Any chance they can push the start of spring practice to April?

No?

Pity.

Well, Adam Gunn and Pitt got a pleasant surprise from the NCAA. A sixth year.

Gunn, who redshirted during his freshman season, suffered a broken bone in his neck in the opener last season against Bowling Green when he collided with former Panthers linebacker Scott McKillop. He was knocked out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

Pitt appealed for a sixth year based on medical hardship and it was granted.

“We are very pleased for Adam that the NCAA has given him an extra year of eligibility,” Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said. “The next step is for him to visit with our doctors to see if and when he will be physically ready to begin playing again. We are, first and foremost, concerned with Adam’s long-term health and well being.”

Gunn isn’t expected to be ready to practice — hopefully — until the summer. Still, assuming Gunn comes back healthy, he provides some needed depth and experience at the linebacker spot.

AD Steve Pederson is letting the local media know he still wants to get people in the stands.

Now, a year later, Pitt is pushing to sell out Heinz Field for a team devoid of bona fide superstars — after the graduation of middle linebacker Scott McKillop and early entry to the NFL by tailback LeSean McCoy — but coming off its first nine-win season in more than a quarter century.

To do so, Pitt is offering season-ticket packages ranging from $82 to $280 that increase prices by only $10 despite adding a seventh home game to the schedule this fall. Five of the visitors to Heinz Field earned bowl berths last season, including non-conference opponents Navy and Notre Dame.

“There’s ‘real’ momentum and, obviously, an excellent team,” Pederson said. “I kind of view this as an opportunity to see a bunch of new, young stars step up. In some ways, it’s even more intriguing to see who the new stars are going to be. … That’s what’s exciting.”

Pitt announced its non-conference schedule and season-ticket prices Monday, as well as new initiatives for the annual Blue-Gold Game. The Panthers will open at home against Youngstown State on Sept. 5, play at Buffalo on Sept. 12, play host to Navy on Sept. 19, at North Carolina State on Sept. 26 and receive the first visit since 2005 from Notre Dame on Nov. 14.

Pitt also will play host to Big East foes Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse and South Florida, and will visit Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia. The conference schedule, however, has yet to be released.

It all comes down to winning and expectations of winning. That will be what gets more people in the stands.

The things implemented last year remain, and the spring game gets jazzed up a bit.

Beyond ticket prices, the athletic department also will bring back the family tailgate on Art Rooney Avenue, the Great Lawn tailgate for students, the Pitt band tailgate and the revised student shuttle bus program. And once again everyone who buys season tickets is guaranteed the opportunity to buy a parking pass.

The one major new development for this season is in regard to the Blue-Gold spring football game April 11.

“Brand new for 2009 is that, for the first time, our fans are going to get to interact with our football team on that Saturday at what we are calling the spring football festival,” Pitt marketing representative Chris Ferris said. “It will be unlike anything we’ve done before, and like the regular football games, there will be something for everyone.”

The spring football festival will begin at 12:30 p.m. (gates open at noon) April 11 with two events for fans — a football clinic on the field for children 12-and-under conducted by Pitt players, and a “chalk talk” and question-and-answer session for fans conducted by the coaching staff in the club lounge.

Both events are free and will be followed by the Blue-Gold game at 2 p.m. There also will be an autograph session on the plaza and in the Great Hall as well as live entertainment, games and other activities to give the spring game a festival atmosphere.

Sounds like fun.

Finally, since one of the favorite topics of off-season Big East football is expansion. One of the overlooked aspects of conference affiliation still involves the academics of the member institutions.

US News and World Report put together a conference breakdown from their academic rankings. Here’s the Big East. Here’s Conference USA (where the most likely target for additions reside). Note where Memphis and ECU reside in the ranking tiers. In no BCS conference are there schools that reside down in “tier four.” The Big East has the most “tier 3” schools of any other BCS conference with 4 (Cinci, Louisville, USF and WVU).

That has to matter for the Pitt and the other 3 schools that actually have academic reputations.