It’s been a busy week, and I’ve been wanting to get this one out for several days. The Explanation of what I’m doing is here. Here’s Lindy’s and CBS Sportline Preview Mags.
Athlon is one of the early releasers. They hold a special place in preseason mags, because they helped pioneer the cheer-babe contest. Not a lot to say about Pitt, though.
They rank all 119 teams and put Pitt at #49 (p. 36).
As for Pitt’s place in the Big East (p. 40), the conference predictions are:
- WVU
- Louisville
- Rutgers
- Pitt
- USF
- UConn
- Cinci
- Syracuse
They go 2 squads on their all conference lists. For the 1st Team All-Big East: John Simonitis, G; H.B. Blades, LB; Darrelle Revis, CB; Adam Graessle, P; Revis, PR. The Second Team only lists Chris McKillop, DE.
As for the team page, I could tell you that they see the season as a growing year, but you can actually read the Pitt preview yourself since they partnered with SI.com. Essentially, they see no reason Pitt can’t have a winning season.
On offense, they seem more concerned about WR and RB than anything else:
But Palko needs some support, and beyond wide receiver Derek Kinder (37 catches for 374 yards), there are far more questions than answers on offense. True freshman wide receiver Dorin Dickerson, a consensus Top 100 recruit, could have an immediate impact. So should classmate Kevin Collier, a tailback brought in to jazz up a running game that ranked 93rd nationally last year. Sophomore LaRod Stephens-Howling was Pitt’s top rusher last fall with only 434 yards, though he did average a solid 4.5 yards per carry.
They almost seem optimistic about the O-line. A lot more than most Pitt fans.
The Defense is trying to get faster to make up for the lack of size. They don’t say much about how they think Pitt will be able to improve against the run.
While not on the SI.com-partnered preview, the print version (p. 131) does try to project the season on the schedule.
5 Likely Wins: UVA, Cinci, Citadel, ‘Cuse and UConn
2 Likely Losses: WVU and L-ville
5 Toss-ups: Mich. St., Toledo, UCF, Rutgers and USF
Back in April when this was put together, I wouldn’t disagree with that kind of projection. Now, with all the problems USF is having getting its recruiting class academically eligible (8 aren’t and 2 others have other issues), I would move USF to a “Likely Win.”
