A little shifting around from #3-15 and then at #25. Otherwise, not a lot of movement. Probably no more polls until the end of the bowl season. Others who have cast their ballots can be tracked here if you want to see their justifications.

1. Southern California — Did nothing to change this spot
2. Texas — Ditto
3. Penn State — Everyone keeps talking about those 2 seconds in Michigan, that cost them a chance. I see a different alternate reality where they don’t convert that 4th down play against Northwestern in Late September to lose. A game where Michael Robinson would have been a goat with a handful of interceptions, the fans completely turn on him, the coaching staff loses trust and goes more conservative and risk averse, and calls for the Morelli era to begin are intense
4. Ohio State — Speaking of alternative realities, Troy Smith could have been sitting out this year following a transfer from OSU if Justin Zwick hadn’t been injured midway through last season
5. Notre Dame — Charlie Weis with a month to scheme, prepare and practice.
6. West Virginia — They earned the BCS bowl without backing into it, now they have to actually win a bowl game. Something they just haven’t been doing
7. Georgia — If not for the Shockley injury for a couple games, they’d get to be this year’s Auburn
8. Auburn — That Georgia Tech loss to start the season seemed to buried them in the polls for half the season
9. Oregon — East coast bias. Screwed by Domers. Yeah, whatever. Consider it the price you pay for being the athletic apparel test dummies for Nike
10. Louisiana State — I’m still waiting for them to show up for the SEC championship game
11. Miami (Florida) — I’m still trying to figure out how they choked so badly against GT
12. Virginia Tech — As the Hokies choke on turkey bones for the rest of the year, they also can suffer this thought: if Miami had won against GT, they would have faced FSU in the ACC championship and regardless of the outcome, VT probably would have ended the season in contention for an at-large bid in the top 8
13. TCU — A very good season in mostly anonymity after blowing the SMU game
14. Louisville — Another team possessing a WTF loss on their resume. Don’t like their chances in the Gator Bowl without QB Brohm
15. UCLA — End of season example of the gap between USC and the rest of the PAC 10
16. Florida — What should have been a positive, respectable start became a disappointment because the offense was Meyer’s expertise, and that was the big struggle
17. Wisconsin — It’s hard to generate any strong feelings one way or another regarding Wisconsin
18. Alabama — Lack of depth really caught up at the end
19. Michigan — Completely unimpressive this year
20. Texas Tech — For some reason I picture Mike Leech in his office drawing up offensive plays and cackling “I am the puppet-master!”
21. South Carolina — Count me among those who are now convinced that Spurrier can contend and win here.
22. Boston College — It doesn’t matter the conference, BC is usually the reliable demarcation team between the upper and lower teams
23. Georgia Tech — Along with Al Groh, the flipside to Pete Carroll. Winning just enough to keep people unsure.
24. Toledo — If someone could lure Amstutz from his alma mater, he would be a great get as a coach
25. Florida State — Quiz time. Did FSU’s victory in the ACC Championship make a mockery of a) VT; b) conference championship games; c) the BCS system (again) by garnering the auto-bid despite obviously not being that good; d) all of the above

IN: FSU
OUT: Oklahoma
Games seen in whole or in part: Akron-NIU; Army-Navy; Texas-Colorado; UCLA-USC; Georgia-LSU; and VT-FSU

Aaron Gray is starting to get some love in the Big East. This year, with 16 teams the Big East is doing the co-player of the week thing and also listing several other players in the “honor roll.” Gray made the honor roll list this week. He was also the recipient of the lead story in the Hartford Courant’s Big East notebook.

Center Chris Taft was a big part of everything Pittsburgh accomplished last season – a very big part at 6 feet 10 and 250 pounds. It isn’t easy to replace 13.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and the physical presence Taft gave the Panthers inside.

But Aaron Gray is trying. And it doesn’t hurt that Gray is 7-0 and 275 pounds.
…
Gray, who scored 10 points against Auburn, is averaging 13.6 points and 9.2 rebounds. He is playing 25 minutes, almost double what he averaged last season as a sophomore. And coach Jamie Dixon couldn’t be happier.

“It’s been pretty steady, but all in all, it’s been a dramatic improvement from the day we signed him,” Dixon said. “People wouldn’t recognize him now. He’s getting better and better. The obvious things are his body and conditioning. Those are the things that really stand out.

“But his biggest improvements this year have been defensively, away from the ball, and he is scoring more around the basket. He’s just more comfortable. He’s doing the little things that big guys have to do. He’s keeping the ball up, getting his balance, playing without the ball, and working for position. When you look at the whole picture, it’s been a dramatic improvement over three years.”

The AP Writers poll took some notice of Pitt’s blowout of Auburn. Pitt isn’t ranked, but got 18 points in the “others receiving votes” portion. Roughly making them #34.

Okay, let’s not even pretend that this will be a big deal because of the opponent. This game is important because Pitt has to show it can avoid the letdown. It is also the first televised game of the season for Pitt. Time to see if the players respond differently with cameras on them.

Duquesne isn’t that good, and are in even worse shape with the loss for the season of last year’s “most improved player” award recipient in the A-10 and pre-season 2nd team all-A-10 player Kieron Achara.

Achara was supposed to be a bigger part of the Dukes. So far while coming off the bench and not producing a lot so far Now it is clear as to why. He has a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The injury occurred last month during a scrimmage with Cleveland State, and limited his play (no kidding — struggling to lift one arm over your head can make shooting, defense and rebounding tricky). He will be having surgery and is done for the year.

According to the Duquesne game notes (PDF), Achara was the second tallest player on their squad at 6’9″. They do not have a lot of size inside.

Pitt’s game notes are also available (PDF). This is only the 3rd game at the Palumbo Center between the 2 teams (1-1). Pitt has won 23 of the last 26 meetings.

In light of the way, Pitt absolutely shut down Auburn and the absence of a dominate scorer, the theme today on Pitt is the defense. Both papers go with that as the story.

“That’s the best we’ve played defense all year, and it really showed how that carried over to the rest of our game,” Pitt forward Levon Kendall said. “It was fun to be out there. Everybody enjoyed doing it. Things were clicking, and it was good to see.”

Kendall, who grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to go with nine points in only 15 minutes of work against Auburn, recalled a scene at halftime in the Panthers’ locker room, when senior Carl Krauser told his teammates: “You know, this is really fun. We’re all having a good time.”

Kendall paused to reflect on Pitt’s continuing dominance of Auburn, even after rolling to a 24-point halftime lead.

“You know, I kind of agreed with Carl,” he said. “It wasn’t that we were really focusing on doing everything the same way. We just said, ‘Why bother letting up? We’re having a good time.’ “

That has to be one of the more laid back ways of saying, “We have to play hard for 40 minutes.”

Coach Dixon has been stressing it and the players are embracing playing defense.

“Coach has been stressing [defense],” senior guard Carl Krauser said. “That’s what we’re known for. We’re known for playing good hard-nosed defense, [being] a blue-collar-type team. We need to get back to that. That’s what we tried to do last night.”

Through five games, Pitt is giving up 55.6 points per game. That record-setting pace isn’t likely to continue when the competition gets stiffer. But with new starters at four positions and three freshmen playing an average of 15 minutes per game, the Panthers’ prowess on defense has been a pleasant surprise for Dixon.

“We’re further ahead than where I thought we would be,” Dixon said. “Especially the younger guys. They’ve done a good job of picking things up.”

Part of the reason, apparently Dixon hasn’t just been stressing it. He’s been making it clear that is how players will get on the court.

“A lot of times last year we lacked defense and that’s why we let teams back into games and maybe lost a few games,” Gray said. “It’s definitely been what coach Dixon has been stressing. With everyone fighting for playing time, the way you’re going to play is by rebounding and playing defense. It’s been our main stress point.”

This team is too young and inexperienced to rival Pitt’s defensive teams from two and three seasons ago. The 2003-04 team set the school record by giving up 56.4 points per game. But Krauser believes that this group of players, with their newfound attention to defensive detail, is capable of playing better defense than last season’s squad that gave up 63.5 points per game.

“We’re playing 11 guys out there, so there’s no reason why anyone should be slacking on defense,” Krauser said. “The younger guys are doing a good job of coming in and picking things up, and the older guys are doing a great job of helping them through.”

Teamwork. Go figure.

Flush with excitement after the Pitt win, I submitted by BE ballot. Pitt didn’t move from its spot for me. Turns out the other voters agreed, and Pitt moved to #4 in the full Power Poll. Here’s my ballot and reasons.

1. UConn — No reason to change this.
2. Villanova — Strong game to beat Oklahoma
3. Louisville — Only 3 games so far, so arguably coasting on expectations
4. Pitt — That Auburn win was a stunner in terms of being an utter and complete blowout
5. Georgetown — Strong win out in the Pacific Northwest over Oregon.
6. Syracuse — Actually had to comeback to win in OT versus Manhattan, but still won and then blew out TCU
7. Marquette — A bad loss against Nebraska, but that was after a gruelling run in Alaska. They were due for the letdown
8. WVU — Not that impressed by squeaking past the Bonnies and beating up on a Div. III team, but I’m not sold on the teams below
9. Rutgers — Strong win over Temple, and then a quality win over an underrated WCC team
10. Cinci — The Memphis loss was tough, they fought back in the game. It’s that Dayton loss that kills them. They have some serious issues on the glass.
11. ND — Clearly not a NCAA team. Another loss to another potential bubble team at home. Blew a late lead. Simply no heart.
12. St. John’s — Losing to the Pride of Hofstra. Oof.
13. Providence — Losses to Witchita St. and URI. This team couldn’t afford to lose these games in the non-con.
14. DePaul — Good win against perennial mid-major scary team, Creighton, and a loss to Bucknell, which now is nothing to be ashamed of.
15. USF — Losses to Texas A&M-CC and Florida Int’l, as the team gets even thinner puts this team in a deeper hole.
16. Seton Hall — Latest rumored replacement for Coach Orr — Bob Huggins.

Actually had a chance to see some more of the BE teams play this past week. Pitt is going to be in the middle of the conference and in the middle of most games. I apologize in advance for the wishy-washy cliche, but a bounce of the ball one way or another will likely make the difference.

I think one of the things to me that really stands out from the box score, for Pitt is the fact that no player took more than 9 shots. Yes, that was helped by the wide distribution of minutes, but it is still a positive thing to see the players willing to spread the ball around and share. There were 19 assists on the 29 scores. Everybody was involved in the game.

Pitt was able to outshoot Auburn by a margin of 16 (56-40 shot attempts) because Pitt was given so many second chance shots. Pitt had a +10 margin on the offensive rebounds (18-8). Pitt had the size and strength inside over Auburn, and exploited it.

I realize basketball at Auburn is not a high priority in terms of interest or coverage, but maybe they should keep an eye on the facts when writing stories.

Auburn flirted with one of its 10 worst losses in school history before a scoring spurt in the final four minutes saved the day. Still, it was the Tigers’ worst scoring performance since a 38-point effort against Mississippi State in 1982.

The Tigers started four freshmen against a veteran defensive-minded team that is now 53-5 in the four-year history of the building and boasts the fourth-best overall winning record in Division I basketball in the past four years.

Now I suppose by comparison Pitt could be considered “veteran,” but this wasn’t about experience. This was about talent, desire, and dare I say: a better coached team.

The best Auburn Coach Dave Lebo could tell his team afterwards is not to forget what happened.

“We had bad turnovers, bad decision-making,” Lebo said. “We just got physically manhandled. It was easy to see tonight.”

Lebo said Auburn young players need to learn from the experience.

“I told them after the game that this is our measuring stick,” Lebo said. “I told them not to forget how this felt. We need to get back into a practice atmosphere and try to get rid of the bad taste.”

And lots of practice it will be. Auburn is off until December 14. Coach Lebo is already talking about making sure his players remember being dominated inside as well.

“We played hard to the end, and I’m proud of that, but they were so much bigger than us and, from the time we tipped off, it was men playing against boys.

“The next time I get a funny look from one of my guys about going into the weight room, I’m just going to say the names Gray and Kendall to remind them of how we got pushed around, and I’m sure they will go in [the weight room] and have a new attitude about it.”

Next year, in Alabama.

For Pitt, this game was about defense first.

“It all started from our defense,” head coach Jamie Dixon said afterward. Guard Ronald Ramon echoed his sentiments.

“We came out with a lot of intensity,” he said. “Our defense was there from the beginning.”
…
Dixon complimented his team’s ability to give 100 percent in the face of such a huge lead, which grew as large as 48 in the second half.

“[At halftime] I was really talking about coming out in the second half, that we needed to keep up the intensity,” he said.

The Panthers responded. The final twenty minutes saw more of the same. Auburn did score 26 points in the second half — compared with their 15 in the first half — but most of that total came by way of a 10-0 run in the last 2:28 after Dixon had pulled most of his starters.

Krauser admitted that the smothering defense was due in part to Dixon’s encouragement.

“Coach is just really stressing us about our defense,” he said. “We just wanted to go out there and play good D.”

During that final few minutes, both Charles Small and Marcus Bowman were out on the court to the delight of the fans.

If you want to look for things to note from the game, Levance Fields did not start. Ronald Ramon got the start instead, and provided 8 assists. No one treated it like a particularly big deal.

Pitt put the game away early, and as has been repeatedly stressed in every story, never let up. That is something new.

Last year, there were just too many games where Pitt either started or finished flat. Where they came out unprepared or lost focus or interest at the end. I have been quick to jump on Coach Dixon when the team has been that way, so I will give him credit for having the players ready and focused for 40 minutes. It is encouraging, and something that I want to see more of. I really, really want to see it next Saturday against Penn State, in person.

A game like the this is hard to put in context. No one player was truly transcendent for Pitt, in fact given how the game became such a blowout, 10 players had double digit minutes. No Pitt player had more than 26 minutes in the game. It says something when the opposing team’s best player feels the team played better in the second half because they were only outscored by 13.

On anticipating such a physical game

“We knew it was going to be a physical game. I don’t think we came ready to play in the first half. We came out better in the second half. It’s hard to come back when you go into halftime down 24.”

Auburn Coach Jeff Lebo put it this way:

“Pitt played awfully well tonight, possibly the best they’ve played all year. We got physically dominated at every spot. To start four freshman it’s very difficult in this environment. They have been shooting the ball very well, I knew that was coming. They shot the ball extremely well from the three tonight. They were so much bigger than we were, Levon Kendall and Aaron Gray. It was men and boys, really.”

Reading an opposing coach say that should make any fan happy.

Pitt players were ready for this game. They wanted the test according to Ronald Ramon.

On the intensity tonight:

“A lot of guys said this was going to be our first test, so we came out with a lot of intensity and played hard. Everybody was on the same page.”

To which, the only response I have is, “Whoo-hoo!”

Pitt only won by 37, 78-41. Wow. I’ll give props where they are due. Coach Jamie Dixon not only had this team ready to play, he had them ready to dominate. This team took the challenge of playing a school from a name conference seriously and not only wanted to make a statement, they did it… with au-thor-ity!

There is no way Auburn was that bad. Yes, they had a pathetic night shooting free throws (3-15), but Pitt played a game of pure dominance. Outrebounded Auburn 41-20. Pitt played tougher and better in the second half.

It surely helped Pitt to see the fans showing up for the game. They said more than 9000 showed for the game, and there has to be more optimism. It will be interesting what the AP rankings will show when the sportswriters see this lopsided a score.

39-15 Pitt lead. Even more amazing is the balanced scoring. Krauser leads with 8, Gray and Ramon with 6 and Fields has 5. Pitt is shooting 50% from beyond the arc, and over 48% for the game.

Auburn has managed to go 0-6 at the free throw line to help the cause.

A 17-0 Pitt advantange on points off of turnovers.

I knew as soon as I disclosed it, they would stop the “accidentally” free internet feed from WPGB of the Pitt game. Nor is it on 970AM.

I may actually have to pay for the month on Yahoo!

In all honesty, this is rebuilding year for Pitt. I’m not saying Pitt can’t get to the Tournament, but it is a bigger question mark than in the past few years. Auburn is rebuilding, period. Expectations are not high for this game:

The trip to Pittsburgh was timed perfectly for the Lebo family. The ceremony took place before the tip-off of a preseason high school tournament in Carlisle, giving the Lebos enough time to get back to Pittsburgh for tonight’s game.

Unlike those dominant years in Carlisle, Auburn (3-1) is likely to be overmatched against the Panthers, who have won their first four games of the season with one of the nation’s most intriguing guards on their roster.

Senior guard Carl Krauser, a John Wooden award candidate, leads Pitt in scoring (15.8 points), while 7-foot junior center Aaron Gray (14.5 points, 10.5 rebounds) is not far behind.

“Pitt is a very big, physical team,” Jeff Lebo said. “They have a terrific player in Carl Krauser. They have had extra time to get ready for us. They are by far the best defensive team that we will have faced.”

Tonight’s game is Auburn’s second road game of the season (the Tigers lost at Colorado State on Monday), but Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center is likely to be the loudest venue Auburn will face until SEC season.

Actually, not much is expected from Auburn for the season.

Auburn is rebuilding under second-year coach Jeff Lebo, the former high school basketball star at Carlisle High School and later at North Carolina. Lebo is trying to resurrect a program that hasn’t had a winning record in conference play since the 1999-2000 season.

In his first season, Lebo was 14-17 and 4-12 in the SEC. Not much is expected from Lebo this season either. The Tigers were a consensus pick to finish last in the SEC West Division in a preseason media poll.

Like Jamie Dixon at Pitt, Lebo is coaching a young team. He has five freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and one senior on his roster. Two of his top three scorers are freshmen. Three freshmen are starters and another is a sophomore.

As a young team and their head coach is from the Dean Smith/UNC coaching tree, they will try to run and push the ball when they can. On defense:

“They do a lot of that North Carolina stuff, the 2-3, the 1-3-1 trap, man-to-man,” Dixon said. “They’ll mix it up, use all three. It’s strictly out of that North Carolina family.”

Pitt has been very good at solving zone defenses the past couple of years. The Panthers have been dominant at times against Syracuse’s zone and had success against West Virginia’s 1-3-1 zone last season. The problem in those games against the Mountaineers was perimeter defense.

In this puff piece on Aaron Gray, the article notes that Auburn has already had problem against size inside.

If the performance of Colorado State’s Jason Smith, another 7-footer, is an indication, Auburn might have no answer for Gray. Smith recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Rams’ 77-67 victory Monday.

“Colorado State’s size is tremendous. Not only are they big, they are good,” said Auburn’s second-year coach, Jeff Lebo, the former Carlisle High School star who played at North Carolina.

Auburn will be facing another big team tonight in Pitt. Gray is the centerpiece of that size.

“I want to be a big impact player in the Big East,” he said. “To be able to put up the numbers I’m putting up, I need to be out on the floor. I need to be giving good minutes and I’ve been doing that consistently so far and that’s why coach Dixon has had a lot of confidence leaving me out on the floor.”

The article adds at the end that Doyle Hudson and Antonio Graves are both questionable for the game with ankle injuries.

As previously mentioned, Auburn Senior Guard Ronny LeMelle, is from Harrisburg. He is scrounging to get tickets for family and friends. The same goes for the Lebo family and Auburn’s point guard, Quantez Robertson, who is from Cinci.

For Auburn to win, they need the production they have been getting from the freshmen, but also need to start getting something from sophomore guard Frank Tolbert. Tolbert was the only starter from last year and was the leading scorer. Now he is only averaging 7 points/game and had 11 turnovers in the last 2 games.

Auburn is not a particularly big team, especially inside, but LeMelle could be a match-up problem as a guard since he is around 6’5″. Pitt doesn’t have the size on the outside, and LeMelle might be too fast for forwards like Kendall or Young to guard.

This game could be a very important one for Coach Jamie Dixon in terms of helping shape the perception of his job with the team early in the season. Pitt has the advantages in talent, overall size and home court. The Panthers are a 12 1/2 point favorite. Let’s face it, the biggest question mark is the coaching. Which team looks more prepared, composed and not as sloppy will be considered a direct reflection on the coaching and preparation.

Conference may change. It may not even be November. But you can still count on VT to be, well, VT in the end. This year, laying 2 eggs against Florida schools. Is there is any way to schedule them to play U of Florida in the bowl to complete the trifecta? I think it has to happen.

Congrats to 4-loss FSU going to a BCS bowl. I await the scorn, abuse and derision to be heaped upon them for making a mockery of the BCS system. That sacred and holy process that has earned deep respect from all.

With the blowouts in football this afternoon, I was actually able to catch several Big East teams playing basketball. Villanova looks really good. Georgetown is upper-half. Cinci is lower-middle of the BE and Notre Dame looks destined for the NIT once again.

The Oakland Zoo may not be a fully student run operation any longer, at least it was started by students and does not have to worry about a name change in the event of a coaching change. Unlike Auburn’s Lebo’s Lunatics student cheering group.

As mentioned yesterday, Jeff Lebo and his father Dave were in Carlisle, PA last night for the christening of Lebo Court. Carlisle had to come back to win the actual game, and unsurprisingly the place was packed with “countless members of the extended family.” And if they were anything like the numerous “Lebos” I knew at the time in Lebanon, “extended” is just a polite euphemism for “no relation, other than a name, that failed miserably as an opening with girls in attempts to get laid.” But that could have just been my little corner of Central PA.

Anyhow, Game Notes from both Pitt and Auburn (PDF for both) are out. This is the first time Pitt and Auburn have ever faced each other in a major sport (and of course, that means football or men’s basketball). According to the Pitt game notes that leaves Kansas State, Texas Tech and Wake Forest as the only teams from the other 5 BCS conferences that Pitt has never faced in b-ball or football.

This is what Jeff Lebo had to say about going to face Pitt:

“We are going to a whole different arena and place now. We are going to play in a hostile environment. Pitt is a very big, physical team. They have a terrific player in Carl Krauser. They have had extra time to get ready for us. They are by far the best defensive team that we will have faced. They are a very physical team. Pittsburgh is always very physical. They are a team that over the last five years has almost averaged 25 wins a season. You are looking at a team here recently that has been really, really good and especially good at home. It will be good for Ronny to get back to Pennsylvania. He will have a lot of family coming to the game. It will be another tough test for us. This has been a tough stretch with three games this week, two of them on the road, and a lot of miles in-between. It will give them a little taste of what it is like in the SEC.”

“Ronny” is Senior Guard and Auburn’s leading scorer, Ronny LeMelle of Bishop McDevitt High in Harrisburg. He is expecting around 40 friends and family in attendance.

There was an article on Pitt’s struggles to shoot the 3. Specifically, Graves, Ramon and Krauser are shooting a combined 19-57 (.333) — and the team as a whole is shooting 33%. Naturally, Coach Dixon expressed no concern long-term over this. I’m a little more concerned. Last year, the team’s worst game in the non-con portion of the schedule — where the defense wasn’t as strong — was 35%. This has been the 3-point shooting % for each game so far in order played: 47.6, 37.5, 27.3, 20. That isn’t exactly an encouraging trend.

Sort of.

This is a big recruiting weekend for Pitt.

A number of potential recruits are making official visits to campus, and Pitt hopes to close the deal with some top out-of-state players, such as defensive lineman McKenzie Mathews from New York and quarterback Thaddeus Lewis from Florida. Others, such as running back Kevin Collier, have committed to the Panthers but have suitors elsewhere and have at least taken a second look.

A little more than two hours away in Columbus, Ohio, one of the Panthers more highly touted recruits, offensive lineman Joe Thomas from Cleveland, is making an official visit to Ohio State, which recently started pressing him to change his commitment. Pitt coaches have been working hard to keep Thomas because he is so important to the team’s future, given the Panthers shortcomings on the offensive line.
…
“Our top priority right now has to be recruiting, because we are in a lot of battles for a lot of great kids,” Wannstedt said. “I think the encouraging thing is the battles that we are in. We’re fighting off the Ohio State’s, the Michigan’s, the Penn State’s, the USC’s, those are the types of kids we’re going after and we’ve gotten. So it is exciting right now, but we have to close strong in order to get to where we want to be, and we believe we will.”

So far, Pitt has been holding its own in the recruiting battles. Winning some (Dorin Dickerson) and losing some (Darrin Walls). Obviously, Pitt needs to win a few of these battles for the highly ranked high school kids who have waited until closer to signing day; and at the same time continue to shepherd and hand-hold the early commits who are still being pursued. To this point, Coach Wannstedt and the staff have handled the balancing far better than I imagined.

The other part of the equation won’t begin until after the new year.

“We will have a more demanding offseason program and we will ask for more accountability. I know the pulse of this team and I have a good idea what we need to do. I take it personal that we were not as good as we wanted to be. Nobody is more disappointed than me. But we’re not sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves, we’ve already gotten to work and will continue to do so every day until we line up to play Virginia in September.

“Our fans deserve better than what they got this year, I know that, and I share a lot of the blame for that. But that chapter is over and we are going to move forward and upward from this point on.”

In addition to recruiting, Wannstedt is dealing with a host of other issues. He will meet with his staff and evaluate their performances later this month. He will meet with a number of players to discuss their future with the team. And he will prepare to make a number of changes, not only in his approach, but in how he and the rest of the coaching staff use the limited time they have with the players.

He said he doesn’t anticipate any major staff changes, but that is subject to change based on his review of the coaches. He expects to advise a few players to look elsewhere to finish their careers because they might not be part of the Panthers’ plans, but he won’t force anyone to leave.

I didn’t think he would advise DC Paul Rhoads to look elsewhere, but I can hope.

OC Matt Cavanaugh needs to re-learn a lot of things. Starting with the layout of a college football field and where the hashmarks are. If he makes that excuse again next season about the hashmarks being at different spots than in the NFL, well, Pitt alum and QB of the last national champion team or not, he has to go. Because it would prove beyond a doubt that his heart isn’t in being in the college game.

This past week, Coach Wannstedt had held court with the media in his office — must have been crowded — for an unofficial review of the first season.

“Right now, the priority is recruiting,” Wannstedt said. “But I’ll sit down and have an evaluation and a long discussion with all the coaches. … I think I’ve got an outstanding coaching staff. I’m not saying that we’re not going to juggle some things, but everyone has to be accountable.”

In order to bolster Pitt’s recruiting efforts in eastern Pennsylvania, Wannstedt assigned offensive line coach Paul Dunn and tight ends coach Greg Gattusso to that area. But the entire staff, spearheaded by Wannstedt, is responsible for the WPIAL. And the head coach remained adamant that Pitt will dominate recruiting in its backyard even though West Virginia coach Rick Rodriguez took offense to that statement prior to their Thanksgiving game.

“I wasn’t just directing it at him,” Wannstedt said. “I was directing it to everybody. That was not a direct shot at West Virginia. I was putting everybody on notice.

“The motivation is to get this program to be top-10 program in all phases. That’s on the field, in recruiting and in the classroom. And it’s going to happen, because I’m bound and determined to make that happen.”

One thing Wannstedt seems to have realized — and I’m shocked he didn’t realize this — is that these are college kids, not professionals drawing a paycheck with a bunch of other things in their lives.

Improvements need to be made off the field, as well. Wannstedt said he has realized why college coaches always emphasize offseason conditioning and team get-togethers.

“The season starts so fast,” he said. “You show up in August, you have a couple scrimmages and then you’re into the season. You don’t really establish that chemistry and bonding stuff.”

At most teams’ preseason camps, the coaches and players gather every day for weeks for early-morning runs or other types of get-to-know-you events. Last summer, the Panthers did that for just a couple of days.

“Back then, I said, ‘Aw, we don’t need to do that,’ ” Wannstedt said. “Well, we do. And we will.”

Wannstedt said it took until the middle of the season before the Panthers rebounded from their opening loss against Notre Dame.

“When you go into a season like we did (this) year, where there was so much excitement, there were some real traps being laid out — and I believe we fell into them,” he said.

I can understand why the defensive coaching staff didn’t say anything to him. They were retained by Wannstedt and were still feeling him out and whether he was looking for an excuse to run him off. I just can’t believe coaches he brought in like Dunn and Gattuso didn’t take him aside and say, “Uh, Dave, listen…”

It also confuses me, when before the season started, Coach Wannstedt was doing all of the activities to help get the students fired up for the season. Attending pep rallies and bonfires, I mean it sounds a bit like ass-covering now from Wannstedt to have not realized it applied to the team as well.

All the same, Coach Wannstedt has such exuberance for the job and wanting to win, that it is infectious to those who come in contact with him, including the media. Everyone wants to believe.

Paul Zeise has his final Q&A for the year. Looks like he won’t do another one until a week or two before NLI day.

Q: Do you think Joe Thomas and Kevin Collier will remain committed to Pitt? And what about John Malecki now that he is hearing from other schools?

Zeise: If I had to handicap it now, based on what I know and conversations I’ve had, Malecki is no doubt coming to Pitt. That is not even a question. Collier,I think, is pretty firm as well. Thomas, well, that one is going to be a battle. So far Pitt has held its own, but he visits Ohio State this weekend, so I guess it would be an understatement to say this is a critical time in his recruitment. The one thing the Panthers have going for them is that he is scheduled to visit Pitt either next weekend or the weekend after, so coach Wannstedt and company will have a chance to secure his commitment even after he gets the full court press from Ohio State. I’d say stay tuned on that one. I think it will be very interesting to see what happens with a lot of these linemen that Pitt is battling for.

There is also a question that gets a long response from frequent PSB commenter RKohberger. I believe that is his second question responded to by Zeise this season.

I suppose some Pitt fans find this depressing.

Final: Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30!

Call it a MAC title and a Motor City Bowl bid, the first in school history!

Call it an upset, as the Zips came into this game as two-touchdown underdogs. Northern Illinois had six players named first team All-MAC.

Call it David slays Goliath again, as the underdog and underrated Zips had no first-team All-MAC players. That didn’t stop the Zips. Nor did trailing 24-10 heading into the fourth quarter stop the Zips. Nor did being behind 30-24 in the final seconds. Nor did Northern Illinois’ brilliant running back, Garrett Wolfe, who raced for 270 yards in 42 carries.

The Zips just kept coming back and coming back.

Somehow, these Zips believed. Not in miracles, but in themselves. That’s a testimony to coach J.D. Brookhart, who has put together a strong MAC football team, and done it in only two years. He’s done it with some of his recruits, some from the regime of former coach Lee Owens.

He’s masterfully stirred them together, cooking up a contender that demonstrates there is life at UA after star quarterback Charlie Frye. That was as clear as the ESPN broadcast, which should serve as a terrific recruiting tool for both the Zips and the MAC.

It also introduced the nation to Getsy, the honor student (3.5 grade-point average) and transfer from Pitt who backed up Frye a year ago, then took over this season and saved his best for last.

Instead of a slingshot, Getsy used his powerful right arm. The junior threw for 413 yards on 30-for-50 passing, and did it against a defense that knew he had to throw to bring the Zips back in the second half.

Want some more good news?

Getsy will be back next season.

I’m not. Big props to former Pitt WR Coach and Offensive Coordinator, J.D. Brookhart for actually winning at all at Akron — especially this soon. Under no stretch of the imagination is Akron ever going to be considered a sleeping giant, let alone a team you think of as a contender in the MAC.

Congratulations to Luke Getsy for showing that he did have the arm strength and game to play Div. 1-A college football. I’m still very happy to have Palko as Pitt’s QB. Getsy transferred from Pitt last fall after failing to beat Tyler Palko for the starting job. I didn’t want Getsy to transfer for fear that the Pitt O-line would get Palko killed injured last year and that would leave a true freshman as the back-up (gee, that sounds familiar). I didn’t object to the desire to transfer, but like most fans his potshots, whining and complaints out the door were bothersome. For the record, Harris and Pitt released Getsy from his scholarship binds after the season ended, so he only had one semester without a scholarship at Akron.

QB transfers happen. Last year, Ohio State’s Troy Smith started making noise about transferring when Zwick was starting. Coaches recruit and stockpile the position, and kids want their shot.