As has been previously observed, Pitt is now 11-0. This now has Pitt ranked in both polls. Pitt has moved to #20 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and debuts in the AP Writers Poll at #22.

Let’s start with the partial mea culpa from Greg Doyel who expected a Pitt loss.

Pittsburgh’s good. Clemson’s bad. I’m an idiot.

Let’s do the Monday Morning Knee-Jerk.

Best win: Undefeated Pittsburgh’s victory over No. 24 Wisconsin verified Pitt’s legitimacy more than its first 10 victories combined.

Speaking of partial mea culpas, Doug Gottlieb who previously ripped on Pitt and expected “Wisconsin to give them fits at home,” now says this.

Could it be the most underrated player in the country is Carl Krauser? Sure, “Black Magic” has his detractors, but all he has done to silence them is shoot more consistently, turn the ball over less and lead Pitt to a nice little run against quality competition last week.

While no one expects the Panthers to contend with UConn or Villanova for the Big East crown, Krauser is putting his team in position to compete with Louisville, Syracuse and others for NCAA Tournament respect. Compare Krauser (who literally has been at Pitt half a decade) and Gerry McNamara (who seems like he has been at the Cuse forever) this season and G-Mac has been more spectacular, but he is only shooting 33 percent from both 2- and 3-point range (although he’s at 93.4 percent from the FT line) while Krauser is shooting at a career-high 46 percent from 2 and 39.5 percent from 3 and quietly is having a far better senior season.

If by quietly, you mean not appearing on TV, then sure.

Meanwhile, from “Wisconsin’s progressive newspaper” (hey, that’s what they call themselves), how about some backhanded slaps at Krauser while trying to defend yet another top Wisconsin player being shut down by Pitt.

Taylor, however, wasn’t looking for excuses. He was bothered by the fact that he didn’t match the toughness displayed by Tucker or Pitt’s overly demonstrative senior guard Carl Krauser, who was all over the place with 22 points, four assists, six turnovers and one incredibly dim-witted technical foul.

*Ahem* Let me put this gently: Scoreboard. Bitch. You stay classy, Wisconsin.

Finally, in an action that should surprise no one, Sam Young was named Big East Rookie of the Week.

In Pitt’s two weekly wins, Young averaged 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while converting 12 of his 19 field goal attempts (63.2 percent). He scored a career-high tying 16 points (7-11 FG) and grabbed five rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench vs. Wisconsin on Dec. 31. He also led Pitt with 16 points (5-8 FG) and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds in a victory at South Carolina on Dec. 28.

A native of Clinton, Md., Young was named the National Prep School Player of the Year by Scout.com after averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds per game at Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Va.) last year. Through Pitt’s first 11 games, Young is averaging 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game and is converting 60.0 percent (33-55) of his field goal attempts.

The last Pitt player to earn Big East Rookie of the Week honors was Chris Taft on March 7, 2004. Taft earned the honor six times during the 2003-04 season.

The BE press release is here.

Late start this morning, still a little tired, and it’s something of a light day. I’m just going to throw the stuff out there.

ESPN.com has their bracket prediction updates. Pitt is now in as an 8 seed. Really don’t care right now. It was done before the Wisconsin game. Their bracketolgoy expert had a chat on Friday (Insider Subs.) with the following:

dan (tempe, az): joe what are your thoughts on pitt after a nice win at south carolina? ready to give them any love yet?

Joe Lunardi: The Panthers are in the new bracket. Amazing what a decent road win can accomplish (kind of makes you wonder why they don’t try it more often?).

Paranoid Pitt thought of the day. Going into the season everybody conceded it was a rebuilding season for Pitt. The schedule didn’t appear that weak, but since Pitt is supposed to be rebuilding the final scores should at least once or twice reflect more struggling on the learning curve. Prior to the past 2 games, the final of every Pitt game has been 11 points or higher victory. National pundits just looking at the score are going to see just the final — especially since none of the games (except Duquesne and PSU) were even on TV for some possible highlights. So, now that Pitt has actually gelled and is playing better than expected, they are going to take more abuse than ever for the schedule, in part because of how lousy it has been even when the team was expected to be good.

This just in, Pitt is undefeated, but can still improve.

Pitt was among only eight undefeated teams entering the new year.

“We try to improve every game,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We feel like we can get better and better. The battle on the boards (with Wisconsin) was tied, 32-32. That’s an area we have to win, so we feel like there’s always something we can do better.”

It’s true, it was the 1st game since the Maine game where they didn’t out rebound a team, and only the second time that they were out rebounded on the offensive glass (again, Maine).

Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News throws some love to Pitt in his weekend review:

Maybe they’re for real: Pittsburgh got great performances from freshman forward Sam Young in each of its two important victories, on the road at South Carolina and at home over Wisconsin. Young scored 16 points in each game and gradually is gaining comfort at the Division I level. Pitt had played exclusively in Pittsburgh before making the trip to play the Gamecocks, and the Panthers had not faced anyone of top 25 quality before Wisconsin came to town on New Year’s Eve.

And in basketball recruiting news, Pitt is trying to keep some more talent from its own backyard.

Class of 2007 blue chip power forward Herb Pope (6 foot 8 inches, 228 pounds) from Aliquippa High School in Aliquippa, PA already verbally committed to University of Pittsburgh Head Basketball Coach Jamie Dixon. With Pope in fold, the Panthers have set their sites on his burly AAU teammate DeJuan Blair (6-ft-8 inches, 250 pounds) from Schenley High School in Pittsburgh, PA.

“I’m looking at a bunch of schools right now,” stated Blair. “I like Pitt, North Carolina State, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Louisville, Illinois and Kansas. You could say I don’t have any favorites at this time.”
…
The Panthers haven’t officially offered Blair a scholarship, but Coach Dixon and staff seem to be very close. They have attended a number of Schenley High School games and practices. Blair indicated that Pitt may be receiving external support. “Herb (Pope) is recruiting me pretty hard. He wants me and D.J. to come to Pitt with him,” he said.

Blair and Kennedy are often referred to as a “package deal”. DeJuan was quick to validate those rumors. He emphatically replied, “Yes, D.J. and I would like to play for the same team. You could call us a package deal. We’re trying to bring our point guard Jamal “Onion” Bryant with us as well.”

Success breeds interest.