Pitt already has its Game Notes for Louisville (PDF). The depth chart is of questionable value, when it’s a week in advance.

Something else to read. This story on the struggles of Cinci to get people to care about their football team. And if you think Pitt’s basketball season ticket policy pissed people off, imagine this one.

Roger Hamilton of Greenhills has had University of Cincinnati football season tickets since the early ’90s. He hasn’t been to a game at Nippert Stadium since 1985.

Hamilton buys his tickets through UC’s UCATS program so he can buy basketball season tickets. Hamilton gives his four football tickets to people in his office or his neighbors. Hamilton is a UC basketball fan, not a football fan, so he doesn’t go to the football games.

He’s not alone – there are a lot of people in Cincinnati not coming to Bearcat football games.

With its entrance into the Big East, UC claims to be in the “Big Time” now, and technically it is as a member of a Bowl Championship Series conference. You couldn’t tell it by looking around last Saturday at Nippert Stadium.

With a classic rival in town on a beautiful day, just 21,086 people showed up to watch the Bearcats play Louisville.

Among BCS conference schools, UC is next-to-last in average attendance, averaging just 21,555 fans per home game. That’s 87th in Division I-A. Only Duke, of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has a lower average attendance among BCS schools with 17,914 per game at Wallace Wade Stadium.

I remember reading a story a number of years ago about the day before and of Cinci’s first appearance on ESPN for a Thursday night game. The AD was literally out on the campus giving tickets away just to make the school look good and like people actually cared about the team.

Actually, for schools in Ohio not named Ohio State, attendance is a problem.

Ohio State is averaging 105,028 fans per game at Ohio Stadium. Of the other seven Division I-A schools in the state, none has had more than 105,028 fans combined at their home games this season. The combined average of the other seven schools in the state is just 116,581.

It’s not just a UC problem. Miami University is 100th in Division I-A in attendance, averaging 16,810 fans per game, which is an increase over last season.

This isn’t a surprise, but of the top-25 schools in attendance, none are located in a city with a NFL franchise.

Mike Tranghese’s opening statements at Big East Media Day surprised many by the defiance and defensiveness of them.

“Everybody keeps telling me we’re too big,” Tranghese said before a hushed group of coaches, players, administrators and reporters. “Let’s understand this. Everybody in America is too big, because basketball was intended to be played in double round-robin format. The ACC doesn’t do it. The SEC doesn’t do it. The Big 12 doesn’t do it. The Big Ten doesn’t do it, and we haven’t done it since the early ’90s. So we’re all too big. We just happen to be a little bigger than others.

“We’re not going to fail,” Tranghese said. “But we’re not going to simply succeed because we’re 16. Sixteen presents a number of problems, and we’re going to be aggressive in dealing with them. But this whole notion that we’re too big is nonsense, because three years ago we were 14 and I didn’t hear anyone saying we were too big.”
…
Then the commissioner took on the most passionate issue of the day: The potentially divisive effect of the schools’ conflicting football priorities. Some play Division I-A football, some Division I-AA and some no football at all.

“I keep hearing the question, ‘Are we going to survive?’ ” Tranghese said. “Let me tell you the people who don’t think we’re going to survive. One, those that don’t understand what this is all about. … And secondly, people who don’t want it to survive. And there are a lot of them out there.

“The only way this thing won’t survive,” Tranghese said, “is if these coaches can’t coach and recruit, and if I screw up. They ain’t going to screw up, because this league has always been successful because of our basketball coaches.”

I guess he’s sick of answering the questions. The problem for Tranghese is that they aren’t going to go away. The conference exists because of basketball, but every move to add programs was driven by a defensive reaction regarding football.

Another article asks a bunch of questions, including who the sleeper team in the Big East is.

There is one every year. Look at West Virginia last season. Providence two years ago. Syracuse, which won the national championship, three seasons ago after beginning the year unranked.

So who will it be this year?

Let’s look at the middle of the Big East pack. Pittsburgh. Notre Dame. Cincinnati. Georgetown. St. John’s.

It’ll probably come from one of those five teams.

“Of course St. John’s, of course,” Red Storm junior forward Lamont Hamilton said. “We’re hoping to leave the past.”

Two years ago, the Johnnies practically blew up their program, went 1-15 in the Big East and was mired in scandal.

Pitt is another team that could surprise. The Panthers lose inside presences Chevon Troutman and Chris Taft, but return all-conference guard Carl Krauser.

“Pittsburgh,” junior center Aaron Gray chimed in when another player was asked about potential surprising teams.

We can hope.

One article makes an interesting point. There is no longer a true “Big East style of play.”

But it doesn’t have a style. And if one were to uncover some obscure common thread among the likes of Syracuse and Connecticut, Louisville and Cincinnati, Georgetown and St. John’s, West Virginia and Pitt, it certainly wouldn’t be what is commonly perceived as the traditional Big East style of play.

“No. Not at all,” said Rick Pitino, a Big East coach nearly 20 years ago at Providence who is now back in the league with Louisville. “I don’t think when you have 16 teams there is a style. West Virginia has their style, Pitt has theirs, St. John’s has theirs. Cincinnati has their style, Connecticut. The league is not like it was where it was a very physical league and Georgetown came in and threw people around. It’s not that way anymore.”

Indeed, if this were still a league dominated by physical inside presence and almost a football-like mentality, Villanova would not have edged out Connecticut and been chosen as the preseason favorite at Wednesday’s Big East media day at Madison Square Garden. That’s a team that, thanks to last week’s knee injury suffered by Curtis Sumpter, could start four guards.

In fact, take a look at the top five teams in the preseason poll. From among Villanova, Connecticut, Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia, only Connecticut returns anything resembling a true post player from last season in 6-foot-10, 237-pound junior Josh Boone. And even he plays much of his time on the wing.

No, the Big East style is now a menagerie of offenses and defenses and tempos.
…
“From a coaching and scouting standpoint, how many different styles can you prepare for?” [Notre Dame Coach Mike] Brey said. “For example, we play West Virginia on the road on a Wednesday and Louisville on the road on [the following] Saturday. Now those are two different preparations in four days.

“But as a fan, you’ve got to check it out. It’s going to be [a matter of] what style wins out.”

The influx of Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette, DePaul and South Florida will only accentuate the differences among the league’s teams.

Very true, yet look at the conference the last few years. Leaving aside the NCAA Tournament, the teams that have been dominate have been in the traditional inside physical BE teams — Pitt, UConn, Syracuse and BC.

Louisville columnist agrees with my take that the new members are facing a bit of bias.

Never mind football. Basketball is where the Big East will make fireworks crackle and the ground shake. In basketball, love for U of L and its four fellow newcomers from Conference USA is tougher to find than a midtown Manhattan parking place.

“It’s fair,” Villanova guard Allan Ray said. “They’re the new kids on the block. When you’re new, you need to come in and earn your respect. That’s just life.”

“It’s like being a freshman player coming into this league,” said Syracuse senior Gerry McNamara. “You have to prove what you can do. It’s not given to you.”

Actually, what was given to U of L, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette and South Florida was a hard time, powerful incentive to legitimately play the “no respect” hymn from now until the league reassembles in Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament on March 8.

Preseason predictions are risky business. But if you can learn one thing from the predictions filed at Big East basketball media day yesterday, it is this:

The five newcomers from C-USA will have to take a number before they are given much love from the 11 Big East holdovers.

At the end, though, he hedges that maybe the BE coaches know more about the league than he and the new teams.

I guess the way I look at it, is that in predicting the team ranks there are 3 groupings of teams. Top (1-4), Middle (5-12), and Low(13-16). In roughly each grouping, what you see are the old C-USA teams in the bottom portion of each group.

Some credit to the Defense for the way it’s been playing.

Despite concerns about the unit coming into the season, the Panthers’ defense ranks 20th nationally. Pitt is giving up only 307.5 yard-per-game. Coach Dave Wannstedt said Wednesday after practice that the defense has been key to Pitt turning around its season and evening its record at 4-4.

“Our defense has played very consistent from the standpoint that we’re improving against the run, for sure, and we’re improving on the big plays,” Wannstedt said. “When you don’t give up the big plays and make teams drive the length of the field — well, they’re going to have a tough time doing it.”

That’s great. Of course consider that the last 3 games have come against the 76th, 77th and 113th ranked offenses (Cinci, USF and Syracuse) and that Ohio and Nebraska are 101st and 91st. Rutgers is 44th and they piled up the yardage. Just keep things reasonable about what the D is doing against what kind of competition.

Also note, that Wannstedt still feels that Pitt isn’t running the ball well enough. He’s happy to keep the passing to under 30 attempts, though.

As Joe Starkey notes in his ESPN.com Big East notebook (Insider subs.) the next game will be the test to see whether the defense really has improved from the shellacking it took in week 1 against ND.

A big key against Louisville will be the defensive line, which must help control Cardinals running back Michael Bush and generate pressure on quarterback Brian Brohm.

Brohm, the highest-rated passer in the country, hasn’t seen a set of cornerbacks as good as Darrelle Revis and Josh Lay. But without pressure on the quarterback, Revis and Lay will be in trouble.

Senior Linebacker J.J. Horne gets a little love.

The coaching staff named Horne its defensive player of the game after he had six hits and a pass breakup against Cincinnati. A week later against South Florida, Horne again had six stops and also forced a fumble.

Horne is in his first season as the full-time starter at weak-side linebacker. His presence took on increased importance when Brian Bennett went down with a season-ending knee injury a month ago.

Since Horne’s backup, Adam Gunn, is just a redshirt freshman, Horne rarely gets a breather on game days.

“Here’s a kid who, even though he’s a fifth-year senior, he’s probably never achieved the credit that maybe was deserved,” defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said. “He’s been a split-role player. Now, he’s having to play the position all on his own.

“We’re asking him to do a number of things in the nickel and dime packages. And he’s doing all that with a physical ailment that he’s playing through, and we’re always proud of our kids when that kind of physical toughness shows.”

Horne has also been playing with a hurt shoulder.

Practice resumed yesterday, as the team starts preparing for Louisville.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt took it a step further and said his biggest challenge in the next week may not be getting the Panthers prepared to play the game. Instead, it will be to get them to concentrate on football and not the many distractions that come with a big game.

“We have to be careful we don’t look at all that extra stuff and let it cloud what we’re trying to do,” Wannstedt said. “There will be enough said about Louisville — they have one of the best offenses in the country — they have a lot of talent, they were ranked and we are playing on the road — but we can’t get caught up in all of that and [have to] approach it like we’ve approached the games the last few weeks. We’ve had success by taking it one at a time and making sure we take care of our business.”

Derek Kinder has become Pitt’s reliable #2 receiver and gets some love from Coach Wannstedt.

Kinder has 28 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns.

“Derek has been a real positive,” Wannstedt said. “He has gotten better every week. He is kind of a self-made type of receiver. Nobody works as hard, he never makes a mental mistake and he is always in the right place. Every long run we have or pass, Derek Kinder is usually in the middle of it blocking somewhere.

“Plus, he is on the punt team and he’s making tackles on the kickoff coverage team. He is one of the unsung stories that people haven’t talked about enough.”

Of course, during the first part of the week, the coaches were out recruiting. Apparently some are still out there.

Assistant coaches Aubrey Hill, Curtis Bray and Charlie Partridge were not at practice because they were still traveling as part of their recruiting duties, and offensive line coach Paul Dunn arrived just as practice ended.

Hill and Partridge were probably down in Florida. Dunn works the Eastern part of Pennsylvania. Bray could have been in Maryland/Virginia or Michigan. TE Coach and recruiting coordinator Greg Gattuso may be working to reel in another important recruit.

In search of several blue-chip offensive lineman, coach Dave Wannstedt and the Panthers were the latest to offer highly touted tackle Lee Tilley. The distance from home has peaked Tilley’s interest as well as playing time.

However, Tilley has already visited South Carolina, Arizona State, LSU, and Oklahoma. With one official visit remaining, the Panthers look to be a possibility should Tilley take his final visit.

Tilley is a 4-star recruit out of Columbus, Ohio with offers from all of those schools along with Florida and Virginia Tech. Scout.com has him ranked as the 16th highest OL. Rivals.com has him ranked #20, and is the 13th best prospect from Ohio. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. lists him at #23 for OL (Insider subs.).

Most media days are rather substance free, as there are lots of media trying to hit as many coaches and players as possible and vice versa. The Big East Media Day, even more so. 16 teams each with their head coach and 2 players plus the Big East Commissioner and various Conference underlings. That’s easily more than 50 people to try and get to. Add in the pre-arranged media appearances for coaches and players to work around, and it is not only a logistics nightmare, but completely exhausting for everyone.

This leads to crankiness, including from the media.

Here’s the thing about the Big East: It’s too damn big. The marquee outside Madison Square Garden said, “Big East, 2005-06, A Sweet 16.” That’s right, 16 teams. Louisville, Marquette, DePaul, now in the Big East.

The commissioner spent his opening remarks in an oddly defensive (for a season-opening speech, at least) stance. It will work, he insists. It’s not too many teams. He admitted the schedule was “dysfunctional.” Actually, he admitted it was even more dysfunctional than it had already been. He admitted that some people were unhappy that only 12 of the 16 teams would make it to the conference tournament at the end of the season. He talked about the league’s great coaches then later one of the legends, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, downplayed the conference expansion and noted that the reason was, of course, football. No move in the Big East, he said, was ever done because of basketball.

No, it’s all about money.

Not exactly a revelation. Nothing that hasn’t been written here before. She definitely paints broadly and without context. The schedule is the way it is because the TV contract demands so. That will change when the contract ends. The reason for the dissatisfaction with the 12 teams only is it creates more pressure on the coaches to make the BET for job security (i.e., self interest). She also has it wrong about doing it for the money. It was for survival.

The big star at the media day was not Calhoun or Boeheim, but Pitino. Not a shock. He’s new/old to the league. A outsized personality and good with the one-liners, and his team is coming off a Final Four appearance. Plus, he gets a reaction (as Chris demonstrated).

As for the preseason poll by the coaches, I don’t think anyone is really sweating it.

“We were picked fourth and won it two years ago. Boston College wasn’t picked to win it last year,” Dixon said. “The health of guys, when you play teams, when teams get hot at certain times … there’s too many things that come into play and things can change.

“We’re going to have some guys surprise some people and be good players for us.”

Dixon is expected to regularly mix-in his four incoming players — guard Levance Fields, swingman Sam Young and post players Tyrell Biggs and Doyle Hudson — with his veterans.
…
“It’s so hard to tell,” junior forward Levon Kendall said. “You try not to worry too much about the preseason polls. Nobody has played yet. It’s really wide-open.”

Junior center Aaron Gray isn’t guaranteeing anything more than the best effort the Panthers can offer, especially knowing that the league has been fortified with several more heavyweight programs.

“We knew it wasn’t going to get any easier with teams like Louisville and Cincinnati coming in our league,” he said. “It’s something we’ve been preparing for all year.”

I’d say one of the more difficult things was picking the All-Big East Team with 16 teams. That’s probably why they ducked naming a 1st and 2nd team and made it a 10-man squad.

Naturally, if Pitt is in NYC, then there needs to be some recruiting work going on.

In addition to appearing on two ESPN2 television shows yesterday, Dixon did some recruiting on the trip to New York. He was at a local high school at 6:30 a.m. yesterday to see a player. After taping of the ESPN2 show “Quite Frankly” yesterday afternoon he was going to go watch another recruit play and then hop on the last flight back to Pittsburgh.

And Aaron Gray keeps talking with Chris Taft.

“He was telling me I have to hold down that center position,” Gray said yesterday. “He told me not to worry about people on the outside, listen to the people who matter. He was just saying, ‘stay positive.’ “

Taft, Pitt’s center the past two years, left school early to play in the NBA. He is in training camp with the Golden State Warriors.

Gray and Taft came to Pitt at the same time and remain close friends. Gray said he speaks with Taft every few days and hopes to follow in his footsteps to the NBA.

Gray will be coach Jamie Dixon‘s starting center this season. He has dropped 15 pounds and is looking forward to the opportunity of finally escaping from Taft’s shadow.

“One of my big concentrations during the offseason was conditioning,” Gray said. “For our team to be successful, I’m going to have to play at a high level. And I’m going to have to be out there on the floor a lot. I’m going to have to stay out of foul trouble.”

Lots and lots of questions for 2005-06.

Here’s the Pitt press release on BE Media day. It includes the total votes for each team in the coaches poll. It was just bunched up something tight in the middle.

6. Georgetown – 152

7. PITT ——– 130

8. Notre Dame – 128

9. Cincinnati —- 127

10. St. John’s —- 79

Honestly, that seems just about right to me. Pitt could be anywhere from 4 to 12 this season. I think the conference and the team is that unknown.

Carl Krauser was named to the All-Big East Preseason Team.

Freshman Sam Young along with Marquette’s Dominic Jones got 3 votes each for Pre-Season BE Rookie of the year, behind Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf who got 6.

Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News notes this.

Freshman PG Levance Fields is quick, strong and an accurate shooter, and Pittsburgh likely will pair him frequently with senior PG Carl Krauser. There is no set plan for which player will control the ball, but having Fields in the game could free Krauser to focus on scoring.

That could also be a good way for Fields to get some experience running things like Krauser did with Knight.

Andy Katz on ESPN.com blogs about Pitt and Levon Kendall (Insider Subs.).

Levon Kendall isn’t going to put up 40 points in a game again any time soon, but Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said his Canadian forward is brimming with confidence in practice.

And why not? Kendall lit up the U.S. for 40 in a quarterfinal win in Argentina at the FIBA U-21 World Championships.

Kendall will start for the Panthers and the expectation is that he’ll produce. Maybe he won’t go for 40, but he certainly will score more than the 3.5 he averaged a year ago. Kendall and freshman forward Sam Young will make up for the departure of Chevon Troutman (15 ppg).

The Panthers should be an NCAA Tournament team, although the Sporting News picked them surprisingly 10th in the Big East, behind Providence (?). Along with Kendall, Pittsburgh returns one of the toughest guards in the country in Carl Krauser. He’s been banged up and not practicing as much lately but he’ll be game ready, according to Dixon.

Sophomore guard Ronald Ramon is a solid compliment and then, along with Kendall, senior forward John DeGroat, who according to Dixon has made marked improvement, anchors the inside with 7-footer Aaron Gray and junior wing Antonio Graves.

Young, freshman point guard Levance Fields and freshman forward Tyrell Biggs all will be major contributors, according to Dixon. All three freshman apparently have exceeded early expectations in practice, giving the Panthers a chance to ultimately finish higher in the Big East.

The Panthers have their customary softish non-conference slate, with nine home games and two road games — and one of those is “at” city rival Duquesne (does that count?). Going to South Carolina and hosting Wisconsin are legit, but Penn State and Auburn come to town in rebuilding mode (did Dixon and Texas A&M’s Billy Gillispie talk about ensuring you get bottom-dwellers in the Big Ten and SEC to come in?). The Panthers could be 9-2 heading into the Big East.

Pitt actually upgraded their non-con compared to recent years.

Final note, the City Game with Duquesne on December 7, will be at 8 pm so FSN-Pittsburgh can show it.

Just got an e-mail from the invaluable Pittsburgh Sports Report:

The University of Pittsburgh received a verbal commitment last night from Lowell Robinson, a 6’0″ 190 pound defensive back currently playing at Erie Community College in Erie County, NY. Robinson is the Panthers’ first commitment since the 2005 season started and their 18th in the 2006 class.

Robinson, originally from Mt. Vernon, NY, plays free safety in Erie’s 4-4 defensive scheme. He is also an electrifying return-man and has played outside linebacker for head coach Dennis Greene.

“He can play all over the field – he returns kicks and I’ve had him at outside linebacker at times,” Greene told Keystone Recruiting. “You can put him at wide receiver and send him out on a post route to clear things out underneath. We have him at free safety because we play a 4-4 and he really flies to the football. But he can play corner as well. He runs a legit 4.4.”

Pitt running backs coach David Walker, who is friendly with Greene and the ECC staff, recruited Robinson for Pitt. His recruitment has been picking up more and more lately, and several Big East schools have been in touch, but Pitt was the first major program to show interest. South Carolina has also shown a lot of interest lately, according to Greene. He’ll graduate from Erie Community College in May and should join the Panthers next summer.

I believe this is Pitt’s first JUCO commitment. Looks like the bye and time to go recruiting came at the right time. There isn’t a lot on Robinson. He appeared to also have interest from NC St. and Boise St.

Apparently the jury didn’t take too long.

Moments after being found guilty of murder, a former All-Ohio quarterback who starred at Buchtel High School passed on his last chance to speak before he was sentenced Tuesday in Stark County Common Pleas Court.

That didn’t sit well with the teenage victim’s parents when they got the opportunity to address the court.

“You just killed a man; you can’t say nothing?” challenged Michael Cheek, father of 17-year-old Michael Cheek, who was gunned down July 29 outside a convenience store. “I hope the judge don’t care about nothing when he sentences you.”

That’s when Steven J. Walker, 20, who had opted not to testify in his defense, broke his silence.

“I ain’t the one who killed Michael Cheek,”he said when permitted to make a statement. “I never shot Michael Cheek. I’m very sorry.”

After a two-day trial, the 12-member jury found Walker guilty of murder, with a firearm specification, as well as carrying a concealed weapon. Judge John G. Haas sentenced him immediately to 15 years to life for the murder, another three years for using a firearm and six months for the concealed weapon.

According to testimony, the shooting was gang related.

Walker, a Canton resident, was upset when Cheek and two other friends walked into the Hall of Fame Fuel Mart on Sherrick Road because they were part of a rival gang and had ventured into hostile territory. Walker, who was in the store, complained openly, and Cheek punched Walker when he wouldn’t shut up, according to testimony.

The kid killed clearly wasn’t the “innocent” initially portrayed when this happened, but that doesn’t change things.

The preseason coaches poll for the Big East looks like this:

1. Villanova
2. UConn
3. Louisville
4. Syracuse
5. WVU
6. Georgetown
7. Pitt
8. ND
9. Cinci
10. St. John’s
11. DePaul
12. Marquette
13. Providence
14. Rutgers
15. Seton Hall
16. USF

Looks to me like a little bias by the BE coaches towards the older teams, i.e., the devils they know.

I did not get a chance to watch “Cold Pizza” so I missed Jamie Dixon’s early appearance. If anyone caught it, please leave a comment with your impressions. I need to know what to expect.

As much as possible, I’ll be trying to liveblog the Big East Basketball Media Slam, via the Internet feed. We’ll see how it goes.

11:02: Adam Zucker (Syracuse) in studio. Seth Davis at MSG. Tranghese already spoke to coaches, players and media.

11:03 Coaches poll: Villanova #1, UConn #2, and Pitt #7. Taken before Curtis Sumpter went down. Didn’t have time to catch the complete list.

11:05 First team and coach they will talk to is Cinci.

11:09 Andy Kennedy is still effusive in praise and stressing Huggins’ friendship. My impression: — he doesn’t expect to get the Cinci job, so it is more important to seem loyal and good. Better for possible next head coach job or hook up with Huggins at his next destination or another top coach. Cinci picked to finish #9.

11:15 Providence preview/interview. Doesn’t look good for this season. Tim Welsh and Don McGrath (with hair). Welsh really slicked back the hair to show just how much it is thinning. Providence picked 13th in BE. That seems about right.

11:20 Pitt coming up.

11:24 Graphic showing incoming players includes Trevor Ferguson?? Dixon and Aaron Gray. Krauser didn’t come, because of classes — English class. Instead Gray and Levon Kendall at media day.

Talked about Krauser first, about nearly going. Dixon almost seems relaxed, still in cliches and coach speak, but a little easier mood.

3-guard will be used, but there are big guys and others who may surprise — Hudson, Biggs and Young.

Aaron Gray: “a great opportunity,” just want to help team. On the new players, he just ducks it and says they are all good and ready to help.

11:28 Pitt ad followed. Hmm. CSTV has a lot of PSA and ads for themselves. Not making a lot of ad sales at this time.

11:30 Marquette. Davis made fun of the mascot flap.

11:35 Georgetown. All 5 starters return. JTIII and Brandon Bowman.

Most of the interviews are kind of bland, unless it’s your team. UConn is next.

11:43 Jim Calhoun and Rudy Gay. AJ Price and Marcus Williams issues will probably be resolved next week. Definitely won’t be playing in the first semester, though.

Why does the BE Basketball PSA still have the old logo?

11:50 Villanova. Jay Wright with Randy Foye. Sumpter ACL injury first issue. Wright thinks there’s a 40% chance he might come back this year. Jason Fraser looks like he will play this year, despite 2 knee surgeries over summer.

12:00 St. John’s. All 5 starters return including Daryl Hill. Norm Roberts and Hill. Hill wearing a sweater vest with a tie underneath? Wow. Not exactly looking street. St. John’s has Anthony Mason, Jr. — bloodlines. St. John’s has a new practice facility — gym, lockers, lounge for players and coaches offices.

At this rate, for each team they should have about 20 minutes left at the end to talk about the Big East overall. Probably see the Tranghese comments.

12:06 USF. Go Bulls! Zucker appears to be openly mocking the Bulls as he sends it back to Davis. Picked for #16. Coach Robert McCullum and Solomon Jones.

12:11 DePaul. Jerry Wainwright, new coach hired from Richmond, and Marlon Brumfield. Wainwright looks like some “that guy” actor, but I can’t say who. Brumfield is incredibly uncomfortable sitting there and keeps giving short, mumbled answers that are flustering Seth Davis for some reason.

12:18 Seton Hall. Louis Orr and Kelly Whitney. 3 years ago the coach of the year, now on the hot seat and likely gone after this season. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything. Let’s move on.

12:23 Rutgers. Speaking of coaches in NJ trying to keep their jobs. Coach Gary Waters and Marquis Webb.

A step forward if they can just make the BE Tournament

12:31 ND. Mike Brey and Chris Quinn. Davis makes Duke references — shut the f**k up — have to make those ties don’t you, Seth? Davis is totally slurping Brey and ND newcomers. I love how they describe what ND did on the graphic — 1st round NIT. Translation: they lost to Holy Cross at home to complete the bad season.

12:36 WVU. John Beilein and Kevin Pittsnogle. High expectations are a concern. Beilein almost sounds like he’d settle for being middle of the BE pack. Pittsnogle said NBA wants to see more of him on the inside. Beilein happy about a veteran team to run the offense he has.

12:42 Syracuse. Jim Boeheim and Gerry McNamara. Brings up the Vermont game, but Boeheim deflects. Usual poor-mouthing concerns about what the new kids will bring and how soon. McNamara looks like he’s going to swallow the mic. McNamara showed up wearing a sweat suit. Keep talking about Scranton population traveling to Syracuse.

12:48 Louisville ends the team interviews. Rick Pitino and Taquan Dean. Early injuries, but Pitino downplays it — gives the freshmen a chance to really learn. Dean moving on without Garcia taking the pressure off of him. Pitino is effusive in praise for Dean — especially in how hard he works in practice and his defense.

12:56 Mike Tranghese interview with Seth Davis.

Tranghese admits that the football schools were going to leave, but the presidents “changed their minds.”

Regarding the 12 team BE Tournament and leaving out 4, will be revisited in a couple years; but unlikely to change.

TV contracts run for 2 more years — which will dictate the schedules and missing some teams. That will likely change given the schools all want to play everyone.

Seth Davis slurps Tranghese by saying he thinks he’s the best commish in the NCAA as he kicks it back to Zucker.

1:00 Final thoughts from Davis. Davis picks UConn for BE.

From the start of the season, there has been no question who is the leader of the Pitt defense — H.B. Blades. Blades is the team’s and the Big East’s leading tackler without it being close, as Coach Wannstedt expects and wants from his middle linebacker. Even before the move to Middle Linebacker there wasn’t much doubt, as Blades can’t stop talking during a game. Today he gets a puff piece on his still improving play in the middle.

Blades said the improvement has been a product of a lot of things, but no defense can be strong if the middle linebacker isn’t playing at a high level.

“That’s the thing about being the middle linebacker that I love,” Blades said. “You are expected to be the leader. You are expected to perform every week, every play and the guys look up to you. I think early there were some things I was trying to figure out but I’m very comfortable now in what I am trying to do and I feel like I can be an even more effective leader because of it.”

Blades was a first-team All-Big East performer last season and seems likely to repeat the honor this season. He leads the Big East in tackles per game (11) and total tackles (88). He has 25 more total tackles than Rutgers safety Courtney Greene, who is second with 63.
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“Individual stats don’t really mean much to me or any of us,” Blades said. “We all want to win and that means making the plays to win. I know as a leader I’m expected to make plays, but so are the other 10 guys on the field. And one reason we’ve played so well recently is we have had 11 guys playing as one and everybody is stepping up and making plays.”

Blades said the team has regained its swagger and with it comes the ability to talk trash and celebrate big plays and big hits together.

“I always talk trash but that’s just a part of my game and who I am,” Blades said. “It is all in good fun though. Part of it is trying to get into the other guy’s head, but mostly it is just an outlet to have fun. And football is a lot more fun when you are winning and having success. Sometimes people forget the fun part of it. We’re having fun again and that’s a good thing.”

On the other side of the ball, Charles Spencer and Mike McGlynn are the primary focus of a piece on the much-maligned (and not totally undeservedly so) offensive line. They did do a very good job against Syracuse. Actually allowing only 1 sack in the game early.

“I think I did a pretty good job,” Spencer said. “Those are some real good d-ends. I don’t take anything from them, but I thought I did a pretty good job against them.”

Pitt amassed 177 rushing yards against Syracuse. Tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling had 101 yards, the second time this season the Panthers had a runner reach the century mark.

With time to sit in the pocket, Palko completed 18-of-28 passes for 201 yards and one touchdown. He also followed his blockers for two short TD runs in the second half.

Palko was pleased with the job his linemen did.

“Those guys have been looked down upon,” Palko said. “It’s been, ‘offensive line this’ and ‘offensive line that.’ They don’t like being talked about like that.

“The last two weeks, everyone’s been saying how the (opposing) defensive ends were so fast and how are we going to protect. I think those guys had a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, and that’s good. That’s the way it should be.”

McGlynn and Spencer picked the right time — the heart of the Big East schedule — to pick up their play. They will face another challenge in their next game. Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil leads the league with 19 sacks and 21 1/2 tackles for loss.

Spencer, a fifth-year senior, also is helping solidify Pitt’s line of the future. He is a tutor for left guard C.J. Davis, a true freshman.

The last 3 games will be the toughest for Pitt’s O-line and the offense. UConn and WVU are 1 and 2 in the Big East in Total Defense. Louisville is 5th, but leads the conference in sacks with 31, as they prefer a lot of blitzing.

What kind of sick world are we living in, when you have to legitimately consider whether Rutgers should make the list?

1. Southern California — Big wheel keep on turning…
2. Texas — Dismantled a good, but overrated Texas Tech team
3. Virginia Tech — If they beat BC to avoid the late October collapse that plagued them in the Big East, I will have to believe in them
4. Georgia — At the beginning of the season, I never dreamed I would write that they look shaky without Shockley.
5. Miami — DNP
6. Alabama — A defense that just might carry them
7. Notre Dame — I don’t want to be impressed and admiring of the Irish, but…
8. UCLA — Still unbeaten
9. Louisiana State — Survive and advance in the SEC
10. Florida State — Beat-up on Duke, yippee
11. Ohio State — Beat-up on Indiana, yippee
12. Auburn — With an average field goal kicker, they win at LSU
13. Boston College — DNP
14. Texas Tech — Welcome back to reality
15. Penn State — Oooh, Illinois and Ron Zook
16. West Virginia — DNP
17. Wisconsin — Strong defense, and the offense is doing it through the air?
18. TCU — Sure, why not
19. Oregon — For now, but they lost their QB
20. Northwestern — They can score. Only a late choke by their D kept them from undefeated to this point in the Big 11
21. Fresno State — I guess
22. Florida — DNP
23. Colorado — I’m open to other suggestions
24. Michigan — Well, they won 2 in a row
25. Stanford — I’m impressed with their performance so far

In: Stanford, Michigan, Colorado and Northwestern
Out: Tennessee, Michigan State, Nebraska and Oregon State
Standing By: Texas A&M, Missouri and Rutgers?

Hope everyone is ready to start shifting gears a little bit this week. With Pitt’s bye and the Big East Basketball Media “Slam” kicking off tomorrow, there will be a bit more b-ball blogging.

Coach Jamie Dixon will be doing the NYC/ESPN2/Big East Coaches media scene tomorrow.

BIG EAST coaches also have a variety of other shows built into their busy media day schedules.

On Wednesday morning, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Villanova’s Jay Wright will be on ESPN’s “Cold Pizza” (8-10 AM, ESPN2). The two-hour, weekday morning show is hosted by Jay Crawford and Dana Jacobson.

Following the media day festivities, Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun will be a guest on “Mike and the Mad Dog”. Hosted by Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo – “Mike and the Mad Dog” is a daily sports radio afternoon drive show on WFAN in New York, 660 AM.

Five BIG EAST coaches – Calhoun, Dixon, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Georgetown’s John Thompson III and Providence’s Tim Welsh – will appear on ESPN’s “Quite Frankly” (Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 PM, ESPN2). The show is hosted by Stephen A. Smith.

This may be a silly hope, but I am praying that somehow, some way, someone in the Pitt Athletic Department sat Coach Dixon down over the summer and convinced him to loosen up — just a little. Don’t become a mute who only speaks in coachspeak cliches. Be a little more candid, show some humor (that rumors suggest he has) and try to be somewhat engaging. The whole first year, he was a coach, all we ever heard was that he had some minor commercial acting experience growing up and in college (a Bud Light commercial). Use a little of it.

And for God’s sake, please don’t say that this year will be a “challenge.”

At the Backyard Brawl, this year, WVU will be retiring the first number of a player in school’s history. The #75 of Sam Huff, a player from the 50s who played guard and tackle. He is already in the college and pro football hall of fames.

Amazingly, the school never retired basketball great Jerry West’s number. They will retire his #44, 2 days later when they play LSU.

The Hoopies have also halted sale of tickets for the Backyard Brawl. Looks like the sellout is official.

Freshman RB LaRod Stephens-Howling has become the darling of Johnstown, PA this season. Often Pitt stories they run are courtesy of Dale Grdnic who’s pieces also run in the Harrisburg paper. The difference in comparison, though, is in the copy for the Johnstown paper, which will often include extra emphasis on Stephens-Howling.

Stephens-Howling gets slurped again, in this piece about area kids in college programs.

There is already a noticeable buzz in the air every time the 5-foot-7, 165-pound speedster from Johnstown gets the ball. Pitt fans have learned quickly that Stephens-Howling has the explosiveness to make a big play any time he touches the ball.
…
But statistics tell only part of the story for Stephens-Howling. The most impressive play that the freshman made on Saturday had more to do with quick thinking than quick running.

Stephens-Howling burst through the line on his way to a 35-yard gain during the second quarter. Realizing that he would be caught by a Syracuse defender with an angle on him, Stephens-Howling covered the ball with both hands.

It was a heady play for a freshman. The move may have cost him a step — and ultimately a yard or 2 — but it ensured that he held onto the ball. And while the woman in the second level might not have noticed it, you can bet coach Dave Wannstedt did.

Hometown love.