Looks like the general view of the Providence loss, is indeed along the lines of, “these things happen.”

Just looking at a couple power rankings and Pitt only drops to #2 in both the FoxSports and Luke Winn’s at SI.com.

The term “consistency” gets thrown around by every coach and commentator, but there’s actually a stat to measure it on Ken Pomeroy‘s ratings site. There, consistency is determined by the standard deviation of a team’s scoring margin, and Pomeroy says, “Highly rated teams that are inconsistent [statistically] tend to look beatable more often.” While Pitt won’t hold on to No. 1 this week because of Tuesday’s loss at Providence, Panthers fans can take solace in the fact their team is at least the most consistent (or least vulnerable) of the top eight in our Power Rankings…

Kind of weird. It’s almost like the punditry might be giving Pitt some real respect or something.

And with the way the #1 ranking has been passed around like a hot potato, it seems like it is hard to hold it against Pitt this year.

Seth Davis at SI.com lists Coach Dixon as his second choice for coach of the year.