The Pitt Athletic Department recently trumpeted the CBSSportsline.com college football preview that listed Tyler Palko as a Heisman Trophy potential candidate. This was the subject of an incoherent column I mocked a week or so ago.

So, what’s in this preview. I suspect many of the articles will eventually be published online, leading up to the season. Right now, most of them are only in the magazine. Most (if not all) of the featured articles are written by their College Football columnist Dennis Dodd.

There is an article titled “The Main Attractions.” It is about key players and their team. Tyler Palko gets featured in the article. Friendly stuff.

Another article, “New Beginnings,” talks about the coaching changes in short one hitters. On Coach Wannstedt, the summary is essentially that he is home and the team has a great opportunity.

In the bowl predictions section, they have Louisville, as the Big East BCS rep, facing Virginia Tech from the ACC. Continuing the, uh, irony, Pitt would face Miami in the Gator Bowl.

In the magazine’s ranking of the teams(page 51) , Louisville gets ranked #12 and Pitt comes in at #15. Others to note: ND #33, PSU #43, Syracuse #46 and @VU #55. Dodd’s top-25 has been subject to continual revisions. In early July, he updated the top-25 and dropped Pitt to #20.

For the All-Big East team (page 40), they have Palko as the QB and offensive player of the year; Greg Lee at WR; Charles Spencer, OL; H.B. Blades, LB; Josh Lay, DB; and Adam Graessle, P.

As far as the individual evaluation of Pitt (page 67), the preview expects Pitt to compete but not be able to win the BE from Louisville, coming in second. The offense is expected to be very, very good. Palko to Lee leading, but with much more balance and a better running game. The concern is on the defense. Not with the starters who are considered to be good, but with the depth. A fair point, Pitt is kind of thin. The defense should still be better with Wanny’s impact as a coach being felt there.

You can watch some brief interviews from Big East Media Day (click the link “Media Day Overview,” the two links beneath are from the 2004 media day). From Pitt they talk to Coach Dave Wannstedt and QB Tyler Palko (Windows Media). Wannstedt appears about 3:15 in and Palko follows at about the 4:45 mark. Amusing, perhaps only to me, they mute out the actual question being asked of the interviewees. Likely so the media outlets that used the clips can do a voice over of their own or even pretend they were asking the question.

South Florida’s head coach is very excited about the future.

“It’s something you can’t even measure,” Leavitt said of joining the Big East. “Because now you have taken away the last obstacle from getting the very best players. Now you can tell them that you have a legitimate opportunity to play for a national championship.”

Leavitt said he didn’t sense feeling any pressure as one of the three schools replacing Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech, who have bolted for the ACC in the past two seasons. How the Big East performs in the next two seasons could dictate whether the conference will remain Bowl Championship Series eligible when the current BCS contract expires in 2006.

“I didn’t feel it as much as some did in the Big East,” Leavitt said. “I got more of a sense of excitement and energy at Big East media days with the NFL coaches (Dave Wannstedt at Pittsburgh) returning to college.”

As for new coaches getting the area to drink the kool-aid, it isn’t as easy when you are Ohio University, but there are flashes.

Miami, Bowling Green, Toledo, and Marshall have dominated the MAC picture over the last decade or so. Hopefully, Solich can build Ohio into a contender. He has a great reputation despite his demise at Nebraska.

Solich coached under the highly successful Dr. Tom Osborne and played under the legendary Bob Devaney at Nebraska. And he’s an Ohio native from Cleveland, knows the state, and shouldn’t have difficulty recruiting once he becomes fully acquainted with the state’s high school coaches.

Hey, it’s important to keep an eye on what is going on at some of the other teams Pitt will face.

Speaking of other schools, WVU is finally getting some more depth back at Wide Receiver. Three of their WRs who were academically ineligible last year have qualified.

Finally CollegeFootballNews.com has some more way early predictions of some big games in September.

Saturday, September 17th – Pitt at Nebraska
It’s a rematch of last year’s mistake-filled 24-17 Nebraska win with Dave Wannstedt taking his Panthers to Lincoln for a big early season showdown. The Big East needs this win to help in the national respect department, while Nebraska could use this win before Big 12 play starts. As tough as it is to win in Lincoln, Pitt will pull it off thanks to Tyler Palko, Greg Lee, and the Panther passing game lighting up the young Husker secondary. The Pitt run D will keep Cory Ross in check.
Predicted score in late July: Pitt 27 … Nebraska 24
Oasis Line: Nebraska -3

This actually conflicts with their Pitt page, where they mark this one as a predicted loss for Pitt.

That is the opinion of a Louisville newspaper column about the Big East.

While I agree that the Big East currently lacks sizzle, it does have room to grow and upgrade to a top-five league. Conference USA does not.

When U of L can step in and be voted the team to beat before the Cardinals have taken a snap in the league, there is no doubt the Big East needs work. But when I look at how formidable the league is in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and other sports, I don’t see a league that will be willing to embrace football mediocrity.

There are programs in the Big East that understand what is required to hang out in the Top 25 or contend for national titles. That’s what separates the Big East from C-USA.

Pittsburgh has no interest in being anybody’s chump. Pitt is where Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett played, where Johnny Majors coached.

The Panthers schedule as if they mean business, playing Notre Dame and Nebraska. Although he failed with the Bears and Dolphins, new coach Dave Wannstedt gives Pitt more name recognition.
…
Where the Big East needs improvement is from its bottom four — Connecticut, Rutgers, South Florida and Cincinnati.

UConn means business in everything it does. The consistent success of its two basketball powers is proof of that. The Huskies are in only their sixth season of Division I-A football, and coach Randy Edsall’s program has won 21 of its last 28 games.

South Florida thinks just as big. The Bulls’ agenda never has been a secret: Use big-time football success to grow interest in the university.

Being a Louisville piece, it takes some gratuitous shots at Cinci.

This piece works in conjunction with the article I noted yesterday about all the BE schools upgrading their athletic facilities.

Here’s what the Big East has to do, it can’t just have teams rise and fall quickly. The conference needs at least 2 schools to show consistency in being in the top-25 and keep getting a little better. That’s why all the focus is on Louisville and Pitt. They are the programs closest to achieving that. Other programs in the BE might reach that point, but in the short-term it is Louisville and Pitt.

That is something that Walt Harris should always be given much credit for. The long term growth. Yes, the team would seem to stumble backwards every other year, but it was never falling as far back as it had been before (it just seemed that way). I’m thinking in 2001 when the team lost 5 straight, by the end of the season it still finished with a winning record and a bowl win. Then in 2003 when it fell flat in expectations to challenge for the BE title. Even when the team missed the expectations, they were higher expectations each time.

Now, Pitt is poised to try and take advantage and meet and exceed expectations. Expectations nationally are a close 2nd in the BE and top-25. Obviously, we want to see those exceeded — #1 in BE and top-10 to -15 would be a good start.

Pre-season mags predicting orders of conferences and top-25s are generally speaking: simply a matter of expectations, name recognition, a quick scan of returning starters and personal biases. I like them only as a matter of setting out what the more national perspective is on expectations for Pitt and other teams.

Usually, I find more reliable and trustworthy, conference previews from beat writers of the individual teams in the conference. They may still have biases towards the particular team they cover, but they also have a better idea about the other teams that they have seen, talked to and generally paid more attention to their activities during and after the season. There are the head-to-head and more common opponents to compare.

The Big East this year, is an exception to that. This time, the beat writers know no more than the pre-season mags. There are 3 new teams to cover and no solid basis to compare them to the other teams. Add in 2 new head coaches to the other 5, and really there is just no way of knowing.

With that extended caveat, the Rutgers beat writer does a BE preview (via Knight Hawk — Rutgers blog).

PITTSBURGH

Nickname: Panthers

Head coach: Dave Wannstedt

Last year’s record: 8-4 (lost to Utah, 35-7, in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl)

Names you should know: QB Tyler Palko, WR Greg Lee, TE Erik Gill, OL Charles Spencer, LB H.B. Blades, CB Bernard “Josh” Lay, CB Darrelle Revis

Football tradition: The Panthers claim nine national championships — the most recent when Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett led Pittsburgh to a 12-0 season in 1976 — as part of their rich football history. Glenn “Pop” Warner and Jock Sutherland, two of the game’s coaching giants, applied their trade at the school, and the program’s list of retired jerseys features several of college football’s all-time greats: Mark May, Dorsett, Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Bill Fralic, Joe Schmidt, Jimbo Covert and Mike Ditka. Pittsburgh ranks 12th among Division 1-A schools with 22 inductees in the college football Hall of Fame.

Why they will finish higher than Rutgers: The cupboard certainly wasn’t left bare for Wannstedt, a Pittsburgh graduate who was the Miami Dolphins’ head coach from 2000-04. After earning a share of the Big East title and representing the league in the BCS, the Panthers return 16 starters and both kickers. Palko, a junior, blossomed into a star the second half of last season.
…
FIVE GAMES YOU SHOULDN’T MISS

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh, Sept. 3

Irish usher in the Charlie Weis era just as the Panthers embark on the Dave Wannstedt era. An important opener for both.

South Florida at Miami, Oct. 1

The Bulls aren’t ready to beat Miami yet, but how much would it help the Big East’s image if USF put a scare into the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl? Miami is where South Florida wants to be some day.

Louisville at North Carolina, Oct. 8

It’s an ACC-Big East matchup and those always matter now — especially when Louisville looks to be the Big East’s best team.

Pittsburgh at Louisville, Nov. 3

The way things shape up, this should be the game that decides the Big East title and a BCS bowl berth.

Pittsburgh at West Virginia, Nov. 24

The Thanksgiving night matchup is far and away the best rivalry the Big East has to offer. The Backyard Brawl almost always seems to produce something memorable or unexpected.
…
BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER

Tyler Palko, QB, Pittsburgh

The junior blossomed into one of the country’s top QBs the second half of last season, finishing the year with 3,067 passing yards and 24 TDs.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER

H.B. Blades, LB, Pittsburgh

The latest football star from the Blades family — dad, Bennie, and uncles Brian and Al all were standouts at Miami — earned first-team all-league honors as a sophomore last year.

Like everyone else he picks Louisville and Pitt 1 and 2.

The piece also picks Rutgers to have their first winning season since 1992.

An interesting companion piece discusses how all the Big East schools have just completed, are working on, or are about to upgrade their overall athletic facilities. I take that to mean these are programs that will not be losing the Big East’s auto BCS bid without a major fight that I don’t think the rest of the conferences want to happen. Too many documents that could come out in discovery that would not be good for most conferences.

Apparently I’m not the only one concerned about not having enough material in the dead times. CollegeFootballNews.com has an interview with Tyler Palko. They did the interview back in April but have been holding it until today.

CFN: How stressful was the time period between knowing Walt Harris was gone and before the new coaching staff came in? You’re obviously not going to dog your new coaches, but what was your reaction when they decided to hire Dave Wannstedt?

TP: I understand that this is a business and the decision was made by people who are paid to make the hard decisions. I’m not getting paid to make those decisions. I’ve been around football forever, and I understand not to worry about the decisions that are out of my control. Coach Harris and I had a good relationship, and we’ll continue to have a great relationship because of all he did for me through my first three years of college. But the new staff brought in some new energy, and obviously Coach Wannstedt is a very respected coach around Pittsburgh and the NFL. You can’t turn your back on a coach and a staff with so much experience just because you liked the old coach; that’s an immature way to look at it. You have to roll with the punches. Fortunately, the whole experience has been positive so far, and we’re ready to move on to bigger things.

CFN: The current joke is that this is the first time Wannstedt has been able to coach a pro quarterback. Because of your status on the team, did he do anything special to ingratiate himself to you to ease the transition?

TP: When I was at the press conference, he put the pressure on me right away. They asked him about is quarterback situations in the past and how and why they weren’t successful. Then he starts out with how I need to have a great off-season. Actually, he has been tremendous. He sat me down right away and talked to me about being a leader and what’s expected of me this year, and he talked to me about always working and always getting better. I’ve always been evaluating and working on what I need to do to get better, so he really didn’t tell me anything earth shattering. It’s all about working hard and being a leader, and I already feel like I try to do both.

It may be just me, but it seems like every other week I find yet another interview or update piece on Yogi Roth. This one fleshes out Roth getting his present job on Pete Carroll staff at USC.

Roth received his present job offer when discussing job possibilities with ESPN.

“Coach Carroll offered me this position when I was sitting in a meeting with ESPN,” said Roth, who is single and lives in Hermosa Beach, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. “They told me at ESPN that television isn’t going anywhere and they said I can always come back to television.

“But what’s going on at USC is very special.”

Roth’s relationship with Carroll developed during his early days at Pitt. Carroll’s son, Brennan, was a tight end at Pitt.

“He was two years older than I was and he took me under his wing,” Roth said. ” I would go out to the West Coast during summers and work coach Carroll’s camps.”

You know, I forgot that Pete Carroll’s son was a Pitt grad. Hmmm. Carroll and Wanny are reasonably close. You don’t suppose all of these connections would help work out a home-and-home with USC in the near future do you?

Canada’s under-21 team completed the sweep in the tourney warm-up. It wasn’t even close, as Canada put the Australians away early.

Canada defeated Australia 100-80 last night in the final of the inaugural Jack Donohue International Classic, a round-robin tournament held at the Hershey Centre this week. The Canadians were 4-0 in the tournament and led at the end of each quarter of the final last night. They were sparked by some torrid three-point shooting. Andy Rautins, a Canadian citizen who played high-school basketball in Syracuse, N.Y., where he’ll attend university in the fall, connected on six three-pointers, including five in the first half, and led all scorers with 20 points. Canada shot 13-for-25 as a team from behind the arc. Levon Kendall of Vancouver chipped in 14 points and a game best total of eight rebounds in 19 minutes.

It was, apparently, Levon Kendall’s 3rd straight good game. In the game against China the day before, he sparked the rout in the 3rd quarter with 9 points and 2 rebounds.

Canada will face 2 of the 3 teams — Australia and Greece — again next week in the real tournament. They are all in the same grouping that will play round robin, along with Argentina, Israel and Iran. The US squad is in the other grouping.

Kendall also gets a piece discussing him as the anchor and key for this squad in the upcoming games, and speculating as to whether he can make the NBA.

The question is how far Kendall’s basketball journey will take him. Based on his production at the University of Pittsburgh, where he averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds a game in a part-time role last season, a spot in the Panthers’ starting lineup would be a worthy goal.

Based on his performance for Canada this summer, that journey could lead to the National Basketball Association.

“Can Levon Kendall play in the NBA? I think he’s legit,” said Leo Rautins, the head coach of Canada’s senior men’s team. “I’ve told him, ‘Hey, you can be an NBA player,’ but he’s got a little bit of that West Coast casual in him. He’s got to break through the casual. When he’s intense, when he goes at people, he hurts people.”

But perhaps the most important step Kendall made in realizing his potential came while lifting weights in Vancouver in May. A documentary featuring Steve Nash, Todd MacCulloch and Jamaal Magloire was on television, and Kendall noticed a common thread among the three Canadians who made it to the NBA.

“I noticed that every one of them said at one point they made a decision that they wanted to play in the NBA,” Kendall said. “Up until then, I’d never really fully committed. Obviously, it was a goal, but when people would ask me about it, I would say: ‘We’ll see what happens after school. If not I’ll go overseas.’ “

And now? “I realized I have to make a choice and commit. Now, whenever anyone asks me, I say my goal is to play in the NBA. That kind of puts it out there.”

If he’s serious, it will have to start at Pitt this season. It will be his senior season. He should have a shot to start at small forward and it will be up to him to make the most of it. He’s going to have to show the intensity he showed in early in Big East play and much more consistency in his shot then the brief flashes he had in that stretch.

It’s starting. I don’t know if you caught the Charlie Weis-ND-ESPN media blitz yesterday. I caught part of his appearance on PTI. There is a transcript of some of his appearance on ESPN Radio.

Q: How much of an emphasis are you putting in the Pitt game?

A: “Two things. First of all, not to get into coaching analogies, but I think that because we are a game-plan team, you have to look at your season as 11 one-week entities. And because Pitt is the first one, it obviously is the most critical game on our schedule because it’s the next one. But, with that having been said, the one thing you have to d0 — winning that game would obviously do great to build the confidence of your team. At the same time, you have to make sure that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket so that if something negative came away, you can’t say, ‘OK, it’s time to throw in the towel.’ Obviously I have a lot of respect for (Pitt coach Dave) Wannstedt and his whole coaching staff, but I think the most critical thing for Notre Dame is to start playing football, playing smart intelligent football and playing it for 60 minutes.”

Obviously, no one is expecting him to start running smack. He’s going to avoid any bulletin board stuff. Weis may not be trying to put too much emphasis on that first game. Coach Wannstedt has mostly been the same way.

The thing is, I think the fans for both are. Starts of new eras. High expectations. Everyone has drunk the kool-aid (yes, I know I’ve been abusing that line for a while now with respect to both new coaches, but I haven’t found a suitable replacement that captures the feeling as effectively). That first game is the test to see if such faith and trust is warranted. Fair or not, that is the early sense I am getting.

The looking to the games has begun. College Football News.com has its early picks for key games up.

Saturday, September 3rd – Notre Dame at Pitt
It’s the battle of the new head coaches. While all eyes will be on Charlie Weis and Notre Dame, Dave Wannstedt will have almost as much pressure trying to keep Pitt at a high level. The Panthers won a classic between the two last year beating the Irish 41-38, but everyone seems to remember quarterback Tyler Palko’s f-bomb in the post-game interview more than the stirring finish. Palko will leave all of the talking on the field as he’ll riddle the Irish secondary for 300+ yards. However, Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn will also throw for a ton of yards.
Predicted score in late July: Pitt 31 … Notre Dame 24
Oasis Line: Pitt -3

Last year, Pitt was very, very good at not turning over the ball. That will have to continue.

Meanwhile at SI.com, there is interest in intersectional games:

It isn’t that I loathe great rivalries. It’s simply that those teams play one another every season. No, what I live for is seeing the teams who rarely meet, or have never met, play one another. I love to see unusual pairings.
…
Contests between schools who do not compete in the same conference are known as “intersectional games,” except in the Southeastern Conference, where they are known as “wins.” See, SEC teams rarely schedule worthy non-conference foes and even less often do they leave home to play them. Les Miles isn’t just an SEC coach; it’s an SEC credo. This year the 12 SEC schools will play a total of six intersectional games on the road. …

… The point is, intersectional matchups rock. Athletic directors owe it to fans to schedule at least one non-conference opponent who is better than a 10-point underdog each season. A cursory glance at the list above illustrates Miami and Michigan deserve extra-special props for giving the people what they want. Notre Dame, being an independent, plays nothing but non-conference games, so I did not include them, but the Irish always play at least three top-10 teams each season — or so it seems. This year they’re Michigan, Southern Cal and Tennessee.

Here’s my list of this year’s top 10 intersectional games (not including the previously mentioned Notre Dame games), in chronological order:
…
September 17: Pittsburgh at Nebraska. Let the commentators talk about ex-NFL coaches Dave Wannstedt and Bill Callahan. I’m more interested in seeing how Panther QB Tyler Palko operates amidst the Red Sea.

This is what scheduling good (or name) teams in the non-con does. It generates early attention for the program. Think Wanny and the coaches aren’t out on the road selling that, along with an easier route to the BCS bowls?

An article today on Freshman Point Guard Levance Fields getting playing time in the upcoming season.

There could be some reading into the article that controversy could erupt with Fields’ statement that “I am not going to redshirt. I didn’t come here to do that.” I don’t see it that way. That sounds like a reporter asked him about that possibility and an honest answer. Considering the story takes the view that there will be an issue of playing time with a crowded backcourt.

Fields must earn the playing time he receives because the Pitt backcourt is crowded. Krauser averaged almost 36 minutes per game last season and figures to play just as much as a senior.

Three other veterans return and will compete for time at shooting guard. Junior Antonio Graves started 25 games last season and played 27 minutes per game. Sophomore Ronald Ramon started four games and played 26 minutes a game. And sophomore Keith Benjamin played 10 minutes a game.

There does not seem to be a lot of room for maneuvering, but Fields is confident that he can crack third-year coach Jamie Dixon’s lineup.

Fields is Pitt’s point guard of the future. He will crack that line-up. It is more likely that Graves will suffer the most in minutes. Carl Krauser, in his first year as Knight’s back-up, averaged 18.6 minutes per game. Krauser of course had a redshirt year — for academics — so he got to practice with the team and really learn the system. Still there was an effort to make sure Krauser got real playing time in Knight’s final season.

That is what Coach Dixon has to do with Fields. It also an issue of using the best talent. Fields is considered one of the best players. The program has to show that it will use the talent if it wants to keep recruiting it.

This is just part of why I have been saying that this will be Coach Dixon’s big season as far as showing what kind of coach he is. He has all the big decisions and he has to show he can handle it.

They keep winning in this warm-up to the real U-21 championships. If anyone knows where box scores for these things are, please let me know. I would really like to know what kind of game Levon Kendall is actually showing.

This time they beat China with ease.

Pierre Cespedes of Montreal led Canada with 13 points, Levon Kendall of Vancouver added 12 and Majak Kou of Hamilton chipped in 10 points plus six rebounds in the one-sided contest. “A 30-point win is a good win,” said Canadian head coach Dave Crook. “We saw a lot of positive plays from the guys on both ends of the floor. Now we just have to work on being more consistent from the opening tip to the final buzzer.”

They will face Australia once more for the “gold medal” of the tournament.

From Blue-Gray Sky, it is all about the rivalries. This is football, so the choices are limited. The questions are a little more involved than they appear, hence the further details

1. Who are your rival(s)?
West Virginia. It is the Backyard Brawl. They hate Pitt and we look down upon them like the backwater bumpkins they are. During the games, a favorite chant is, “Hoopies rape Sheep!” 75 miles separate the 2 schools, but the cultural divide is far greater.

When old Pitt Stadium was around and I was an undergrad in the late 80s, there was a chain link fence dividing the bleachers in one endzone. This served to separate antagonizing fans who would shout obscenities back and forth throughout the games. After a while, the empties — cans, bottles, whatever projectile could be found would start getting hurled back-and-forth. Inevitably some idiot would get enraged and drunk enough to decide he would scale the fence and take on his antagonist. Almost with out fail it was one of the inebriated, inbred hillbillies. As he would scale, he would get tangled in the fence and forcibly dragged down and pummeled by the waiting Pitt fans who were equally inebriated but not as stupid. Hey, the Pitt fans still had teeth that weren’t worth losing.

2. Size up your chances in your rival games this year.
Slightly Above Average. It is frustrating to actually respect the rival’s coach, but I respect Rich Rodriguez. He is doing a very good job with the Mountaineers’ program. He gets the entire team up for the Backyard Brawl, because as an alum, it really matters to him. In recent years the series has see-sawed (4-4). Neither team winning more than 2 games in a row. This year’s game is in Morgantown on a Thursday night. Given the way family grates for most on Thanksgiving, this could be very dangerous for the fans. I expect the Morgantown police will be out gathering couches from the porches for 2 weeks prior this time.

3. If you could start up a new rivalry with another team, who would it be?
Multiple answers here.

We should be playing Penn State annually. The fact that the old man cancelled the rivalry and refuses to renew it out of spite and vindictiveness has been hashed, re-hashed many times here.
Many Penn State fans reflexively defend their coach and his pettiness by saying Pitt was the one who refused to join Paterno’s Eastern Conference dream in the 80s — even if history reflects there wasn’t much support for that dream much beyond Rutgers and Temple. In their view if Pitt had signed on, everyone else would have fallen into line. Right.

I grew up on that rivalry. Both my parents are PSU alum. I chose Pitt. Sparks flew every fall. It mattered in the state. Now it fades. Penn State fans now try to claim that they don’t need it or any rivalry game (which is a good thing since they don’t have one).

I think where the best potential for a new rivalry will be with UConn. UConn and Pitt have been going at it fiercely in basketball for the last 4 years. There is real potential for it to carry over to football if their program continues to develop.

Louisville is another possibility, but they the teams have only met 8 times. The last time being 1994.

4. Overall, what do you think the best rivalry in college football is?
I want to say the Wagon Wheel between the Zips and Golden Flashes (Akron and Kent), but I haven’t started drinking yet.

I hate to have to admit this, but it is the Ohio State-Michigan game. The vitriol and hatred is so strong. It is impressive, despite my urges not to.

5. Lastly, game trophies. What are the best and worst rivalry trophies out there?
Best: I’m partial to most anything involving symbols of alcohol. Unfortunately, Kentucky “retired” most of its trophy games titled for alcohol — Beer Barrel (Tennessee), Bourbon Barrel (Indiana).

I’m going to have to go with Paul Bunyan’s Axe — Minnesota-Wisconsin. Sure it’s a little cheesy and ridiculous. But you have to go with trophy where there is a potential to cause a decapitation and mayhem. Seriously, have you ever watched those players start swinging that thing around after the game? It’s a wonder there hasn’t been a Chris Hanson incident.

Worst: This is easy. Pick the Land Grant Trophy — Michigan State-Penn State. This one was created for them when Penn St. joined the Big 11. They made MSU their rival, because there was no other team to use. This is one of my favorite quotes to describe the players passion:

“The only thing we know about the trophy is that it leaves a big empty space in our trophy case when we don’t win,” Penn State senior offensive lineman Matt Schmitt said.

Hate when that happens.

Lamest Attempt: A few years back, the Hoopies alumni association offered up some ancient moonshine jug as a trophy for the Backyard Brawl. There was no interest.

As I warned, I have more to discuss on the newly released non-con for basketball. I’m going to compare it to last year’s non-con. This was last year’s non-con with the RPI of the teams from 2003-04 and how they ended in 2004-05

2003-04 RPI ————- Team ————–2004-05 RPI
322 ——————— Loyola-MD ————- 315
321 ———————– Howard ————— 322
249 ——————- St. Francis – PA ———– 203
234 ——————— Coppin St. ————— 151
217 ——————- Robert Morris ————- 224
216 ——————– Bucknell —————— 64
189 ——————— Penn St. —————- 227
162 ——————— Duquesne ————— 259
47 ———————– Richmond ————— 150
45 ——————— South Carolina ————– 90
32 ———————– Memphis —————– 109
————————————————————-
184.91 ——————– Avg. RPI —————– 192.18

Not only was it a bad schedule to before the season started, buy it looked even worse at the end. Readers who have endured by rants over the past season know how much I hated that schedule.

Here’s the 2005-06 Non-con with the RPI from the end of this past season:

Team —————– RPI

St. Peter ————— 164
Robert Morris ——— 224
Maine —————– 174
St. Francis (NY) ——- 261
Auburn —————- 137
Duquesne ————– 259
Penn St. ————— 227
Vermont ————— 26
Coppin St. ————- 151
South Carolina ——— 90
Wisconsin ————- 14
—————————–
Average RPI ———– 157

Obviously, the simple raw numbers suggest a better non-con. Other important features. No games against a team in the 300s. Image-wise alone, this is important. Last year, Pitt scheduled 6 of its 11 non-cons against teams with an RPI above 200. This year, only 4 and 3 of them — Duquesne, Robert Morris and Penn St. — are natural games for Pitt to play.

The variance between the best and worst has shrunk as well. Last year 32 to 322, a range of 290. This year, 14 to 261. A range of 247. No this is not Indiana’s non-con of last year.

It’s an improvement. Maybe not a vast improvement to where I would like, but it is progress. From a perception standpoint alone, it is much better. Pitt is getting more games against teams that may not be upper-tier but are teams that can play and occasionally surprise — Maine, Vermont, heck even Coppin St. was a lot better than expected last year.

On the issue of lack of away games, that is still a work. Pitt only plays away from the Pete twice, and one of those is just down the road at Duquesne. To some degree, the athletic department has been upfront about needing to play a lot of home games to help pay for the Pete. Consider, though, that the school will have at least 3 away games next year — Auburn, Wisconsin and Penn State. For most upper-tier schools, there are usually only 3-4 away games.

At least there are signs of finally understanding this.

Time for the Levon Kendall in Canada post.

Canada broke away from Greece in the 4th quarter to win 73-61. Kendall led Canada with 14 points. Once more, no box score to be found so no real context to put it in or to know how he did on the other numbers.

This is just a tune-up for the FIBA U-21 championships in Argentina that starts next weekend.

That seems to be the response to the new Pitt basketball non-con as reported in the papers.

With Pitt’s non-conference basketball schedule receiving as much scrutiny as any team in the country the past several years, there was a movement within the athletic department to upgrade the level of opponents so the NCAA selection committee would have less ammunition to downgrade the Panthers when it came time to seed NCAA tournament teams.

Pitt’s non-conference schedule, released yesterday, addressed some strength-of-schedule issues, but another aspect of the schedule that has drawn criticism remained the same.

That other issue is the fact that Pitt has only one game that takes them out of Pennsylvania, nay, out of Pittsburgh.

Apparently AD Jeff Long actually got involved in the scheduling to try and raise the level of opponents. (An implication that Coach Jamie Dixon wasn’t going to change the approach to non-con scheduling?)

The other story focuses heaviest on the New Years Eve game against Wisconsin.

Technically Pitt’s schedule has 2 Big 11 teams, 2 SEC teams an A-10 team and a good mid-major opponent. If you didn’t know the foes, it would seem like a pretty rugged non-con.

A brief update on the pursuit of Darrin Walls, the Woodland Hills Senior from Pittsburgh. Pitt is not leading for his services, but he isn’t writing them off. Pitt remains in the list of 5. He has scheduled an official visit to Florida, which would appear to lead. Then it is ND and Michigan. USC is 4th, recruiting hard, including the daily handwritten letter thing. Pitt is at the end, but not out of it.

“I really like Pittsburgh a lot and I’ve been looking at them more and more lately especially with their recent commits.”

As long as Pitt hangs around there’s still hope.

Hat tip to “anonymous.”

We love you Wanny, but I’m really not sure about this picture.

I don’t have the time to look at the 2005 Pitt Football Media Guide at the moment.

Quick observation. Since there is now a page limit on media guides and each athletic department will need to find other ways to use the guide as a promotion. Here’s the 2004 for comparison. Looks like they added a couple more color pages for 2005.