be heard throughout the raucous Joyce Center.

But, by the end of the regular-season finale between Pitt and the Fighting Irish, the only thing that could be heard in the nearly silent arena were the “Let’s Go Pitt” chants from a tiny section.

Hey, the Domers should be happy this game wasn’t played at the Pete. I imagine by the end, they would have heard the chant “N-I-T!” ringing in their ears.

Now the preparation turns to the Big East Tournament. Pitt’s first opponent will be Villanova. The Wildcats’ head coach doesn’t seem particularly thrilled to face Pitt a second time.

The No. 19 Wildcats, who finished in fourth place in the conference to earn a first-round bye in the Big East tournament, will begin postseason play on Thursday with a quarterfinal game against No. 24 Pittsburgh (20-7) at Madison Square Garden.

Villanova defeated the visiting Panthers, 80-72, on Feb. 20 in their only face-off this season.

“This league is incredible,” Wildcats coach Jay Wright said while shaking his head. “You get in the 4-5 game, and you get Pittsburgh. …”

About the only good thing about this seeding match-up for fans is that it will likely be the last game of the day. No need to tape, miss it or skip work to see it.

Final thing, Joe Bendel makes his individual picks for honors in the Big East. Like me, he also goes with Hakim Warrick as BE player of the year.

UPDATE: Correction about the Pitt-Villanova game in the BET. Looks like it is on at 2pm on ESPN2.

Sorry, Media Recap will be a little late today.

A strong win. Pitt didn’t panic when Colin Falls was dropping 3 after 3 in the first half — it was scary impressive to see him drop 6 straight after missing his first. The thing was, take him out of the equation and the rest of the team was 5-16 in the first half. For the game, the ND guards shot poorly.

The first half was all about runs. Both teams made them. Neither team seemed out of it. It didn’t matter that ND went up by 9, you knew Pitt was going to close the gap.

This ND team just does not match-up well against Pitt. They lack a penetrating guard or small forward — Pitt’s kryptonite this season — so they either shoot deep shots or they throw it in to let their bigs try and score.

Chris Taft had a dominating game from start to finish. The kind of game that we knew he could have. This game cinched it for me that he is an NBA-caliber player. How else do you describe a b-ball player who seemingly sleeps through most of the season, then turns it on as the season winds down and the Tournaments loom.

Troutman got off to a slow start, but started getting more opportunities deeper in the game as he wore down the defense inside, and more attention was being paid to Taft.

Krauser did his thing. Not a great shooting percentage, but lots of penetrating and solid passes for the open bucket inside.

A very encouraging thing was seeing both Ramon and Graves driving to the basket. As a whole, Pitt seemed to be driving to the basket. Especially in the second half, it seemed that Pitt made a conscious effort to drive to the hoop. Clearly evidenced by the fact that Pitt only attempted 2 3-point shots in the second half. If the perimeter guys can start taking their guys off the dribble to get inside, it really opens up Pitt’s options on offense.

Pitt showed it could play a more open and faster game, while still playing defense. ND barely shot 40% in getting 77 points. Nearly 25% of the Irish’s points came from the free throw line. Pitt was able to run, and still get back on defense. Not something I’d advise them to do too often, but good to see them capable of doing it.

Defensively, Pitt played a solid game. Falls was hot for a while, but then only hit 2 more in the second half. For the game, ND could only muster 9 3s on 28 attempts. From the rest of the field they were pretty good hitting 16 for 34. Really, ND killed themselves by being impatient and taking too many 3s. Torin Francis was playing well. He was able to push back against Troutman and Taft, getting inside and some good looks at the basket.

In the end, though, it was their senior point gaurd, Chris Thomas, who keys this ND team. He had a miserable game. 2-13 shooting, and didn’t get that first bucket until about 5 minutes were left in the game. He did get to the free throw line several times and went 8-8. He just could not get any spacing. Krauser hounded him all game.

One other nice thing. At the end of the game walk-ons Bowman and Small got in for the final 30 seconds or so.

With this win, Pitt finishes 5th in the Big East and gets the first round bye. On Thursday they will play Villanova. Good. Not necessarily for revenge. I want Pitt to play ‘Nova for more experience against a forward like Sumpter who can take the ball inside or go out for a shot. Pitt needs to show if they have figured out how to defend against that type of player.

Individual Players

Chris Taft — In the game from beginning to end. Played 30 minutes of domination. 26 points (12-17 and 2-3 on FT), 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Makes me believe he will be looking to take over in the tournaments.
Chevon Troutman — ND was keyed on stopping him, which is why he ended up with 12 free throw attempts (making 8). As the game wore on, Troutman got more and more clean shots at the basket and converted. Finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Did embarrass himself when he had a clear line to the basket, went up for the dunk and nailed the rim. Dropped himself on his ass.

Carl Krauser — Krauser was finding the open guy. Had 11 assists to go with 15 points. Played great defense, completely shutting down Chris Thomas. Had 5 turnovers, but also 3 steals. Did get a little too casual about free throw shooting and it cost him. He only went 4-8 at the line.

Antonio Graves — Some early fouls kept him on the bench for most of the first half. In the second half, he was excellent. Quietly, it was one of his most efficient and complete games. He drove inside successfully (4-6 for 11 points), took care of the ball (5 assists and 0 turnovers), and played good man defense grabbing 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Ronald Ramon — He showed much more patience in letting the ball find him. Ramon made a conscious decision to go inside on offense a bit more, and converted. Most of his energy was spent on defense.

That is the number of wins now for the Pitt basketball seniors with a 85-77 win over ND.

Taft backed up the big talk with an even bigger game.

Once more, gloating in the comments.

In their last meeting the entire ND front court came up small. For Pitt, Taft matched them. It was a humiliating performance, culminating in his being sat for the last 10+ minutes of a game that went down to the wire. Taft has talent, but has been inconsistent at best this season. Now, everyone hopes that he really starts to put it together and that the BC game was the start.

After examining that loss, the third in a row for Pitt and, not so coincidentally, the third consecutive game in which he did not play up to his capabilities, Taft had an epiphany.

“I told myself after that game that if I don’t play good, it’s going to be real hard for us to win,” said Taft, a 6-foot-10, 250-pounder who remains a likely first-round NBA pick if he chooses to turn pro after this season.

“This is the perfect time to do it. It’s March. March Madness is here. I told myself that I have to step it up as best I can. This is the time players can show how good they really are. Hopefully, I can do that.”
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“A lot of people will be in trouble if he plays like that,” point guard Carl Krauser said. “He’s getting real good on defense. He’s looking for his shot more. Once we get all things clicking, we’ll be unstoppable.”

Taft, who was voted to the Big East’s preseason first team, won’t be recognized in the same way Tuesday when the all-conference teams are unveiled. He might be lucky to make third team.

He might make 3rd team because the All-BE teams tend to be groups of 6. In another article on Taft, they play up the man-child angle.

Chris Taft was giddy the other day in proclaiming he’ll celebrate his 20th birthday during the Big East Conference Tournament next week in New York.
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Less than two years removed from high school, Taft is still very much a youngster. The Coney Island native is addicted to video games and to Sugar Smacks cereal, which he eats before every game.

He is, essentially, a child trapped in an NBA player’s body — all 6-foot-10, 260 pounds of him. And, therein lies the rub with Taft, who has not lived up to expectations in the regular season, which concludes today.

He will not be a first-team All-Big East selection when the team is announced next week, despite being selected as such in the preseason.

Why? Because he’s been inconsistent. Taft is enduring growing pains, much like any other teenager. But he’s doing so in the public eye, amid high expectations.

For the record, I know several 30-something guys who fit the video game/sugar cereal mold. Granted, I have a very immature group of friends, but there is a reason why Entertainment Weekly does video game reviews — immature men is a strong demographic (sorry, getting a little off topic).

ND wants to win the BE Tourney, so they need the bye.

A victory over No. 24 Pittsburgh (19-7, 9-6), Jordan Cornette said, could help bring the Irish toward the one thing he and fellow senior Chris Thomas haven’t come close to attaining during their Notre Dame careers –a league tournament title.

“Pittsburgh is a huge steppingstone in terms of the damage we could do in the Big East tournament,” Cornette said. “If we get Pittsburgh, it puts us in even better position to make a deep run in that tournament and make a play at the conference championship.”

Notre Dame lost at Pittsburgh 68-66 on Feb. 12 when Panthers point guard Carl Krauser hit the winning shot, a runner in the lane, with 11 seconds left.

The Irish expect a similar battle this time around.

“We know everything about the team,” Cornette said.

“We might as well play for them, we know so much about them. So we know what we’re going to see and we just have to be able to do the things we need to do to win.”

There is a ND banquet tonight, honoring 100 years of Irish b-ball. I think we can all agree that we’d like to see the entire team looking less than thrilled at the ceremonies.

Krauser admits that the Pitt guards have to do better on the perimeter this game.

Panthers point guard Carl Krauser said the best way to muzzle Notre Dame’s perimeter game is to make the guards work for every shot. “Our guards have to make them put it on the floor and catch and shoot – we have to make them feel uncomfortable,” Krauser said.

There’s been no reported change on the status of Chris Quinn’s sprained ankle. He is still listed as doubtful. Personally, I’m betting he gives it a go. They might try to run some screens or just try and get him left alone in a corner for some open looks. I’m not sure how well he can stop and pop.

Here are the articles from the papers on Pitt’s schedule. Welcome to the new Big East. TV still rules and ESPN will be using it to fill-in the scheduling gaps previously filled by the Mountain West.

The Panthers play at least three, and likely four games, during the week as opposed to Saturday, the traditional day for college football. Pitt plays two Thursday night games, a Friday night game and likely will have another moved from Saturday afternoon to Friday night for television.
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Pitt’s second game is at Ohio and is scheduled for Sept. 10, but is likely to move to Friday night (Sept. 9) and be televised on ESPN.

The Panthers then play the next two Saturdays, Sept. 17 at Nebraska and Sept. 24 at home against Youngstown State, before playing another Friday night ESPN game, Sept. 30, at Rutgers.

Damn. It looked like I was going to that Ohio game. Now it becomes a question mark.

And of course, thanks to the new “tradition,” the Backyard Brawl will be on Thanksgiving night.

Consider this a special extra. Pitt has released it’s football schedule.

Date ———— Opponent

Sept. 3 ———- Notre Dame (ABC)

Sept. 10 ——— at Ohio U.

Sept. 17 ———- at Nebraska

Sept. 24 ———- Youngstown State

Sept. 30 (Fri.) ——- at Rutgers* (ESPN or ESPN2)

Oct. 8 —————– Cincinnati*

Oct. 15 ————— South Florida*

Oct. 22 —————- Syracuse*

Nov. 3 (Thurs.) ——— at Louisville* (ESPN)

Nov. 12 —————- Connecticut*

Nov. 24 (Thurs.) ——— at West Virginia* (ESPN)

The wife is going to be pissed about me road tripping 3 straight weekends in October. Nice that all but one of the televised games at this point will be the roadies.

This might be a good time to remind some of the loyal readers about my season ticket and tailgate fund. I’ve received a couple contributions which are much appreciated. The money is going to be coming due soon, and Pat — who is the group’s buyer — is probably looking on the web for the sound clip from “Better Off Dead” regarding the need for $2, so I make my pitch.

There are a couple other things for Pitt football. A very early top-25 ranking.

21. Pittsburgh: The Dave Wannstedt era begins on the upturn. It’s Wanny’s job to keep folks excited about Pittsburgh football. Quarterback Tyler Palko looks like he can’t get the ball over rushers’ hands but threw for five TDs twice last season. His favorite receiver, Greg Lee, isn’t a burner, but holds onto the ball. Linebacker H.B. Blades (son of Bennie) has NFL aspirations. In the watered down Big East, the Panthers have a good chance to defend their 2004 title. Why they’re ranked here: Wanny’s honeymoon season will be a delight. There’s so much talent and momentum that Pittsburgh should win at least eight again.

This was followed up by a big puff piece on Coach Dave Wannstedt.

It is a provincial town. It matters to its people that the coach is a Pittsburgher. But it is not a national program. It hasn’t been for a while. Neglect, Miami, Virginia Tech and other factors have taken care of that. Last year Walt Harris won a share of the Big East, led the Panthers to the Fiesta Bowl — the program’s first New Year’s bowl in 21 years — then left.

For Stanford. Harris had accepted the job days earlier knowing he’d probably be fired if he didn’t.

That might have said more about the University of Pittsburgh than it did Harris.

He was never good enough, never personable enough for Pittsburgh. The perception was the program had hit a glass ceiling. But Harris broke into South Florida in recruiting, landing receiver Antonio Bryant among others.

That’s part of the reason why the only recruiting trips by air under Wanndstedt will be to the Sunshine State. Six coaches will be assigned to Pennsylvania. There was a perception that Harris had lost touch in Western Pennsylvania and the prestigious WPIAL high school league.

“The only place we’ll go outside of a five-hour car ride is going to be South Florida,” Wanny said.

At a recent basketball game against Connecticut, 68 junior recruits showed up, about 25 more than were expected. Spring practice opens March 19 with Wannstedt having at least one advantage. He’ll need those broad shoulders to carry the expectations.

Well the number of Junior recruits wanting to attend the UConn-Pitt game was helped by how big a game it was. Still, consider it to be yet another factor that points to the importance of having both a strong football and basketball program, and how one can help the other.

A bunch of other stuff. Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas, while never quite living up to what was expected from him (maybe he can advise Taft), still has amassed some impressive numbers.

Thomas will make his 126th consecutive start — and last at home — when Notre Dame (17-9, 9-6 Big East) plays Pittsburgh (19-7, 9-6) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Joyce Center. He’ll leave the arena as the school’s all-time leader in consecutive starts, assists, free-throw percentage and possibly three-pointers made. He sits behind two legends, Austin Carr and Adrian Dantley, in points scored.

Someday, they may retire Thomas’ No.1 jersey. Someday, we may all look back at his achievements and marvel.

“I get numb to his numbers sometimes,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “They really are staggering.”

Thomas’ most recent milestone — passing 800 career assists to join Sherman Douglas and Gary Payton as the only college players to record that many assists and 2,000 career points — was impressive simply by the company he joined.

Here’s the interesting part of what Thomas thinks about Pitt.

“They’re just as hungry as us,” Thomas said. “I guess it’s our rivalry because we’ve played some great games in the past. I always feel when we lose we should have won.”

That’s cute. Funny thing, Pitt doesn’t really feel the same way about the Domers. In terms of rivalries for Pitt basketball, you just don’t think about them. Sure, we want Pitt to beat ND, because they are Domers, but I think it safe to say most of us would rather beat UConn, Syracuse, WVU and maybe even Villanova first in the BE. The Irish don’t really have a true rivalry game in basketball in the Big East.

As for this game, well it is a big one for the weekend. So there are thoughts.

No. 24 Pittsburgh at Notre Dame: Pittsburgh (19-7, 9-6) quieted its media-induced bubble scare by beating Boston College earlier this week, but Notre Dame (17-9, 9-6) faces a (more legitimate) scare of its own. The selection committee might not forgive the Irish for losing their past two difficult home games (to UCLA and Pitt). With fifth place in the Big East on the line, the winner won’t have to play on the first day of the conference tournament. That’s a sure thing. This is a mystery: Which big man won’t show, Pitt’s Chris Taft or Notre Dame’s Torin Francis?

I guess we can consider this a friendly reminder that Pitt isn’t the only school with a talented big man who seems to show inconsistency on motivation.

Seth Davis at SI.com, who is now 1-4 in predicting Pitt games makes his call.

On the one hand, Notre Dame seems like it has more to play for, though I think the Irish sealed their NCAA tourney ticket by beating Rutgers on Wednesday. The Irish are also at home, which is another reason to like them. Unfortunately, while I have extolled the abilities of Notre Dame’s big men, Torrin Francis and Dennis Latimore, those guys are only effective against smaller players. The physical Panthers are exactly the kind of team that gives ND trouble — witness the 33-23 rebounding advantage Pitt had while winning the first meeting between these teams. Pitt’s inconsistency is Notre Dame’s best hope, but the Panthers showed what they’re capable of in routing Boston College on Monday. I think they’ll show it again.
Seth’s Pick: Pittsburgh 71, Notre Dame 64

Just what Pitt is capable of, is up for discussion. Steve Lavin had this to say in his chat session.

Jason (Pittsburgh): Lav, Do you think Pitt can pull a 4 seed? Do you see them getting past the sweet 16 this year?

Steve Lavin: In spite of some close losses this season, the Pitt Panthers will be a dangerous team to be reckoned with come postseason. They will need to have a strong showing in the Big East Conference tourney in order to secure a top five seed. Ironically, even though this Panther team does not have as outstanding a record as recent Pitt teams, I think they actually have a better chance of advancing past the Sweet 16. I believe the reasoning for this potential tourney run is because I think their offense is more explosive and balanced this year both inside and out.

Then there is ESPN’s bracketologist, who seems less than enamored about Pitt.

Vic -Pittsburgh: Where does Pitt stand? They are still a tourney lock right?

Joe Lunardi: First of all, thanks to bracketology assistant Jeff Martin for transcribing these first few questions/answers while I was driving back from ESPN News. Now, as for Pitt, yes, they are in the tournament. But, no, its hard to think they string together more than a win or so.
…
Mark (Vatoman): Who is the most overrated team in the country?

Joe Lunardi: Pittsburgh.

I feel no need to rail against this slight. The only way to counter this slur is for Pitt to go out and win.

And finally, for what it’s worth, Dick Vitale makes his Big East Conference calls.

All-Big East Team
Carl Krauser | junior guard | Pittsburgh
Gerry McNamara | junior guard | Syracuse
Hakim Warrick | senior forward | Syracuse
Craig Smith | junior forward | Boston College
Jared Dudley | sophomore forward | Boston College

Big East Diaper Dandy of the Year – Jeff Green | freshman forward | Georgetown

Big East Coach of the Year – Al Skinner | Boston College

Big East Player of the Year – Hakim Warrick | Syracuse

Comment – It’s a tough call between Warrick and Craig Smith for player of the year. Al Skinner is a legit candidate for national coach of the year. Jared Dudley gets the nod over Ryan Gomes, because to the victor goes the spoils.

I have some disagreements with his All-BE team, but not with his individual calls. I’ll make my 1st, 2nd and 3rd BE teams Sunday or Monday.

Both teams have issued their game notes. Here’s ND and Pitt (PDF). As of yesterday, tickets were still available for the game. The game is at 2 pm on CBS as called by Dick Enberg (over/under on times he noticeably doesn’t know who is making a play — 10) and Clark Kellogg.

This will be the 50th meeting of the teams. ND has a 1 game edge in the series history, but Pitt has won 4 of the last 5. Both teams are shooting for 10 wins in the BE. For Pitt, it would be the 4th straight year. For ND, that would be 4 times in 5 years. A win for Pitt would give them 4 straight years of 20 wins or more. Before this present run, Pitt had 8 20-win seasons in its history.

Everyone is just focused on this game getting them the first round bye in the BE Tournament. ND has had its practice schedule disrupted a bit thanks to President Bush.

This afternoon’s speech at the Joyce Center by President Bush has forced the Irish to juggle their typical game preparation. That didn’t sit well with Brey, who admitted to being distracted during the week in devising both an alternate practice schedule and game plan for Pittsburgh.

“I was a little concerned and probably a little disappointed at the timing of it all,” said Brey, whose team will practice in its basement facility today at noon, four hours earlier than usual. “I certainly understand you have to adjust for a situation like that.”

Once the Irish start practice, the building will be locked down until doors open for the speech. Should anyone leave for any reason before that, they would be required to return through a security checkpoint.

Members of the FBI advance team have been seen in the Joyce Center hallways all week, where behind-the-scenes work for the president’s visit has been an ongoing process. It kicked into gear immediately after Wednesday’s game against Rutgers as the basketball goals at each end of the arena were wheeled out and the satellite television trucks near the arena loading door were moved to the parking lot near Eck Stadium.

Wonder how having to re-install the basketball goals will affect the rims? If there is any change, ND won’t exactly have a big advantage in getting used to them.

This will not be the same ND team that Pitt managed to defeat a few weeks ago. They will likely be without their top 3-point shooter, Chris Quinn. Quinn is doubtful for the game with a sprained ankle. Quinn torched Pitt for 25 points last time.

Expect ND to work harder to do more inside. They got absolutely nothing in the paint. Latimore and Francis will trying to get some more shots, and I expect Chris Thomas to be looking to go inside some more. And the odds Colin Falls shoots as poorly as he did last time is unlikely.

The Domers should also be as desperate as we felt Pitt was on Monday. ND is tied with Pitt in the BE standings, 9-6. The problem for ND is that their non-con was as weak Pitt’s, but they lost more games. So, despite ending up with the toughest schedule in the BE — because in addition to 2 games with Pitt, Syracuse and UConn, they ended up with 2 against G-town and ‘Nova — they are a bubble team. High on the bubble team, but a bubble team, nonetheless. ND would then need at least one win, maybe two in the Big East Tournament. I don’t care what their coach claims.

“I think it’s very clear,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said yesterday. “If you get to double-digit wins in our league, it’s great for your NCAA tournament resume if you look at the history.”
…
“Overall, I think our resume is in better shape this year than last year,” Brey said.

“That’s why we’re not viewing this game as doe or die. I think us and Pitt have strong resumes. If you can earn a bye, it would help us in New York and also it would say a lot to the selection committee. We have a heck of an argument, but by no means are we satisfied.”

Of course, Coach Dixon tried to downplay the importance of the BC game beforehand in the press, and it seems more likely that Brey is just trying to take some of the extra pressure off of his players.

The BE Tournament, though is the more immediate concern for both teams. Who ever wins, finishes 5th in the standings and gets that all-important 1st round bye. And since Pitt still wants to win the BE Tournament, it matters.

The statistic has been bandied about many times over: No team in the history of the Big East Tournament has won the title without a first-round bye.
…
“Everybody should want that bye, because it’s going to be hard to win four games and win the whole thing,” Pitt center Chris Taft said.

Pitt’s earned a bye the past three seasons and made it to the title game each time, winning it in 2003. The most recent time the Panthers failed to receive a bye was 2001, when they powered their way to the championship game before running out of gas and getting blown out by Boston College.

“That bye is real important,” junior point guard Carl Krauser said. “Nobody wants to play four nights in a row. Playing in the Big East, in the most physical conference in the country, and playing 40 minutes each night, it’s a battle. You’ve gotta be tough to do it. I love it, but at the same time, you gotta worry about your body because all those hits can take a toll on you.”

More importantly, playing four games in four days can wear a team down for the NCAA Tournament.

If Pitt loses, depending on what G-town and WVU do in their finales, Pitt could end up falling to the #8 seed in the BE Tournament thanks to head-to-head tie-breakers.

And for additional pressure on the Irish, it’s going to be Senior Day. Starters Chris Thomas and Dennis Latimore, along with Jordan Cornette and Greg Bosl will be honored.

The weekly Q&A with Ray Fittipaldo is up. Lots of grousing about Coach Dixon’s substitution patterns. Question about Kendall’s confidence, Chris Taft questions, and at the end a little note about where Ricardo Greer really is playing at the moment, as supplied by some guy living in Ohio.

Last week, I pointed out how Grant Wahl at SI.com thought Pitt had the potential to be make a deep run in the NCAA (the story came out the same day that Pitt lost to WVU). In his mailbag this week, he talks about Pitt once more. Essentially, he feels our confusion.

What is Pittsburgh’s problem against RPI teams ranked between 50 and 100? The Panthers were supposed to be better than this.

No team in the nation has left me more flummoxed than Pittsburgh. There’s obviously a ton of talent there, and winning on the road at UConn, Syracuse and Boston College (by 22!) is a remarkable achievement. So too, in a negative way, is losing at home to West Virginia, Georgetown and Bucknell. It may be nothing more complicated than a motivation issue, which appears to be what has kept Chris Taft from meeting high expectations all season long. Bottom line: If I were a team seeded anywhere from 10 to 12 in the NCAA tournament, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Panthers in a first-round matchup. But if they can make it to the second weekend, you never know what might happen.

Picking Pitt in the brackets is always a tough thing to separate my natural biases from rational thought. This time it could be even worse. Speaking of the RPI, it was known that the RPI formula would be tweaked to encourage more road games. The extent of the tweaking, though, was astounding. Most think they went a little too far Consider what Pitt’s RPI would look like if it had been under last year’s formula.

Present RPI ——– Old RPI Formula
46 ———————- 29

At least Pitt is still going. There is a table with other teams that are in much deeper trouble.

Meanwhile, we aren’t even to the conference tournaments, and you can’t stop people from continually looking to next year in the Big East.

Bottom line: some big-name schools (and their big-name coaches) are probably going to be dealing with worse records than they’re accustomed to. They’ll simply have to hope that the 2006 NCAA Tournament selection committee keeps that in mind, and is prepared to offer an unprecedented number of bids to what could be a league of unprecedented power.

“I think nine teams definitely would be a possibility,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. “It changes from year to year, but Connecticut is still going to be great next year, Cincinnati will be very good, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova — you can keep going down the list.”

The list is long enough that you can forgive the current Big East coaches for not wanting to even go there right now.

“Everyone keeps talking about the Big East next year,” said Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon. “The names are great, but I don’t know how it’s going to be better than this year. We don’t have any easy games.”

There will be even fewer next season. Which is why all 16 coaches are curious about how the league schedule will unfold.

The plan calls for each team to have three home-and-home opponents — one likely a long-standing or geographic rival. Television will play a big part in selecting the other two.
…
In addition to those six home-and-home games, teams will then play 10 league opponents once, and will not play two teams at all each year.

It’s far from an ideal setup, but no scheduling is going to be ideal in a 16-team conference. Associate commissioner John Paquette said the Big East is committed to that scheduling format for two more years, until the league’s television contracts with ESPN and CBS are up.

“No question, how the schedule is set up will determine how the league unfolds,” Dixon said.

Coaches and athletic directors hoping for a break can send cases of fine wine and offers of free rounds of golf to commissioner Mike Tranghese, care of the Big East office in Providence. Let the lobbying commence.

The unbalanced scheduling, and the fact that the big names in BE basketball are disproportionately also football schools is going to be yet another reason that the BE is heading for a split before 2010.

A good piece on the difficulties in evaluating where Pitt will be seeded in the NCAA Tournament.

“They’re obviously better on the court than their [RPI] number suggests,” Lunardi said. “When they’re at their best they’re a top 15 team. When they’re not, they’re not one of the top 30 teams. When most top teams have an off night, on a scale on 1-10, they drop from a 10 to an 8. When Pitt has an off night, they’re a 3.”
…
In a best-case scenario, Lunardi said Pitt can climb to as high as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed if it wins out. In a worst-case scenario, if the Panthers lose at Notre Dame and then drop their first Big East tournament game, they could drop to a No. 7 or No. 8 seed.

“I don’t see them dropping out of the top half of the bracket,” Lunardi said. “Pitt can beat anybody on any given night except for maybe Illinois and one or two of the other top teams. If they bring their A-game, they match up well with the B-games of a lot of the other top teams. But what are Pitt’s chances of having their A-game for three or four games in a row in the NCAA tournament?”

Pitt can bring a top-level game for that kind of stretch. They have done it this season. It is more the question of match-ups and staying controlled. To me, the best thing about the win over BC was absolute containment on Jared Dudley on offense. He has an inside-out game that had killed Pitt against WVU and Villanova.

Read the whole thing. Especially the part about Pitt’s non-con and the selection committee. It might seem familiar to some with my rantings on the matter.

The warm-fuzzy story (or alternatively, Joe Starkey writing like Rick Reilly) is for the walk-ons Marcus Bowman and Charles Small.

At 5-foot-7, Small is one of the shortest players in Division I. He and Bowman often share the same thought during games, expressed by Bowman this way:

“Just let me go out there.”

It doesn’t happen very often, though Petersen Events Center crowds implore coach Jamie Dixon to insert Small at the end of every blowout victory.

“We want Small!” the chant goes.

Small and Bowman have played only 10 minutes combined this season, haven’t played since Dec. 18 and have scored only two points. Each made a free throw.

Neither has scored a basket in his college career.

Both are top flight students. Bowman came on a full academic scholarship and wants to get into coaching someday. As walk-ons, they don’t get to eat at the training table unless they pay for it. There was a good piece back in August focusing on what walk-on football players have to go through. The same principles apply. You give up a lot for the love of the game.

Then there is a piece lauding Coach Dixon handling of players. Particularly DeGroat. Keeping him upbeat and ready to contribute, despite a season of minimal playing time. Dixon does deserve praise for the way he’s handled things. Especially at that small forward/third guard position, where no one has been able to really play steady.

Of course, to counter the argument, you can point to Dante Milligan deciding to transfer for lack of playing time. DeGroat is a special case since he is a JUCO transfer. He only has 1 year of eligibility after this season. Transferring wasn’t really much of an option.