Not sure how the world can handle this. The conventional wisdom in football is that Coach Wannstedt is at best a mediocre coach. That he is simply the latest in a line of ex-NFL coaches in college that operates in that 5-8 wins per year group (Gailey, Groh, Sherman, Callahan, et. al.).

Now Pitt sits at 7-1. Ranked its highest under Wannstedt (#15 BCS, #16 AP, #17 Coaches). Pitt’s best start since 1982.

So it is time for the paradigm shift. Something many Pitt fans have been working through for the past year or so.

3. Pittsburgh is for real: Yes, it is sometimes tough to give coach Dave Wannstedt a whole lot of credit but he has a team that is legitimately good. The Panthers not only beat South Florida, they absolutely dominated the Bulls. There’s probably a slip-up coming somewhere (Pitt is usually good for one head-scratcher per year), but until that happens the Panthers deserve to be feared.

I think we can agree that the NC State game could and should count as the slip-up game. Here’s hoping it’s the only one.

This is the week of acknowledging what is happening.

We’ve certainly been critical of Dave Wannstedt in the past, but he has it going on at Pittsburgh this season. His Panthers crushed USF 41-10 Saturday to move to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big East. Pitt led 31-7 at halftime Saturday and didn’t punt the whole game.

“They just whooped us and were much better than us” was USF coach Jim Leavitt’s succinct reaction.

If not for a loss to N.C. State in which it blew a 14-point lead, Pitt would be 8-0 and almost certainly in the top 10. (That NCSU has not beaten any other FBS team has to make it doubly frustrating for Pitt.)

Yeah, that’s going to be a bitter thing for a while. I guess it can be used as a reminder to the team not to take anything for granted and the close difference between winning or losing. Or some motivational gimmick. Still just sucks.

So, there is some actual respect going on.

P is for Pitt: The only thing more complete than Dave Wannstedt’s mustache might be his football team. A 41-14 victory over South Florida makes the Panthers 7-1 for the first time since 1982, when Dan Marino quarterbacked Pitt to its last No. 1 ranking.

And respect for Coach Wannstedt.

Lesson 6: We all owe Pitt a big ole apology.

Sorry, we never should’ve doubted the ‘Stache. Dave Wannstadt and his Panthers absolutely dismantled South Florida 41-14 to take over the Big East lead at 4-0. This is the first time since 1982 that Pittsburgh has started 7-1. But I wonder just how hard Pitt is kicking itself for blowing that two-touchdown lead at N.C. State back in September? Damn.

By the way, that Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game on Dec. 5 is gonna rock.

Expect more of this meme during  the next week. What with Pitt on a bye week and Coach Wannstedt being more available for media interviews.