No one should expect any team other than Pitt to be ranked #1 tomorrow. Over at CBS Sports, Gary Parrish does not want to have any debate on the issue.

That’s the end result of a wild Saturday on which No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 North Carolina both lost (to unranked Texas and unranked Maryland), clearing the way for the Panthers — who beat top-ranked Connecticut last Monday — to rise to the top of the Top 25 (and one) late Sunday night, then the AP and Coaches polls on Monday. It’s the only logical move, so much so that I imagine Pitt will get all 72 first-place votes in the AP poll and all 31 in the Coaches poll. Anything short of that will be proof that somebody with a vote isn’t paying attention, and if such a person presents himself (or herself), that person will be Poll Attacked on Monday afternoon.

Here’s all you need to know:

• Pitt is 25-2 overall.
• Nobody has more wins or fewer losses.
• Pitt has compiled this record against a schedule rated 12th nationally.
• Pitt has six wins against the top 25 of CBSSports.com’s RPI rankings.
• Nobody else has more than four.
• Both of Pitt’s losses came on the road.
• The losses were to the schools ranked seventh (Louisville) and 12th (Villanova) in the latest AP poll.

So to summarize, the Panthers have more good wins (i.e., wins against the top 25 of CBSSports.com’s RPI rankings) than anybody, just as few losses as the other elite teams, and no bad losses (like Oklahoma’s loss to Arkansas, North Carolina’s loss to Boston College, Connecticut’s loss to Georgetown, etc.).

Best I can tell, that makes Jamie Dixon’s team the easy No. 1.

Any other opinion is a faulty opinion.

And a little more love for Blair in ESPN.com’s Weekly Watch.

DeJuan Blair emerged as the new front-runner for Big East player of the year with his dominating performance in the win over Connecticut.

Blair literally tossed Hasheem Thabeet around and wound up with 22 points and 23 boards in the Panthers’ 76-68 win.

Against overmatched DePaul, Blair put up a workman-like 20 points and 18 boards in a 19-point victory.

The first-team All-America spots seem to be getting crowded. Make room for Blair, next to Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Thabeet. It would be hard to push any of these three off this perch.

You know, it’s been such a hectic week, that I never even got a post mentioning that incoming  member of the 2009 recruiting class, Dante Taylor was named a hamburger All-American.

Dante Taylor, who will be a freshman at Pitt next season, was named to the 2009 McDonald’s All-American game last night, becoming the first Pitt player in 22 years to garner the honor. He is one of 24 players on the team and one of five who will play in the Big East next season.

Taylor, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward from National Christian Academy in Maryland, is Pitt’s first McDonald’s All-American since 1987 when Brian Shorter and Bobby Martin made the team.

Taylor is the fifth player in Pitt’s history to earn the honor. Charles Smith was a McDonald’s All-American in 1984 and Jerome Lane was in ’85.

When Coach Jamie Dixon abruptly showed up in Florida for Pirate training camp. Well, he was in Florida for another reason and went for a side trip.

Jamie Dixon showed up in Florida today to check in on ’09 big man Kyryl Natyazhko. The 6’10” Ukrainian is an offensively skilled post player that Herrion has been watching a lot lately. The fact that Dixon made a point to see him shows that the Panthers interest is very strong. Word is that since Dixon was in Bradenton, he wanted to quietly sneak in and see the Pirates in spring training. But when you have one of the marquee teams in the nation, sneaking is no longer an option, and he was immediately surrounded by cameramen.

Lastly, one name that recently came up with Pitt, since Herrion was spotted watching him play, is 6’11” junior college center Jarrid Famous. But word is, Herrion was checking out local high school players in the area so he took the opportunity to see Famous, too. However, the big man would only be an option if DeJuan Blair left early for the NBA, and by the time Blair’s situation is known, it’s expected that Famous will be out of play.

Natyazhko is a 4-star recruit at the IMG Academy with offers from FSU, Miami, Kentucky, Arizona State and Xavier.

That’s really what the DePaul game felt like — at least for a fan. Yes, DePaul is technically a Big East team and has some talent. They just aren’t that good, and Pitt was at home. I never even thought for a minute that Pitt would do anything but rip through the Blue Demons. This is rare for me. I worry, angst and naturally expect worst case scenarios.  Yet not with this game.

Thankfully, Pitt proved my lack of concern to be justified. I know I’ll be back to worrying and normal for Tuesday night’s road game at Providence. Instead for this game, we had comedy.

In the opening minute of Saturday night’s game with DePaul, Pitt’s DeJuan Blair and center Matija Poscic were fighting for a rebound when the two got tangled.

The 6-foot-10, 245-pound Poscic found himself with one arm locked against Blair’s body.

Blair had the ball. There was no changing that.

As visions of flailing Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet came to mind, Poscic pulled his arm away and let the Pitt sophomore center have his prize.

Blair flashed a wide smile, and the sold-out crowd cheered knowingly at the reminiscent scene.

“That’s why I started laughing,” Blair said. “He got his arm out of there quick. I was snatching the ball. He wasn’t going to go over me and go flying into the (Oakland) Zoo.”

And that moment was also sent out on the AP wire story across the country, to further the legend of  Blair. Blair only had 23 minutes of action, but he dominated as usual.

DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said a guy like Blair comes around only every so often. He actually pitied Poscic, Kene Obi, Devin Hill and the rest of his backcourt.

“You put them in and ask them to wrestle with a bear for 10 minutes,” Wainwright said. “And, your arms are tied. And we hope you live to fight again.”

Few get out alive. Thabeet, an NBA lottery pick if he chooses to go early, was severely outplayed by Blair. Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, a few weeks ago, was outplayed by Blair. The anonymous DePaul forward/centers were outplayed by Blair.

He’s leaving a path of big men in his Big East wake.

And inspiring others.

All mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.

Credit to Justin M. for this creation.

The other big thing of the game was seeing Larry Fitzgerald at the Pete.

Fitzgerald, sitting in the seat typically occupied by Steelers kicker Jeff Reed, also received large cheers when he entered the arena a couple of minutes before tip-off.

In the second half, Fitzgerald autographed a rolled-up shirt for the promotional T-shirt toss. The Panther mascot feigned throwing the item into the frenzied masses in the Oakland Zoo but instead gave the shirt to a young boy sitting courtside. The Zoo promptly booed the stunt.

Fitzgerald stuck around after the game, greeting well-wishers and posing for photographs at midcourt for at least 15 minutes.

He chose the right home game to visit. The fans could actually take the time to acknowledge him.

This was inevitable with DeJuan Blair. It started getting beyond speculation and mock drafts after this past Monday’s intimindation and domination over Thabeet. With more NBA scouts in attendance at the DePaul-Pitt game, a couple stories on whether Blair might be gone after this year.

Blair said Pitt’s success in March will play a big role in his decision. He hinted if Pitt wins its first NCAA title, he would almost certainly turn pro.

“Of course,” he said. “You’ve done everything you wanted to do. Of course that would (have an impact).”

Blair, along with Marquette senior guard Jerel McNeal, last year’s winner; junior forward Luke Harangody of Notre Dame; and Thabeet, is considered a leading candidate for the Big East Player of the Year. Blair also could be playing his way onto an All-America team.

“I think he’s one of the top 15 players in the country,” said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who called the UConn game and worked with Blair at the Amare Stoudemire’s Big Man camp this summer in Phoenix. “He’s relentless. He’s an energetic player that never stops and that counts for a lot.”

Dom Berardinelli, a regional scout for the Court Report, an NBA scouting service, has mixed emotions. A former Pitt player and regular at all home games, Berardinelli wants to see Blair play for his alma mater for one more season. The scout in him, however, isn’t so optimistic.

Anyone have any problem with that trade? A big run in the NCAA Tournament meaning Blair would go pro? I don’t. I could live with a major rebuilding year with that trade.

Blair isn’t committing to anything one way or another. Coach Dixon has tought him the cliches well.

“That’s something for everyone else to talk about, not us,” Dixon said, making it clear a Blair-to-the-NBA discussion isn’t high on his priority list with Pitt so close to a Big East regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s only speculation that’s based on inaccurate and incomplete information at this point. The decisions are made in April, May and June about who’s going to go and where they’re going to be picked. Right now, there probably are 200 guys going to the NBA. There are more guys going in the first round than there are spots. It’s not worth even talking about at this point.”

Dixon is a coach, right?

The last thing any coach wants now is a distraction.

But Dixon is lucky. Blair is more mature and sensible than many college sophomores. He has handled the NBA questions with the same ease he grabs a rebound. Asked about the draft in Connecticut last week, he said, “The NBA is somewhere over there. We’re here.” Asked about it two weeks ago, he said, “Not even thinking about that. I’ll worry about the future when it gets here, whenever that is. All I’m thinking about now is winning the Big East regular-season championship and the national championship.”

I’m with Blair and Dixon. This is something for other people to discuss if they want now. To me, it is not something I even care about at this point. It’s speculation, though, I expect he will turn pro. Especially if Pitt has a deep run. There is nothing like the shine of a big stage and winning to enhance prospects.

What helps Blair is that he already has the mentality of proving people wrong and always improving.

He was always too big or too small or too clumsy or too young.

DeJuan Blair never listened to any of it. That’s one of the reasons he works so hard to prove his doubters wrong.

“Whatever he uses as a personal motivating factor,” former Pitt star Charles Smith said, “it’s working.”

I’m just glad he’s here right now.