So former Pitt player, former Pitt coach and father of a Pitt player getting lots of irrational hope pinned on him has re-upped with Nick Saban.

After several days of specula­tion, Saban finally confirmed the hiring of Carolina Panthers defensive line coach Sal Sunseri as well. Willis and Sunseri will replace inside linebackers coach Kevin Steele and outside linebackers coach Lance Thompson, but Saban did not specify which assistant will coach which position.

“I’m extremely happy to add a coach the caliber of Sal Sunse­ri to our staff,” Saban said. “From his playing days at Pitt, to coaching in college football and the NFL, Sal has been suc­cessful at every level of the game.”

This is Sunseri’s second stint with Saban. He coached line­backers at LSU in 2000 under Sa­ban. In making the announce­ment in 2000, Saban said Sunseri was an excellent re­cruiter.

“When you talk about college football tradition and national prestige, it doesn’t get any better than the University of Alaba­ma,” Sunseri said. “This is a championship program with a championship coach in Nick Sa­ban and I feel fortunate to be a part of that.”

Not sure if there was any actual speculation, but Sunseri, the elder swears that Tino isn’t going to transfer to join him.

Before that led to any speculation of whether Tino Sunseri would transfer to Alabama, I contacted the Sunseri family. Here was the response: “Tino is a Pitt Panther and will stay one.”

Glad that was cleared up.

Drew Rosenhaus will rep LeSean McCoy. Actually might be the right fit for McCoy. He needs a hard-nosed agent. McCoy has from all reports tended to be deferential to coaches and authority. Not good for negotiating a contract. Hey, at least it isn’t Scott Boras.

Another verbal earlier in the week. This time a defensive end from New Jersey, Bernardo Nunez. This one was expected for at least a week. He’s a solid 3-star recruit. Plus, he has upside (Insider subs).

He is a solid tackler who wraps up, but will drop his head some at times. He has the initial burst to get a good up-field charge in passing situations. He will use his hands to try and push a blocker by when he gets to quarterback depth. Does a good job of getting his hands up when he can not get to the quarterback. Displays the tools to be a disruptive pass rusher, but needs to keep working on developing an arsenal of pass rush moves. Nunez is a promising prospect. Displays good natural tools and flashes some good ability.

Broken record time, but I still wish Pitt would recruit a real center. So far efforts to convert young O-linemen have not yielded much more than frustration and spring and summer fumbled snaps.

Okay, this was one the Pitt football team needed. Dan Mason out of Penn Hills made his verbal. One of the top remaining uncommitted players in Pennsylvania, and one of the top linebacker prospects. He’s a consensus 4-star recruit.

He had offers from Pitt, WVU and PSU among others. He had it down to WVU and Pitt — because there was an opportunity to get out there early.

“That was a huge part,” Mason said of the middle linebacker opening. “That’s why I wanted to get down to Pitt and West Virginia. Both are losing their star middle linebacker. I can play in the middle, outside, wherever you want me to play.”

It doesn’t mean he will. It just means there is a better opportunity at early playing time.

Ultimately, the comfort with Pitt’s coaching staff was the difference maker.

“The main thing is that I was real comfortable with the coaches at Pitt,” he said. “They have been recruiting me for three years and I’ve had a great relationship with all those guys. I took my time with this decision because I wanted to have no doubt and I have no doubt. I know that Pitt is the right place for me.”

Welcome back Chas. My pleasure to fill in for a few days and I will be doing my best to offer some opinions on a semi-regular basis.

During the Syracuse games a few commenters reacted to the Zoo chanting “You hit girls,” in reference to Eric Defendorf and his incident from last November

Defendorf did his time (short suspension and community service) and returned to the team, but Big East student sections are, and will certainly continue, reminding him of the incident throughout the season. Just like they did with Marcus Williams, the laptop thief, a few years back. But my Pitt fans, a short memory we have. You could argue that Defendorf was just pulling a Yuri –  Yuri Demetrus that is. Yes, that’s right. Yuri Demetrus hit girls too. Too bad he couldn’t play basketball like Defendorf.

Hitting a girl is wrong. You don’t need me to tell you that. But should the incident be fair game during a basketball … game? Here is what two commenters had to say in the Pitt Syracuse Open Thread.

First from Ira:

Ehh the zoo was kind of annoying, maybe I am just old fashioned, but making fun of hitting a girl chant just seems in poor taste.

And now the other side of the argument from Mike:

i think it was funny when the zoo was chanting “you hit girls”, if he doesnt like it, then dont hit girls. If steeler fans want to chant that at fitz, so be it, but i think the Zoo did an awsome job today, its a great home court.
people need to lighten up

I am on Ira’s side on this one. When I was at Pitt, the Zoo not-so-creatively came up with a “Quinn’s a pussy” chant directed towards Notre Dame’s Chris Quinn who had owned the Panther’s in recent match ups. The chant was so obvious it could be heard on the National television broadcast. I wrote an entry for my old blog condemning the chant and my opinion has not changed.

Unlike Quinn**, Defendorf brought the chant upon himself deservedly through his actions, but to quote an old elementary school adage, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

** Unless Quinn deserved it for raining ridiculous 3-pointers on the Panthers, or for having a scrawny mustache

College athletes represent their Universities and should act accordingly.When students attend a game, and choose to make themselves heard, they are representing the University as well. There are other, classier, ways to support your team.

And yes, I know… everyone else is doing it so why shouldn’t we.

These actions have a trickle-down effect. In both Pittsburgh and in Maine I have covered high school athletics on a semi-regular basis for different newspapers. More and more I am seeing similar student sections and similar vulgar antics at the lower levels of athletics. Is it okay in high school? How about junior high? Actually, I might expect it from junior high kids…

A solution? Conferences should have a Sportsmanship award for each sport. I’ve seen it for high schools. Both the team and the fans should be taken into account for the award. Players and coaches should vote and a banner should be awarded. Maybe it wont solve the whole problem, but it will give a little motivation for fans, teams and schools to clean up their act.

Stay classy Pitt. I’d love to hear some other opinions. Just don’t call me a pussy.

Thanks to everyone for the e-mails and the comments left. It, admittedly, surprised me about how much it meant to read. The family is doing well, as there was about six weeks to prepare for this time.

A very big thanks to Keith for making a return to this blog for even a few days. Keeping things going and generally helping out. You’re always welcome to post here, Keith.

Watched both games on DVR delay.

I was not shocked that Pitt lost to Louisville. I was a little disappointed in the way they lost — but then I’m trying to figure out a way that I wouldn’t be disappointed. The thing I take away from that game, is that Pitt can beat Louisville and any team out there. Pitt got caught up in the concern over the trap and press and forced the ball to the basket too fast. It’s one thing to get the ball over half-court, but they still have plenty of time to set a play. Letting the shot clock get down to single digits is not necessarily a bad thing — especially against Louisville.

Then the Syracuse game, was excellent on several levels. The team bounced right back from the loss and losing the #1 spot to wear out the Orange. Once Rautins cooled down a bit in the second half, no one else was able to really do much against Pitt’s defense. Once more, the Orange zone was ineffective against Pitt. With Paul Harris in foul trouble, they were limited in going to man defense. I was most impressed with the way they shut down Jonny Flynn until he was scoring garbage points late. That really prevented them from ever getting a spark.

In case you hadn’t noticed, home court means as much as ever in the Big East. The best teams in the Big East are going to go no worse than 6-3 at home and 4-5 on the road. I really don’t  see how a team won’t finish with at least 4 losses. Inititally, I thought maybe 5 losses minimum, but Cinci and Seton Hall have not been as close to the middle as first thought and DePaul is far worse than expected. Providence and St. John’s — to varying degrees — seem just good enough to lose close games more often than not.

Good to be back.

Comment away. Hail to Pitt!!!

I am a big fan of effiency rankings for college basketball so before previewing any game I give them a look. If you still need a lesson on effiency rankings, here is a good source.

Today when I jumped over to KenPom.com I noticed something that helped explain Saturdays loss and Pitts shooting woes. Louisville is No. 1 in college basketball when it comes to adjusted defensive efficiency. They force teams into a low shooting percentage, block shots and cleanup on the boards. That formula certainly worked against Pitt.

Will Syracuse be able to do the same? According to the numbers, no. They are decent at making opponents miss, but not nearly as good as Louisville. They are much worse at keeping opponents off the offensive glass and are close to the bottom when it comes to forcing turnovers. The numbers may be a bit deceiving here as Syracuse uses the 2-3 zone which just keeps opponents on the perimeter instead of putting any real pressure on them.

Syracuse’s best statistical category is its ability to keep opponents OFF the free throw line. Pitt, not surprisingly, is one of the worst teams in the country at getting to the line. This is described on the stat pages as FTA/FGA or free throw attempts to field goal attempts. Now, if you are a whiner and like to complain about officiating, there is your ammo. I, on the other hand, think Pitt isn’t going strong to the hoop enough. Seriously, what goes around comes around when it comes to officiating. Argh. I really don’t like it when people complain about officials, sorry guys.

Local coverage on the Panther’s is a bit thin this week and probably will be for a few more. Not sure why. Yes, I know why. You don’t need to comment and tell me.

With only one day off between Louisville and Syracuse, Pitt doesn’t have much time to over think the loss.

Coach Jamie Dixon said he is happy his team does not have time to dwell on the Louisville loss.

“Our guys always want to play,” Dixon said. “They want to play in a game, so either way — win or lose — they want to play a game shortly. We’ll be ready to go. We’ll learn from this. You learn from everything. You learn from wins and you learn from losses. We learned from our 16 wins and we have to learn from our one oss.

Again, my opinion of Pitt’s loss will not be complete until I see how they play tonight. Turn it around, and it was a fluke. More of the same, and its the beginning of a trend.

Tonight’s match up puts last years co Big East rookies of the year against up against each other, Johnny Flynn and DeJuan. Well, not really. It’s more of a Flynn v. Fields match up.

Flynn, who last season shared Big East rookie of the year honors with DeJuan Blair, ranks third in the conference at 5.7 assists per game. He is averaging a team-best 16.3 points per game and shooting 49 percent from the field.

Fields leads the conference in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio despite a career-high six turnovers against Louisville. Fields needs five assists to become only the sixth player in Pitt history with 1,000 points and 500 assists.

For those who have not noticed, Pitt dropped to No. 4 in the polls while Syracuse is now No. 8. The Big East has six teams ranked in the top 12.

I just finished shoveling out the snow drifts up here in Maine where 16 to 18 inches of snow fell yesterday after they had forecast about half the amount.

Larry Fitzgerald positioned himself as one of, if not the, premier wide receiver in the NFL last night. Three touchdowns and over 150 yards receiving in the NFC Championship Game will get you noticed. If casual football fans didn’t know who he was prior to last night, they do now. And if they still don’t, they surely will after the next two weeks of media hype.

The New York Times wasted no time in featuring Fitzgerald, penning a piece so full of compliments you can’t help but be giddy to have his name associated with Pitt.

The best receiver in football, Fitzgerald doesn’t come with a flamboyant nickname like Plax, or a surname changed to Ocho Cinco, or fancy initials like T. O. He apparently isn’t much for hugging in public, or mugging for the cameras.

How can you not love that?

For the sake of full disclosure amongst high praise, there was a story around the new year that Fitzgerald was involved in a bit of a domestic dispute and his long-time girlfriend and mother of his child was hitting him with a restraining order. There were no chargers filled, but there was a bit of pushing and shoving involved which is never a good thing.

Back to the NFC Championship game. How do you think all the Eagle fan/Pitt Alumni felt watching one of their own light up their own. That must have been a good time. I have to admit, I hope it is more of the same against the Steelers. Whoops.

Last night’s game was a perfect display of what makes Fitzgerald so great (again, from the New York Times story).

He bounced off three tacklers to score the Cardinals’ first touchdown. He hauled in a 62-yard rainmaker from Warner after a lateral from J. J. Arrington, leaving Eagles safety Quintin Demps on the ground in a twisted heap. He caught a 1-yard pass for his third touchdown when poor Sheldon Brown was inexplicably left isolated on Fitzgerald, who goes to Tampa having already blown the great Jerry Rice out of the record book, with 419 postseason receiving yards.

He was powerful. He was fast. And he showed great hands. And at least during this post-season, he was better than Jerry Rice.

The USA today has a nice piece on Fitzgerald and the story of his mother, who died of Breast Cancer in 2003.

When asked his power source, Fitzgerald reaches into his locker for his wallet after practice last week and pulled out his late mother’s 2003 Minnesota driver’s license.

Carol Fitzgerald, who died of breast cancer in 2003, is the inspiration fueling the talented wide receiver on his postseason Super Bowl title mission.

“She never leaves my side,” Fitzgerald says. “I always have her with me.

“Whenever I’m having a tough day and I think things aren’t going well for me, I just look at my mom’s picture. She has that smile on her face.

Whether your talking on the field talent, or off the field values and personality, I’ll take Fitzgerald over any receiver in the NFL without question.

Expect Fitzgerald’s Pittsburgh ties to come up multiple times during the longest two weeks in sports. After about 10 days I can’t wait for the Big Game just so the media hype will come to an end. However, Larry may be the one player I wont mind hearing about over and over again.

And try this on for size. I know it’s way early to speculate, but if Larry were to get a ring and continue on the track he is on, could we all be meeting up in Canton for a HOF ceremony someday?

I’ll try and be back later today to preview Syracuse and post an Open Thread unless Chas’ beats me to it. Thanks for reading.

The last two weeks we got a lesson in being No. 1 for the first time. It was fun while it lasted.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Pitt lost to Louisville on the road yesterday, 69-63. The Panthers are now 17-1 and no longer the chic media topic when it comes to college hoops. Wake Forest has taken that crown by knocking off Clemeson to become the only unbeaten team left standing.

Now Pitt fans, we get a lesson on whats its like to be knocked from the No. 1 ranking. That, however, will not happen until tomorrow when the rankings come out. Until then, lets continue to bask in the glow. Pitt’s No. 1 baby!!

In all seriousness, as you all probably know, one loss is not a big deal. I find it funny how publications are running headlines such as “Louisville stuns top-ranked Pitt.” Stunned? Probably not. This is the Big East.  I’ve also heard talk of Louisville ending Pitt’s run at perfection. Technically, that is what happened, but realistically, were any of us, some of the biggest Pitt homers included, remotely even thinking about a perfect run? Not when sober at least.

Knee-jerk reaction is to be upset with the loss. It definitely had its ugly points. The box score leaves plenty to be concerned with. Sam Young  (6 for 20) and Levance Fields (3 for 14) shot ice cold, which happens. It’s just not good when two of your stars shoot that poorly in the same game. Young was paticularlly hampered by a 2-of-10 performance from beyond the arc. Ron Cook latched onto Young performance, since in reality it was his third off-night from the field in a row.

If Young had talked, he almost certainly would have said something like this:

“I’d like to apologize to my teammates and to Pitt fans for costing us the game tonight. I was awful. It hurts bad because all of us wanted to go undefeated this season. All I can do now is promise to work hard to get better. And I will be better, starting Monday night against Syracuse.”

Cook makes some good points, but as usual his wording makes him sound like a prick. Don’t make up a quote for a kid saying that he cost the game. Even if its clear the quote is made up. Bush league, in my opinion. I would have been more impressed by the column if he wrote it a game ago, when it was already obvious Young was shooting poorly. It’s easy to pile on after a loss, but often times the negatives from a loss were already begining to reer their heads in the wins preceeding. This is an example of such.

The best point in the column was made by Dixon. Young was 0-0 from the free throw line, which from a player with Young’s athletisicm, you could argue is worse than going 2-for-10 from the free-throw line. Get to the hoop! Too many jump shots.

More troubling for the Panthers was the 20 turnovers. That is sloppy, regardless of how well Pitino’s teams press and pressure. Again, it happens.

My reaction to the loss will be determined by how Pitt recovers. The Celtics started the season on a remarkable run in the NBA, then after falling to the Lakers on Christmas day went into a tailspin that they are just begining to recover from. That could easily happen to the Panther’s given their upcoming schedule and the nature of Big East basketball. Pitt needs to bounce back and show that Saturday’s negatives were aberations and not trends.

Louisville is certinally a team to fear in the Big East. Good coaches like Boeheim of Syracuse and Pitino will always improve their teams exponentially as the season goes on and the Cardinals are doing exactly that. They have gone from a loss to Western Kentucky early in the season, to knocking off the No. 1 team in the country in mid January.

Five wins in 14 days that changed the Cardinals’ season? Probably too soon to know for sure. This is the Big East Conference, remember. Two weeks into the season we’ve already declared first Connecticut, then Georgetown and then Pitt The Team to Beat.

But if you beat UK and back it up with four Big East wins, you’ve earned a few minutes to holler and high-five adoring fans, the way the Cardinals’ players did as they danced off the court last night.

This is exactly what we expected from the Big East season. Louisville is the hot team right now, but trust me, there will be another. And probably another after that.

Time to look ahead to Syracuse on Monday. They are on a high right now after defeating previous hot team and current ice-cold team, Notre Dame.

As expected, Pitt is one of only two unbeaten teams remaining now since Wake Forest knocked off Clemson in a battle of the other two unbeatens to start the day.

In today’s other notable result, Syracuse CRUSHED Notre Dame, getting double digit points from 6 different players, including all five starters.

Post your running comments on the game here.  I am covering a high school hockey game at  7:20 p.m. so I am going to miss the finish. I expect I’ll know the course of the game by reading your comments when I get home.

Oh, and not that I condone it, but if you are cheap and don’t have ESPN (like me), try channelsurfing.net. It might work, wink wink.

6:12 ESPN hasn’t cut to the Pitt game yet, but watching the game cast I know that Bigg hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring. THAT’s a good sign.

6:13 Biggs followed up his 3-pointer by picking up a quick foul, but Fields knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 6-2 Pitt. Good start from the outside.

6:16 Michigan State screwing over Pitt fans again. Hurry up already.

6:19 As Illinois chooses not to foul, the MSU game comes to an end, Biggs knocks down his second 3-pointer. Biggs is doing his best Ronald Ramon impression (I miss Ramon).

6:22 Now Dixon who has been ice cold from downtown does his best Biggs impression and hits a 3. Pitt is up 17-6 and is 4-5 from beyond the arc.

6:25 More second-chance points as Fields misses a 3-pointer only for Pitt to get it back, make the extra pass for Fields to make it on his second chance. Working the offensive glass and hitting 3-pointers. That’s a good combo.

6:28 I just want to make a note, mid game, that my thoughts are with Chas. I like filling in on the blog, but miss him and his insight. I hope he and his family are hanging in there. Game or no game, my thoughts are with them.

6:33 Louisville is going on a run, their zone is looking really tough. Pitt is going to need to knock down a few more jumpers to soften that zone… or Young will need to keep working the pump fake, like he just did there. Sick.

6:44 Damn, Louisville is making Pitt look awful. Young has two fouls and is out. The announcers just called Syracuse a final-four team and the best in the Big East in a matter of 10 seconds and my dog just threw up on the floor. Okay, forget the last part, but its now a one-point game. I am off to some hockey. Lets go Pitt!!! Keep the comments going.

Condolences to Chas and his family for their recent loss. Deep loses such as this always put the importance of sports in perspective. Sports are a wonderful outlet from the trials and tribulations of daily life, but when buzzer sounds, remember, its just a game. If you have yet to read Chas’ heartfelt post on the loss of his grandfather, please take the time to do so now.

Now onto today’s game.

Pitts identity in the media heading into today’s game is no different than it has been the last 8-10 years. Blue-collar.

I think toughness is precisely the reason the Pittsburgh program has created ways to win consistently against schools with better pedigrees. Ben Howland started it before he fled to UCLA. Jamie Dixon, the current Pitt coach, has upgraded it.

I don’t need to see a stat sheet to say that Pittsburgh leads the Big East Conference in broad shoulders, sharp elbows and harsh expressions.

I said earlier this year that it is amazing how Pitt’s identity has remained the same through the Howland and Dixon years. The players are different but the theme stays the same. However, we as fans have already learned, and teams and pundits alike are learning, that this Pitt team is different.

According to Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted effiency stats, Pitt boasts the No. 3 most efficient offense in the country. Pitt has steadily been improving its offensive efficiency the last four seasons. In ’06 they finished No. 21, in ’07 No. 12 and in ’08 No. 8.

Rick Pitino was on ESPN’s First Take yesterday, and emphasized the typical themes regarding the Panther’s before discussing, somewhat strangely,  the near airline tragedy in NYC and talking about his close calls in the friendly skys. Note to self: If on a plane with Pitino, find another flight. I suppose anyone who flies that much will have a close call or two. You can still see the interview, here.

Pitino knows Pitt will be physical, they always are. So maybe it worked out well that his team got an extra two days off this week due to NCAA rules.

While everyone talks about Pitt’s defense, Louisville is the team coming into the game with the the No. 1 rated defense when it comes to adjusted efficiency. Pitino coached teams can drive others crazy with its pressure and press, something the Panthers have handled well in the past expect for on one occasion. Honestly, with Fields in charge, I am not too worried about the offense.

As Ray Fittipaldo points out in today’s Post Gazette, Pitt’s defense may be the bigger worry.

The reason Louisville was able to beat Pitt in the first meeting last season was the manner in which the Cardinals dissected the Panthers’ defense. They shot 58 percent from the field.

Defense might be the bigger concern in this game, especially considering Pitt allowed South Florida to shoot 48 percent Wednesday in a 75-62 home victory. Louisville is averaging 73 points per game in its first three Big East games and is one of three remaining conference teams without a loss in league play.

Other media is taking the easy route of looking at Pitt’s upcoming schedule, looking at the rankings of the upcoming teams and turning it into a story. Yawn.

I can see today’s game going either way. Louisville is a tough team to figure out. Nice wins over Kentucky, ‘Nova and, most recently, ND and loses to Western Kentucky, UNLV and Minnesota. Although I was in New England to witness Pitino’s dismantling of the Celtics, I still fear his teams when it comes to college.

If Pitt is to lose and fall from No. 1, sure it will be disappointing. It has been fun for all of us, as die hard Pitt fans, to look at the rankings and see OUR team in the top spot. However, when it comes to National respect amongst regular college basketball fans, it won’t matter until Pitt goes DEEP into the NCAA tournament. That’s not because of Pitt’s past in the tournament, its just because teams don’t really get noticed until they make a deep run. There’s nothing wrong with that.

That being said, I expect a win today.

Enjoy the game. I’ll post an open thread closer to tip.

I’m probably going to be taking a couple days off. My grandfather passed away yesterday evening. It wasn’t unexpected. He was 92, and had a host of issues from Cancer, to heart issues and well,  just being old.

I’ll be sitting shiva, being with family and generally be in a frame of mind that won’t be able to give Pitt much priority.

The good news is that I’m living forever. My 6-year old daughter told me so at dinner as we were struggling with a good way to explain what was going on. So, I’ve got that going for me.t

(more…)

Really late, but all will be clear sooner.

Power rankings. All keep Pitt at the top.

Fox Sports

Luke Winn at SI.com — and love for DeJuan Blair this week.

ESPN.com — and guess who still won’t put Pitt at #1. It’s not that Gottlieb hates Pitt. I doubt he does. His whole schtick, though, is to be “controversial” and “outside the box.” A Skip Bayless without the perma-tan.

Another Tom Herrion piece, this time from Charleston, SC. A sort of, don’t look back in anger story.

“When I was younger, so much was about how fast and how quickly I could become a head coach. I’m tremendously grateful to the College of Charleston for giving me the opportunity,” said Herrion, who worked as a TV analyst for one season before joining Dixon’s staff.

“But having been a head coach and done a reasonably good job, I have a different perspective now. I know I’m at a great place and I think you value different things after you’ve had different experiences.”

So don’t feel too sorry for Herrion. He makes more money now than he did in Charleston when he and his family lived in the showcase I’On neighborhood in Mount Pleasant.

Herrion generally is lauded as Pitt’s top recruiter and helped sign an incoming class rated among the nation’s best.

He also knows the top assistant at a top program likely will get calls about head coach openings.

“If the right situation arose, I would listen,” Herrion said. “But it would take quite an offer. I am very aware of how fortunate I am to be in the situation I’m in.”

…

Sort of like Larry Shyatt, the former Clemson head coach who has been part of two national championship teams as a Florida assistant and remains in Gainesville.

“Funny you should mention that,” Herrion said. “Larry and I talked on the phone just this week.”

That. Well, that would be awesome for Pitt and Dixon if Herrion took that kind of role for the long-term.

Warning. Warning. Jay Bilas likes Pitt over Louisville.

The Cardinals struggle to shoot from the perimeter against grinding defenses, and Pitt can grind it out with the best of them. The Panthers are just as deep as Louisville and are more physical. Unless the Cards hit shots, Pittsburgh will get a win in Freedom Hall. The difference can be Levance Fields and his ability to handle pressure and DeJuan Blair and his ability to dominate on the glass. Blair has the length and offensive-rebounding capability to really bother freshman Samardo Samuels.
The Winner: I like Pittsburgh to win on the road.

Erp.

Meanwhile Mike Cook is giving life in the NBDL a shot as he gets back to full strength.

After failing to make the BayHawks in large part due to being out of shape and recovering from a severe knee injury, Cook has since returned to the team slimmer in size, but very heavy in determination.

“I really wanted to prove to everybody that I was a better player,” said Cook, who is from Philadelphia. “I didn’t have to prove it to myself. I thought I had to prove it to everybody else. That really pushed me.”

Although Cook isn’t starting for the BayHawks, as he did at the University of Pittsburgh, the fact that he’s even playing right now makes those who have been with him through this trying process very proud.

“Having seen the pain he was in initially and the fact that he is playing basketball a year later almost brings tears to my eyes to see that,” Pitt trainer Tony Salesi said.

Good luck to Mike Cook.

It’s the start of Pitt’s Big East gauntlet.

No. 1 Pitt is about to embark on a five-game stretch that will feature four ranked teams. And the one opponent that is not among the nation’s top 25 dropped out last week after losing to another of the Big East’s ranked teams.

The Panthers will begin running that gantlet tomorrow at No. 20 Louisville. That will be followed by games against No. 8 Syracuse, West Virginia, No. 23 Villanova and No. 12 Notre Dame. Three of those games are on the road.

For Pitt, the most consecutive games against ranked teams was four in 1990. If West Virginia rejoins the ranks next week, a record could be set.

“Everyone is talking about this stretch and that stretch for different teams,” Dixon said. “We can’t spend all preseason talking about it like it’s the toughest conference in history and all the great teams … and then when it comes up, you have to play them. You can’t talk about it. You have to play them.

The Pitt players are going to keep it up with the “no respect” card for as long as possible.

The Panthers didn’t sneak up on anyone — they were No. 5 in the preseason Associated Press poll — but many still think it’s a little surprising the Panthers are No. 1 for the first time, even considering Pitt’s steady progress and North Carolina’s unexpected vulnerability.

“It’s obvious,” Pitt point guard Levance Fields said yesterday. “They’re always talking about who else should be No. 1. When Carolina was No. 1 you didn’t hear about anybody else that should be No. 1. That’s just how it is at Pittsburgh. It’s something we get accustomed to.

“We have to just keep on winning. We don’t have to say nothing to people.”

I’m good with that.

The Cards are looking to fire up the fanbase further, by honoring the 1983 Final Four Cardinal team at halftime.

You know DeJuan Blair is looking forward to the chance to go against another “young cat” in Samardo Samuels. Well, Samuels is looking forward to the challenge.

“I don’t want it to get any easier,” said Samuels, who’s coming off an 18-point, six-rebound and four-block performance against the Fighting Irish. “I want to play against the best. I think of myself as the best and I want to go against the best. It gets me more fired up.”

The inside game should be fun. The refs for this game are Pat Driscoll, Ed Hightower and Brian O’Connell. Yay. No Burr and Higgins.

Of course, Samuels is a freshman and one of the most sought after recruits last year. This goes back to the whole, Pitt does it without big name recruits (at the moment) along with  players with a chip on their shoulder.

“To be honest, some of us got snubbed, if you really want to look at it that way, from being those kind of recruits,” Fields said. “We’re a bunch of guys who won, who are hard-nosed, and I think we are a great example that you don’t always need the McDonald’s All-American on your team. You just need a group of guys who are willing to work and want to win.”

Added plus, since the game isn’t the “primetime” ESPN game no Dick Vitale. The playcalling crew is the superior pairing of Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery with Fran Fraschilla.

Under all news is local: another NY sportswriter discovers that Pitt has a lot of local NY products.

And as the wins pile up for the Panthers this season – right now they’re 16-0 heading into Saturday’s Big East showdown at Louisville – we would also like to point out that two of the Panthers’ leading contributors are a pair of local products, guard Levance Fields and forward Tyrell Biggs, a tandem lured to western Pennsylvania by current Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen while he was toiling as a Pitt assistant.

Fields, out of Brooklyn’s Xaverian HS, is averaging 10.3 points a game while the 6-8 Biggs, out of New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep, has chipped in with 8.5 points and 5.3 boards, third best on the team.

Good news, while Seth Davis puts Fields-Blair as the best inside-out combo in the country, he’s picking the Cards tomorrow. My sense is, that most are picking against Pitt. Or at least leaning that way.

The funny thing, about the Miami-UNC game being the WWL feature, is that it is — at best — the 4th or 5th best offering on ESPN/ABC. Wake Forest-Clemson might be the top of the list with both teams undefeated. Pitt-Louisville is a close second, though.

That’s the theme the players are sounding after a tougher than expected win over the USF Bulls.

“Teams are going to play us tough regardless,” senior point guard Levance Fields said. “This is a tough conference. Unfortunately, now that we’re No. 1, everyone expects us to win by 20 or 30. But in this conference it just isn’t like that. Teams are going to play hard and fight. And that’s what South Florida did.”

A close game at halftime morphed into the usual manner of victory for the Panthers in the second half. They manhandled South Florida on the boards, methodically wore them down and received a well-balanced scoring effort on another night when leading scorer Sam Young was held below his average.

…

“Our defense was sluggish the whole game,” Blair said. “We just have to step it up on defense — point blank, period.”

Fields said the Panthers have to learn their lesson and build from their improved defensive performance in the second half.

“That’s something good we can take out of this game,” Fields said. “That was a great improvement. That created the margin we had in the second half. Everything isn’t going to go perfect. We have to find ways to make adjustments. I think we did a pretty good job of that in the second half.”

Levance Fields’ dishing was a big story for the game. His stature on the team, overshadowed the great work by Tyrell Biggs in the first half when USF was so focused on stopping Blair and Young.

But Biggs scored 11 of Pitt’s first 20 points and finished with his second-highest scoring game in 121 career games. He shot 7 of 10 from the field.

“It felt good,” Biggs said. “I got some nice open shots. That got me going.”

Pitt went 10 for 18 from 3-point range, including 7 for 10 in the first half, as South Florida collapsed on Blair and Young.

“Teams are going to double (the big men) more,” Fields said. “That’s what South Florida did today. We’ve just got to space the floor and knock our shots down and try to make teams stay honest.”

It also made things easy with Pitt knocking down the wide-open looks from the perimeter that USF was giving.

Pitt wasn’t shy about pulling the trigger either and, for only the second time in 16 games, the Panthers made more three-pointers than they missed. A total of 10 three’s plus a season-high 16 points from Tyrell Biggs led No. 1 Pitt to a 75-62 victory.

“I’ve said all along that we’re a good shooting team. I think we’ve taken good shots and I’ve been waiting for us to get that going with the three-point shooting,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I don’t think that we took a guarded three that I can remember.”

Pitt (16-0, 4-0 Big East), off to the third-best start in team history, shot 55.6 percent (10-for-18) from three-point range and the Panthers seemed to make one every time South Florida (6-10, 1-3) drew close.

Useless fact that may only interest me. The USF beat writers have never been to the Pete, and possibly never on Pitt’s campus. The last time USF was at Pitt, the beat writers were sent to cover the Gators BCS Championship. This time, they just didn’t bother sending them. Again, they just hired local writers to provide them the stories (Tony DeFazio, editor of PSR and Rob Biertempfel, the Trib’s Pirate beat writer).

As you would expect the delay in getting there played a role in the story, not to mention coming close.

“Man, we could’ve had this one,” said freshman forward Gus Gilchrist, who scored a season-high 22. “We played them tough, beyond anybody’s expectations.”

…

USF’s team bus left the downtown Marriott about two hours before the scheduled tipoff. From there, the ride to the arena usually takes about 15 minutes. But 90 minutes later, the Bulls were snowbound and trapped in traffic. It took a police escort to pry the bus out of the jam.

“Maybe it was a good thing, being stuck like that,” said guard Dominique Jones, who scored 22. “Everybody was listening to music, anxious to get here. That really surprised me; everybody on the team was anxious to play. That’s a good sign for us.”

But, they couldn’t play any defense.

South Florida shot lights-out in the first 20 minutes, hitting 12 of 21 shots from the field and five of eight from beyond the arc. The Bulls shot 47.7 percent overall (21-of-44) and 50 percent from 3-point range (7-of-14).

“If you’d have told me before the game we were going to shoot 48 percent, and 50 percent from 3, I’d take it,” USF coach Stan Heath said. “I just would never have thought we’d lose by 13.”

As noted, Pitt is the team the other Big East opponents are looking to see how they measure up against.

The feeling around Oakland has morphed from showing the Big East they can play with the top teams to the top teams measuring themselves to Pitt.

Pitt has become the Big East measuring stick.

The Panthers will lose, more than once even, in the Big East. They may even lose Saturday. Louisville’s a quick, athletic team with a load of talent. If they do, here’s a prediction that the student body will flood the Freedom Hall floor.

That’s where Pitt is now. It is what every other team wants to be … and the ranking has little to do with it.

It’s still a little hard to wrap my head around that. It’s true, just more untrod ground.

Congratulations on win #148 and moving into 3d place on Pitt’s all-time win list. Here’s hoping he moves into 2nd place early next season.

I’m still waiting for the YouTube of his Bud Light commercial, but there is this interview after a game winning shot with the “best 6th man in the South West Conference.”