Well, like nearly every school these days, the wife of the head coach will hold a football for females seminar with beefcake on site and food from Qdoba. Hopefully, it won’t be too much like Iowa’s.

Here are their game notes (PDF). The MAC really doesn’t do the East Coast, even with Temple and Buffalo. The BGSU notes observes that under Greg Brandon, the Falcons are 1-1 versus Big East foes. — beating Temple in 2004 (yes, they were still in the BE that year) and losing to Boston College in 2007 (not so much).

Of course, the NJ Star Ledger’s Big East notebook refers to Bowling Green as Eagles.

“I think we’re all aware of the success that Bowling Green has had the past couple of years,” the Pitt head coach said. “Especially the past five, six, seven years, playing on the road on opening day.”

The Eagles have a history of upsetting the apple cart early in the season against BCS conference teams. Last year, they opened with a 32-31 win at Minnesota. Five years ago, they upset No. 13 Purdue, 27-26, on the first weekend. The year before that, it was wins over Missouri (Week 2, 51-28) and Kansas (Week 3, 39-16).

This is why I keep a copy of Phil Steele’s preview by my computer at all times in football season. To try and minimize the stupid mistakes that some nitpicking comment will use as proof of how ignorant I really am.

Bowling Green has rebounded from a down cycle a couple years ago. They have mined for talent and developed it well. Especially getting a good payoff from JUCO recruits and getting the right guy at QB. Add in a lot more experience and the team is well positioned for this year.

Don’t think they and their fans aren’t aware that if they can perform in the non-con (at Pitt, Minnesota, at Boise State and at Wyoming) they will be in the top-25 and getting a lot of attention. It’s not a Fresno State non-con, but it is solid and has name/conference value for 3 of the games.

As Orange noted in the Q&A, last year’s leading rusher for the Falcons was moved to WR after being recruited initially as a QB. Anthony Turner looks to be at WR more as a “slash” player. Sure enough, BG Coach Brandon went with that.

Bowling Green indeed has its “Slash.”

You might wonder why Turner, with more than 2,100 passing yards and 1,100 rushing yards to his credit, would be moved to receiver, where the Falcons already seemed deep with the likes of Freddie Barnes, Corey Partridge and Marques Parks.

Well, there are a few reasons. One is running back Willie Geter, a sophomore who the Falcons expect to be a blur. Another is a wide-open offensive scheme that can never include too many receivers for quarterback Tyler Sheehan. And, of course, Turner is “Slash” – he’ll be doing a little bit of everything while calling a wide-out position home.

“He’s a talent,” BG coach Gregg Brandon said of Turner. “I said all through the course of last season that we had to find ways to get him on the field more. He gives us great flexibility. With him at receiver, it gives us a chance to get all of our weapons on the field for every snap.

“We don’t just call plays. When we put an offense together, we start with the best players and then place them in formations and then draw up plays. It forces you to build a system that puts the most talented guys on the field, and then you devise formations and plays to accommodate them.”

I read that and all I could think was that I am so glad Paul Rhoads is somewhere else.

Depending on the perspective you read from the papers, Coach Wannstedt is concerned about stopping Bowling Green.

He’s also concerned about trying to prepare for the Falcons’ version of the spread offense. He said it is tough enough to get ready for an opener, but trying to prepare a defense for an unconventional offensive scheme makes it doubly rough.

“Their offense is completely different than what we’ve been practicing all spring and summer,” Wannstedt said yesterday in his weekly news conference. “They’ll run plays with four and five wide receivers. They will spread the field and throw the ball around a lot. We’ll probably see a lot of screens so it’s completely different than what we’re accustomed to.

“And with no preseason games and limited scrimmages, the first game is always one of a little uncertainty because of substitutions and special teams.”

Or he’s just going to count on the team to be ready and to have the players make plays or something like that.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt has been guardedly optimistic about the season opener, and is preparing his Panthers to focus not on the challenge Bowling Green presents but instead to concentrate on their own strengths.

“You don’t know what they’re going to do and they don’t know what we’re going to do,” Wannstedt said. “We’ve got a lot of new wrinkles on both sides of the ball that they haven’t seen, and I’m sure they have the same thing. You make sure you don’t get caught up in defending ‘ghosts,’ as they say, and you go out there and focus on being sound.”

This spread is not the same as the spread Pitt will see from USF or WVU. The Falcons actually throw the ball. Think multiple receiver sets, and trying to create mismatches in the coverage and gaps at the seams.

Their defense is still the big question mark.

A couple things just to note.

Oooh. Season opener 2009 is on September 5 vs. Youngstown State? Unless they are bringing back the old unis for this game again, ugh. File this tidbit away. Since the Penguins began playing 1-A teams for money — 3 games so far — they haven’t scored a TD yet.

While Pitt wants to promote their season tickets as a great deal for fans, having StubHub issue a press release putting Pitt at the top of the list in terms of best value is a mixed blessing.

While the ticket resale value on StubHub can sometimes run into the hundreds of dollars for some of the nation’s top programs, there are dozens of marquee teams that carry very attractive resale prices. Many of them are ranked in the preseason Top 25 polls, while others offer substantial values with a very attractive schedule of home games. All prices listed in StubHub’s Best College Football Values poll are the current average selling prices for tickets sold through StubHub as of Aug. 27 using a minimum benchmark of 900 tickets sold for each team to validate any trend.

Leading the way as the best value in college football for 2008 is the University of Pittsburgh whose average selling price on StubHub to date is a very economical $39 per ticket. The Panthers not only carry an extremely affordable ticket price, but they’re expected to challenge for a conference title and also feature a stellar home schedule. Big East powers West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers visit Heinz Field this season along with the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten. Despite these marquee games, a #25 preseason ranking by AP and a Heisman trophy candidate in RB LeSean McCoy, Pitt tickets at StubHub have remained the most affordable of any team in this year’s preseason poll. Tickets for the home opener this Saturday against Bowling Green are currently listed for as little as $3.

In other words, the interest or fan support is not nearly has high as supply. Even if the games are sell outs plenty of people are putting their tickets on the secondary market to keep prices down.

Rutgers was the only other team in their top-25. The Pac-10 led with 6 teams. The ACC had 5 teams. The Big 11 and Big 12 each had 4. The SEC had 3 and East Carolina made the list.

Now? You ask. Yes. Today the Big East schedule is supposed to be released. Once those dates are out — and the likely TV dates — it will be a matter of days maybe a week before Pitt’s full schedule will be released.

Though, the ACC released its schedule today as well, so we already know that the game at FSU will be December 21.

It’s especially worth noting, that Pitt just hired a new video coordinator, Rasheen Davis.

Davis arrives at Pitt with a diverse coaching background both at the collegiate and high school levels. He served the 2007-08 season as a program assistant for the men’s basketball team at the University of Louisville. Among his many duties under Head Coach Rick Pitino, Davis assisted in opponent scouting and film breakdown, monitored on-campus recruiting efforts and facilitated the program’s daily schedules.

Prior to his stint at Louisville, Davis served as the assistant boys varsity basketball coach at national power Rice High School in New York City for two seasons (2005-07) under coach Maurice Hicks. During his two seasons at Rice, the program captured back-to-back New York State Archdiocesan championships and one city title in 2005-06, totaled a combined 57-9 overall record and finished both seasons ranked among the nation’s top-25 teams. Additionally, he worked extensively with the New York Gauchos AAU Basketball program, assisting Coach Dwayne Mitchell with the Under-17 boy’s team for three years. His chief duties with the Gauchos included player development and game preparation. Combining his high school coaching tenure, Davis has coached one McDonald’s All-American, three Jordan Brand National All-Americans and six Jordan Brand Regional All-Americans.

Hmm. Has credentials so there is nothing shady about it. Of course one does wonder, who could be on the Gauchos present squad that also attends Rice? Oh, yes, Durand Scott.

Durand Scott has narrowed his list and is planning his visits.

Rice head coach Mo Hicks said Scott will visit Pitt, Miami, UCLA and Louisville officially and Seton Hall and St. John’s unofficially.

“We have to set his schedule of visits,” Hicks said.

“He’s going to visit Pitt, UCLA, Miami and Louisville and he’s going to do the unofficials to St. John’s and Seton Hall.”

UConn, Xavier and Memphis are also on the list for the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Scott, the No. 12 shooting guard in the Class of 2009 according to Rivals.

Actually, Scott is now the listed as #9 by Rivals.com and is ranked #41 overall. Scout.com and Rivals.com puts him as a 4-star recruit. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. puts him at #43 overall (Insider subs.).

And remember James Padgett will be visiting Pitt this weekend.

Okay, power rankings, polls and such. Stewart Mandel at SI.com starts Pitt out at #23 in his power rankings.

After watching a recent Panthers practice, I’m convinced that this is a bona fide top-25 team, with a superstar tailback (LeSean McCoy), a stud freshman receiver (Jonathan Baldwin) and a dominant D. But the O-line will keep them from rising much higher.

Last year Todd McShay at ESPN/Scouts, Inc. picked Pitt as his sleeper team from the Big East. If at first you don’t succeed…

I’m going back to the well with Pittsburgh. In fact, I like the Panthers so much they’ve become my pick to win the Big East in 2008. Coach Dave Wannstedt and his staff have recruited well the past four seasons, so the talent is in place to make a run.

Junior Bill Stull has been sharp in camp, emerging as an efficient quarterback for the pro-style scheme. As long as Stull protects the ball and makes sound decisions, RB LeSean McCoy will do the rest. McCoy rushed for 1,328 yards and 14 scores as a freshman last season. He should be even more potent with a full season of experience and a full offseason of conditioning under his belt.

MLB Scott McKillop and DE Greg Romeus anchor a defense that should again be one of the Big East’s most dominant units this fall.

The Panthers should be 4-0 heading into their October 2 showdown at South Florida. Playing Rutgers and West Virginia at home should also help them navigate through a difficult schedule down the stretch.

Not a shock that McShay is high on Pitt. He’s a player evaluator. In those terms, Pitt makes sense as his pick.

ESPN.com’s Big East writer, Brian Bennett has burning questions (there’s ointment for that) for Pitt. Three questions to be exact.

The first question is about the overall depth of the team. The final question concerns the coaching. Gee, what could the middle question concern?

2. How will the offensive line hold up?

Pitt replaces three starters from last year’s line, including NFL first-rounder Jeff Otah and fourth-round pick Mike McGlynn. Head coach Dave Wannstedt hasn’t expressed much confidence in new starting right tackle Joe Thomas so far. New offensive line coach Tony Wise, who spent the last 18 years in the NFL, needs to get this group in shape so it can block for LeSean McCoy and keep Stull upright.

Thoughts of the state of the O-line are now bordering on obsession for me. I need this season to start, just so I can see how they look for myself.