Brian Bennett at ESPN.com’s Big East blog has a good little discussion topic on the most indispensable player on each team.

In the last two days, we’ve seen a couple of players — Demetrius Jones from Cincinnati and Leslie Stirrups from South Florida — get their official exodus from their respective programs.

Neither is an essential player, but it got me to thinking about which individuals that each Big East team could least afford to lose, via an injury or suspension, this spring. While hoping this doesn’t serve as some sort of voodoo jinx, here is the list I came up with. Some of them are obvious choices, while others may surprise you a bit.

Here’s who he has for Pitt:

Pittsburgh: Dom DeCicco, SS. Like UConn, this one was a tough call. I thought about Jonathan Baldwin, because his playmaking ability is irreplaceable. But Pitt has other receivers. Jason Pinkston at left tackle is another candidate. I settled on DeCicco because the Panthers are thin at safety, and losing a veteran player back there would cause them to have to mix and match.

I actually agree with Bennett about Baldwin. Losing him would be bad, but there is enough depth to make it a less painful. The same probably applies to Dion Lewis.

I have to disagree though about DeCicco. Taglianetti will be back for the fall. While DeCicco has experience and probably gets a little more grief than he deserves for his play, there will also be Kolby Gray (for whom I am admittedly very optimistic for no clear reason) and Jason Hendricks.

Jason Pinkston — or really any of the starters on the O-line — would be a big loss. In terms of reduced depth and the questions of the drop-off from the starters to the guys behind them. While Pitt has the ability to move players to various spots on the line, it would be stressful. That said, I have been conditioned over the years to overreact to all things related to the O-line.

If I’m going to make a pick, it would be Middle Linebacker Dan Mason. The MLB spot is a huge spot in Coach Wannstedt’s defense. Mason is a special player, and losing him at that spot would change the whole defense. Especially if he makes the expected growth in handling passing offenses.

I have been a little too busy in the offline world to make the daily pleas this week as intended.

At this point I have received contributions or pledges to do so from 29 people. Thanks to those that have donated to this point.

Things could be better on that front. So if you can, please help. Hit the Paypal button on the sidelinks or e-mail if you prefer to send a check.

The idea of a tailgate was tossed around in the comments. That has been something on my mind for the last couple years. Not as any sort of fundraiser, but just to have a chance for people to gather, meet, and for me to say thank you.

The problem I have had in advancing it beyond serious consideration is twofold. Like many of you who go to the game, I come in from out-of-town. That makes the logistics of getting everything together and getting set up more difficult.

The bigger problem is that Pitt’s schedule hardly allows for much advanced planning. On Pitt’s schedule this year, there are only 4 Saturday home games. Right now only one Saturday home game is already set for a time — New Hampshire at 1 pm. As we all know, the Big East and ESPN have tended to wait until a week to two weeks before the game to announce the time. Also a lot of the games end up being noon starts, and noon starts suck for a good tailgate.

What might make more sense is having a post-game gathering at one of the North Side watering holes.

Thoughts on the matter are welcome

Hey, you knew it was coming. Really silly top-25 predictions for next year. Even before the dust settles on early entries to the NBA draft and a few more key recruits decide.

Pitt seems to be a consensus top-10 pick in the way too early stuff.

Luke Winn at SI.com:

7. PITTSBURGH: The Panthers were Big East contenders a year ahead of schedule, tying for second in the league. Junior guard Ashton Gibbs is one of the nation’s most underrated scorers — he shot 44.4 percent on threes during Big East play in ‘09-10 — and on the verge of becoming a national name.

Marc Millar from Beyond the Arc:

5. Pitt
Panthers finished 25-9 and were a Big East surprise. By returning four starters and three top bench players, they’re good enough to win league.

From FoxSports.com’s Jeff Goodman:

8. PITTSBURGH
Record: 25-9 (second round of the NCAA tournament)
Lose: Jermaine Dixon Possible Early Entry Departures: None
Key Returnees: Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, Gilbert Brown, Gary McGhee, Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall, Dante Taylor
Newcomers: J.J. Moore, Cameron Wright, Isaiah Epps

The Panthers weren’t expected to do much this past season after losing four starters, but Jamie Dixon performed some magic to the tune of 25 wins. Pittsburgh’s lone loss is that of Jermaine Dixon, but guards Gibbs and Wanamaker have another year under their belt and McGhee made dramatic improvement in the past year. The key could be the progress of Taylor up front.

Gary Parrish at CBSSports.com puts Pitt at #6.

Over at SBN:

8) Pitt: Jamie Dixon has proven himself to be among the elite coaches in the country, and he should have one of his better teams in 2010/2011. The Panthers exceeded most expectations with their performance this season, and they return their top three scorers. Ashton Gibbs should be one of the elite guys in the Big East next season, and look for Isaiah Epps to step in and make an immediate impact next year.

Mike DeCourcy also chimes in from the Sporting News:

9. Pitt
The Panthers need to become more versatile on offense, but don’t be surprised if talented big man Dante Taylor makes a significant leap as a sophomore.

And finally from Andy Katz at ESPN.com:

5. Pitt: The Panthers were the surprise of the Big East last season by landing a 2-seed in the Big East tournament and a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. No one should be shocked by Pitt returning this season as the Big East favorite. The whole team returns. Ashton Gibbs is the leader of this group and makes money shots for the Panthers.

So, at this point the lowest ranking is 9th. Highest 5th.

Expect Pitt to have a tough and backloaded Big East schedule for next year.

The Meineke Car Car Bowl is dead. Long live the Charlotte-Name-Placeholder-Until-A-New-Sponsor-Willing-To-Pay-More-Is-Found Bowl.

Bowl officials wanted a more lucrative deal after moving up in the Atlantic Coast Conference selection order, which will mean increasing its payout per team from about $1.3 million to more than $1.8 million.

Driven Brands took over as title sponsor from Continental Tire in 2005 and has been paying about $1 million a year.

Maybe Wachovia Wells Fargo will pony up. That would be fun The Wells Fargo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium.

Remember when the Big East got sick of the split deal with the Sun Bowl and the Gator Bowl? If you can follow this, it might return with the PapaJohns.com Bowl and Liberty Bowl.

As part of their four-year agreements through 2013, the Papajohns.com and Lib­erty rotate who gets an SEC team when the conference doesn’t have enough eligible teams. If there are enough teams, the two bowls will at­tempt to work through their picks together.

This marks the first four­-year contract between the SEC and the Papajohns.com Bowl after they previously worked under a two-year deal.

“We certainly sense more and more community involvement with the bowl, which in our view is essential to the success of a bowl,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. “We’re very pleased that we’re able to enter into a more formal and longer agreement with the bowl and to hopefully make a contribution to the community in which the conference office is located.”

Papajohns gets the last SEC pick. The Liberty one spot ahead. Now the plan had been that if the SEC didn’t have enough teams, the SunBelt would take the spot for the SEC in Birmingham. The Big East, though, wants to make sure they play the SEC in a bowl every year — hence why a Big East team goes to Birmingham.

Meanwhile the Liberty Bowl is trying to get the Big East as a back-up conference to the SEC in the game against a Conference USA team.

Sooo. I don’t think that the Big East and SEC will meet in the Liberty Bowl, but there might be instances that bumps the Big East team either into an additional spot in the Liberty Bowl or even out of the papajohns.com bowl. It’s all very convoluted and makes my head hurt.

Now when Tony Barnhart speaks on college football issues, people actually pay attention. He’s one of the few remaining non-ESPN journalists that spent his career writing about, covering and having lots of sources in the college games. So, this is intriguing.

The other big topic here has a chance to completely change college football as we know it. I’ve spoken to a number of athletics directors and commissioners who are convinced that the Big Ten is positioning itself to seriously consider becoming college football first super conference by expanding to as many as 16 teams.

The Big Ten is looking at three plans: Stand pat with 11 teams, add one team (hopefully Notre Dame) or make a blockbuster move and go to 16.

“If they go to 16 and one of them is Notre Dame then we’ve got an entirely new ball game,” a conference commissioner told me confidentially.

There is pretty serious speculation that The Big Ten would look to the Big East in its big master plan. Now I don’t know which teams are involved, but Just for fun, let’s say the Big Ten asks Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut and Rutgers to join.

Realistically, those are the only 4 schools from the Big East that the Big 11 would take. The other 4 BE football schools lack the requisite academic bonafides.

Barnhart then goes into further speculation mode and kind of drifts afield in my view. But the idea of 16-team mega conferences in football has been floated by message boards and writers for some time. Andy Staples at SI.com floated one in February.

Honestly. I think the Big 11 is considering it, because going mega would legitimately be a daring way to get ahead of the potential curve and there has been so much speculation over the economic arms races of the Big 11 and SEC. A move to 16 might be enough of a force to get the Big Ten Network on lower tiers and more deals cut into the heavily populated — even if slightly apathetic to the college game — East.

Either way, I’m not planning to buy  Big East labeled gear. Spencer Hall breaks it down with the Big East conference call.

Somewhat related to Pitt since the baseball team was playing at Rutgers. The Rutgers men’s basketball coach and son of the baseball coach there lost it.

In front of several reporters and hundreds of fans, Hill made a scene on the diamond after the Rutgers baseball team beat ranked Pitt 9-8 in a wild finish Thursday.

In the bottom of the ninth, with Rutgers trailing 8-7, runners on second and third and two outs, Mike Lang’s grounder to short was fielded cleanly, but the throw to first was off the mark, allowing the tying and winning runs to score. Pitt coach Joe Jordano protested the call at first base, prompting a huddle by the umpires.

During the huddle, Hill (whose father is RU’s longtime baseball coach) was out onto the diamond in front of the Rutgers dugout and launched into a profanity-laced tirade in the direction of Jordano and the Pittsburgh coaches.

The next day, Pittsburgh AD Steve Pederson called Rutgers’ Tim Pernetti to complain about Hill’s conduct.

Now the Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti is “actively investigating” it.

“”We are actively investigating the incident involving the head men’s basketball coach that took place at our baseball game last Thursday on campus,” Pernetti said in a statement released to MyCentralJersey.com Tuesday. “”The reports and eyewitness accounts are very concerning.”

The only reason why Hill even made it to this point as still employed is because Rutgers is so broke they can’t afford to buy him out. This might just do it.

Not sure why both papers have done such a poor job covering spring practice. I sort of get that Zeise at the P-G was shifted between the NCAA Tournament and WVU. Yet the Trib has hardly been impressive without a similar excuse. You would think that with Pitt’s potential for 2010, plus the quarterback competition that was expected (even if it didn’t happen) there would have been a push to stay on top of the spring intrigue.

The only ones enjoying this are Panther Digest and PantherLair. They have been covering practices, but it is all behind paywalls and thus restricted information to paying customers.

What stories have been published, have focused a lot on the offense. Ray Graham is not displacing Dion Lewis, but he has come out ready.

Graham’s talent has always been apparent, Walker said. But Graham excels at taking concepts out of video sessions and team meetings and applying them on the field, even if they are difficult to grasp at first.

It is that attention to detail that has sparked Graham’s improvement the most, Walker said.

“That’s probably the thing that’s most encouraging for me,” he said. “I know he can make a play and do some things, but it’s all the little things that maybe go unnoticed that he’s also doing that have been nice surprises.”

As he prepares for the start of his second collegiate season, Graham hopes he can continue to perform well in practice, push Lewis to better himself and compete for as much playing time as possible.

And, he hopes he can show a little more versatility in his game.

“You’re going to see me catch a little more,” Graham said. “I’ll show you my Reggie Bush side.”

As others noted in the comments, that sort of statement suggests using Graham to catch passes out in the flat and use his speed in open spaces. What wasn’t mentioned, and one of the factors that will play a large role in his playing time — holding onto the ball.

Graham struggled last summer and in some action last year. We all know how Coach Wannstedt feels about turnovers.

Another member of the backfield hoping to do more, fullback Henry Hynoski.

Hynoski primarily has been a blocker in his first two seasons, but his role is going to expand in the fall. The Panthers lost two of their top four receiving threats when tight end Dorin Dickerson and receiver Oderick Turner graduated, and the coaches are looking for new weapons in the passing game.

“Henry is a guy who is a better player with the ball in his hands than anyone gives him credit for,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “With Dorin gone and Nate [Byham] gone, we’ve got to find some ways to get the ball to some people. One guy [defenses] know we’ll get the ball to is Baldwin, and they’re going to have three guys covering him, so it’s pretty simple that we’re going to have to find other people, in other ways, to throw the football to. And Henry is capable of doing that.”

Not to be negative, but exactly how much passing is going to get out there? This is still a Wannstedt team, and it will be a Sunseri in his first year back there. Dion Lewis is a weapon no one forgets.

There is Baldwin and Shanahan obviously should get a lot of the passes thrown their way. Then Cruz and Devlin can’t be just blocking the entire time at TE. Now there’s Graham and possibly Hynoski? To say nothing of other receivers that could step up like Saddler, Devin Street, Todd Thomas and Ed Tinker. Let’s also not forget that Greg Cross has been looking pretty good. The euphoria and optimism of spring and possibilities must still be tempered.

The defense this year, has been more beaten up and dealing with injuries, so the offense has looked really sharp for 1st and 2nd teams.

“The best thing we did on offense was both the first and second units played fairly clean,” Wannstedt said. “You didn’t see the ball on the ground, you didn’t see any turnovers, there were very few penalties. When we play like that on offense, we’re very tough to stop because of our balance.”

Wannstedt praised both quarterbacks, who threw for a total of 251 yards and five touchdowns yesterday. Sunseri completed 13 of 18 passes for 129 yards and four scores, while Bostick was 10 of 14 for 122 yards and the touchdown to Cross.

Dion Lewis carried nine times for 64 yards, and Chris Burns netted 35 yards on 11 carries. Jason Douglas and Ray Graham combined for 53 more rushing yards on 24 carries, Graham with 22 on 11 and Douglas with 31 on 13, while Mike Shanahan and Jon Baldwin each had touchdown catches.

There have been some bright spots on the defense. Tyrone Ezall looks really good at DT. He has shined this spring.

The corner positions look  a lot more stable than expected with junior college transfer Saheed Imoru and Antwuan Reed. Apparently because the coaching staff has gotten away from having the corners play so far off the receivers. Showing tighter and more bump-and-run style of coverage. Depth may still be an issue, at the spot but at least it is not looking horrid.

Since Dave Wannstedt and Jamie Dixon got their two year extension, I want mine.

No, just like athletic director Steve Pederson said with Coach Dixon it is merely a coincidence.  As most long time readers know, every two years in April I ask for donations to keep things going smoothly at Pitt Blather. The deal with keeping domestic peace with the wife is that while this obviously takes time from me, it can’t cost me money.

So where does the money go? Well, the obvious stuff like server and storage costs. There’s keeping control of this domain.

Some of the money goes to making sure I have a decent laptop running well.

It also goes towards site upkeep and updates. This site is overdue for an update.

I’m not talking about anything too radical. Readability and smooth loading of the site is the primary focus. That is why I have kept too many other things that slow it down off the site.

Adding things like the “personal blogging” feature — giving you the ability to write your own posts on topics is on the list. I’m also mulling the addition of a message board.

Input and suggestions as to features people would like to see on the site are important. I want to know some of what you like in a site.

As has been the policy for a couple years, I will maintain the rule keeping political ads off of the site.

You can contribute two ways. If you want to send a check, shoot me an e-mail at pittblather-at-gmail-dot-com and I’ll give you my address. The other option is PayPal. There is a link for PayPal in the upper part of the right-hand links column.

There will be a daily post each day this week to try and guilt donations. Please don’t make me beg too much. It’s very uncomfortable.

— I don’t know about you, but seeing Da’Sean Butler go down in an agonized heap against Duke brought back painful memories of seeing Mike Cook go down against Duke a few years back. Right down to the screams and a head coach cradling and trying to comfort and console his player.

I was not rooting for WVU, but I hated seeing Butler go down with an injury. He was a hell of a player that always scared the crap out of me. Anyone who cheered that is scum. Regardless of what name was on the front of his jersey.

— It sure will be easy to root for the Butler Bulldogs tonight. To the point where I kind of wish Billy Packer was still the analyst. Just to have him bag on Butler so it would be that much easier to root against Duke.

The other reason to root for Butler. Coach Dixon coached Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack on the US U-19 gold medal team.

“Someone asked me, ‘What did you learn from the experience with the U19 team,'” Dixon said in a phone interview. “I learned not to play Butler.”

Mack, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Lexington, KY, was named a team captain.

Hayward, a 6’9″ sophomore from Brownsburg, IN, was selected to the tournament’s All-Star team along with Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor, who played for newly minted Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Hurley at St. Anthony in Jersey City.

“Gordon was our best player by far and Mack was probably or second-best player,” Dixon said. “That gives you an idea how good they were.

“This team’s not Cinderella,” Dixon added of Butler. “The two players I know are as good as anybody in the country.”

— The Pitt Blather bracket challenge is now down to

Renato Miguel and Ontario Lets Go Pitt. Very simple. If Butler wins, RM wins. If Duke wins OLGP takes it by a point.

— Apparently former Pitt assistant and Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen is still considering the offer for more money to be an assistant at St. John’s. By all reports, though, he’s got a strong recruiting class and an excellent chance to win the MAAC. Considering he remains in demand to be an assistant (rejected an offer from Calipari to join him in Kentucky), I don’t see the point in leaving his present job. Even if he fails and gets fired, the well-paid assistant/recruiting jobs will be out there. If he succeeds, he gets a chance to move up the coaching ladder.

— I don’t know how many of you had a chance to watch the debut on your PBS station for “The Street Stops Here.” The documentary on St. Anthony’s and hall of fame basketball coach Bob Hurley, that focuses on the 2007-08 season and players — including Pitt’s Travon Woodall.

The reviews have been glowing. For some reason, PBS in Cleveland didn’t air it this past Wednesday. They waited until Saturday night — during the Final Four — to ensure that anyone who likes basketball and would be interested totally missed it. I have it on the DVR and it is on my watch list right after tonight.

Have to admit that this has been a weird Saturday. No basketball games or football games all day.  I basically have either been watching or attending games for every Saturday since September.

Today, I’ve been spending time with my family. Beginning work on the ridiculous number of projects around the house.  God, it sucked.

Coach Jamie Dixon did not win the AP Coach of the Year. As expected that went to Jim Boeheim. He did, however, collect the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year.

Named after legendary Mount St. Mary’s head coach Jim Phelan, who won over 800 games and coached in more contests than any in college basketball history, the award is presented annually to the top coach in America by CollegeInsider.com. The honor is voted upon by a distinguished group of coaches, media members and athletic administrators.

Dixon, who has been listed as a finalist for virtually every national coach of the year honor, was also named the CollegeInsider.com Big East Coach of the Year. Other finalists for the Jim Phelan Award were Steve Alford (New Mexico), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), John Calipari (Kentucky), Steve Donohue (Cornell), Fran Dunphy (Temple), Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa), mid-season honoree Frank Martin (Kansas State), Chris Mooney (Richmond), Matt Painter (Purdue), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Bill Self (Kansas), Brad Stevens (Butler), Mark Turgeon (Texas A&M) and Jay Wright (Villanova).

Previous Jim Phelan Award winners include John Calipari (Memphis, 2009), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin, 2008), Tony Bennett (Washington State, 2007), Ben Howland (UCLA, 2006), Tubby Smith (Kentucky, 2005) Phil Martelli (St. Joseph’s, 2004) and Mark Slonaker (Mercer, 2003).

So, that’s nice.

Marshall is looking for a new head coach. They have been very busy interviewing many. Including Assitant Coach Tom Herrion.

A head coach at the College of Charleston from 2002-06, Herrion was 80-35. He just concluded his second season as Coach Jamie Dixon’s top assistant at Pitt and previously was an assistant to Pete Gillen at Virginia and Providence.

Herrion, 42, was the Pitt coach who was hit in the face by a quarter thrown during a game this season at the WVU Coliseum. A brother, Bill Herrion, is the head coach at New Hampshire – and was the head coach at East Carolina while [Marshall AD Mike] Hamrick was the AD there, before he moved to UNLV.

What makes me nervous is how much sense this could make for Marshall.

Worth noting that Marshall lost their head coach to Central Florida, and the rumor mill down there is that UCF made the move to fire a head coach of 17 years because they are getting serious. Why? Because the belief is the Big East is going to beckon soon.

UCF Athletic Director Keith Tribble and UCF President John Hitt said they never mentioned a move to the Big East during interviews with candidates.

“No, those rumors were incorrect,” Tribble said. “It was never discussed.”

However, new UCF basketball coach Donnie Jones has not been shy talking about the Knights’ Big East potential.

“We have a chance down the road to maybe go to the Big East,” Jones said this week. “… This school has the ability with the students and obviously the commitment and facilities to put ourselves in a situation to make that next step.”

Football and basketball recruits have noted UCF’s Big East potential during interviews discussing their decision to either commit or sign letters of intent to play for the Knights.

Tribble has made it clear he wants UCF to be part of a conference with an automatic qualifying BCS bid, generating more revenue for UCF through shares of BCS game revenue and bigger conference television agreements.

So, maybe the Big East is finally reacting a little.

This year will be the final year for the SEC/Big East skirmish. Pitt is assuredly one of the teams from the Big East that will play. In a format that guarantees obscurity and low attendance, there are only 4 games each year played on two sites that are semi-neutral.

Well, the SEC is in favor of extending, improving and expanding the thing.

The ACC/Big Ten Chal­lenge, created in 1999, has been the biggest success among series of this kind, pairing those leagues for 11 games annually on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. The games usually occur at home arenas rather than neutral sites.

“We know about the ACC/Big Ten format (for the SEC and Big East). Whether that’s the right format, I don’t know,” Slive said. “We may not change it. Those are sort of the extremes, and we’re talking with ESPN to see if we can do something to create more.”

Slive said discussions for an opposing conference “right now” are only with the Big East. All 12 SEC teams have played in the invitational; Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Se­ton Hall have yet to play for the 16-team Big East.

The Pac-10 and Big 12 have their own exchange, but it is spread out over a month, so it is largely ignored. The SEC-Big East is on back-to-back days, but it is so small a group it is also fairly irrelevant.

Let’s face it. The ideal approach is the ACC/Big 11. All the games are on campus courts. It is all over just a few days, so it gets a lot of attention and is easy to follow. Hopefully the 800 pound gorilla that is ESPN (who owns this invitational) will press the Big East to accept an expanded set-up.

Finally a piece on Gil Brown.

“I bided my time and earned my role with the team. It has been a great experience and everything played out for me.”

The potential is there for the Panthers to become a dangerous team next season, and Dixon knows exactly what he wants from Brown.

“He has focused on becoming more physical on drives to the basket,” Dixon said. “He is a better defender, but he can be a great defender. I hope this offseason will be a good one for him.”

Brown realizes what he needs to do in order to take that next step in becoming the all-around player the coaching staff envisions. The ball, sort of speak, is in his court.

“I felt I provided some leadership this season and I felt comfortable with that role,” Brown said. “I have to be more assertive [on the court] and be a better leader to become an elite player.”

And consistent. Definitely would like to see consistent.

There really is only so much to say about Coach Wannstedt’s extension. Coach Wannstedt’s value to Pitt is not questioned. At the same time, it is not like he is going anywhere. Wannstedt’s value to Pitt is probably greater than in the open market. Not by much, as he could probably earn near his salary as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. He wouldn’t, however, get to be the head coach at this level of college or the NFL.

Neither side has any desire for that, though. The additional years on the contract are for purposes of refuting any negative recruiting efforts of how long Wannstedt will be at Pitt. To provide tangible evidence of both sides commitment. The bump is salary is to make sure Wannstedt knows Pitt is not taking him for granted. There are no mysteries here.

“The contract extension is really an indication of a mutual commitment to one another,” Pederson said.

He declined to disclose the terms of the agreement or say whether the extension increases Wannstedt’s pay.

“We have always tried to compensate our coaches fairly and make sure that they’re competitive,” Pederson said.

He said this is not “earth-shattering news” — Wannstedt knew the university wanted to extend his contract…

The move, as such didn’t create huge ripples in college football, but it is spring, so the news cycle is a little quieter.

Q. Dave Wannstedt received a contract extension from Pitt. How do you rate the job he has done there?

Hayes: Wannstedt will be the first to say it’s all about winning championships. Pitt is close, and could’ve won the Big East last year if the defense could’ve held a big lead on Cincinnati in the last game of the season. That said, he and his staff have made a significant impact on the program: from recruiting, to player development to winning (20 of the last 27 games).

When he was first hired, Wannstedt talked about how returning to his alma mater was an important step in his professional life. I’m not sure he realized how much he’d grow to enjoy the college game. When a coach is invested like that at a place he truly enjoys, only good things can happen.

Curtis: I’m thinking a solid B. The lack of a Big East championship sticks out, especially in a league that lacks the traditional juggernauts each of the other five BCS automatic qualifier conferences features. Throw in the head-scratching losses, even last season to N.C. State, and Wannstedt can’t rank among the best. Still, he’s brought together a strong staff, and he’s shown he can both recruit and develop players on both sides of the ball. A hair more consistency in the fall, and Wannstedt jumps to another coaching caste.

As Chris Peak points out, this is happily part of a time of coaching stability and success in both football and basketball. A rarity for most programs.

Even in terms of Pitt history, Wannstedt and Dixon have become two of the longest-tenured coaches in their respective sports. Wannstedt’s five years served tie him for the fifth-longest coaching stint in the football program’s 120-year history, and if he serves the full duration of the current contract, he will have been Pitt’s head coach for 10 years, which would rank as the third-longest tenure behind Jock Sutherland (15 seasons from 1924-38) and John Michelosen (11 seasons from 1955-65).

Wannstedt, who has a 35-26 record in five seasons and in 2009 led the program to its first 10-win season since 1981, is also just one of seven head football coaches in Pitt history to serve at least five consecutive seasons. The program has had a total of 34 head coaches in its 120-year history.

The men’s basketball program has had more consistency. Dixon’s seven-year tenure is also tied for the fifth-longest in program history, but the Panthers had just four head coaches – George Flint, Doc Carlson, Robert Timmons, and Charles Ridl – in the 64-year span from 1911 to 1975. Since 1975, only two coaches have led the Panthers for at least seven years: Paul Evans (1986-94) and Dixon.

…

“You can look at the University of Pittsburgh and say, ‘I’ve got pretty good assurance about what’s going to happen next,” Pederson said Wednesday. “I’m going to go there, I’m going to get a great education at a great university, I’m going to play on a great team, I’m going to be coached by outstanding people, and I don’t have to worry every year about what’s happening next. I can go in and I can achieve everything I’m trying to achieve without worrying about all of this other stuff.'”

Good times.

Did Coach Dixon meet with Oregon officials boosters while he was in NYC to do studio work for CBS College Sports? Technically, no one knows for sure. Coach Dixon won’t address it. Oregon denies it — like it denies offering Turgeon, Few, Smith and others. Really, the fact that the guy heading the Oregon search — Kilkenny — is not an actual employee of Oregon really improves everyone’s deniability.

Coach Dixon was asked that question on the radio, but dodged the question, as expected. Lee at EoaP is a little concerned that this will start to alienate some towards Dixon since he is at least listening. While he says  he isn’t bothered by the fact that Dixon listens, he does seem a touch concerned.

I don’t mind so much, in part because I’m a little jaded about the whole coaching carousel. It really doesn’t seem to matter how entrenched and successful a coach is at a place. Tom Izzo is a Michigan native. He was a longtime assistant for Jud Heathcote at Michigan State. He has had amazing success as head coach. Over 20 years at Michigan State. Yet, his name keeps popping up each year. Whether delusional or not. It will keep happening for coaches until they reach a certain number of years at a school (Boeheim, Krzyzewski) or age (Calhoun). Some school, somewhere will believe they have enough money, facilities, fertile recruiting, history, etc. to lure a coach.

(Honestly the number of schools that can truly meet those first four are very limited — Kentucky, Kansas, UNC, Indiana, Duke. Some schools like Texas and Florida simply have so much of the first three, they can probably skip the history part. A school like UCLA lacks the truly big money part because of state laws. Everyone else has to either compensate or lower their expectations of who they hire.)

I also don’t mind Dixon listening, because you never know when someone is going to offer that crazy money you can’t refuse. That or you have that moment of absolute clarity and realize that you want to stay where you are. It doesn’t hurt to listen.

[As a personal example. I get contacted by blogging networks and collectives trying to get me to move this site several times each year. I have no interest in joining them, but I listen. Part of it is to get an idea of what objective value is placed on this site and what I do. But there are other factors that go into why I listen. Whether it is because of a relationship with the person contacting me, or simply because I don’t know if they are going to offer a deal that is simply too good to refuse. I’m sure many of you do or have done the same in your career.]

The terms of the contract (i.e., money) remain unknown at this time. I’m sure at some point over the next 12 months it will get out. Then casually mentioned in stories like everyone had common knowledge of it. In the meantime, it is speculation.

What I am fairly certain, is that like last year with Arizona, Coach Dixon took less money to stay. Arizona was willing to start at $2 million last year. That wasn’t enough, and Pitt didn’t have to redo his contract once more. This year, it is safe to assume that Oregon was probably willing to start at around $2.5 million per year. Coach Dixon, instead, stayed for 2 more years and very assuredly less than that over the length of the contract.

To me that says how much he prefers to be at Pitt, and just how crazy the money would have to be for him to leave. As Dokish points out, this is at least the 10th different offer from another school he has rejected.

It also means he believes that Pitt can win it all.

The weird thing that happens when you know a program is coming hard after your coach is you start following that search closely. You almost become invested in seeing how it turns out. This happened to me last year with Arizona. It has happened this year with Oregon. I am totally fascinated by their coaching search — and failure to this point.

Basically, all that has happened to this point is they have helped coaches get raises and extensions.

Two other coaches reportedly on the short list to replace Ernie Kent have gotten raises to stay in their current positions.

Mark Turgeon of Texas A&M is set to get a $250,000 raise, according to ESPN.com, and Pitt’s Jamie Dixon signed a two-year contract extension Tuesday, locking him up through the 2017-18 season.

Meanwhile, Steve Alford of New Mexico told the Albuquerque Journal that he is willing to listen if someone calls but added that he is not looking to leave the Lobos.

Mark Few of Gonzaga, a Creswell native and Oregon grad who has close ties to former Ducks athletic director Pat Kilkenny, told the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., that he does not comment on coaching rumors.

Meanwhile, Tubby Smith might get a small bump at Minnesota and that promised new practice facility is now a priority.

It does seem curious that Baylor’s Scott Drew is not being pursued. Memphis showed interest in him last year, but that was it. This despite an astounding job rebuilding Baylor after the Bliss scandal — and in a rather deep Big 12. I suppose it has something to do with a less than perfect reputation. There have been rumors that he tends to the shady side in recruiting efforts (or at least has stepped on other Div. 1 coaches’ toes in the process). Given the number of other coaches that do that and no one seems to mind, though, I can’t believe that is the only reason.

With all the other rejections Oregon has had, they might be waiting to see about Butler’s Brad Stevens after all.

Stevens’ style is not frenetic. It’s defense-first, with a fairly deliberate offense. But all this talk about pace and having to have an entertaining style is bunk, anyway.

Just win.

Oregon wants to be about glitz and glamor. Maybe it sounds good to say the Ducks will run up and down the floor. Maybe that’s in keeping with the desired image.

But winning provides the ultimate positive branding, doesn’t it? The Bulldogs have 88 wins since Stevens was promoted to head coach, which is a record for anyone’s first three seasons.

Considering Mark Turgeon and Jamie Dixon were high on their list, yeah, claiming to want a coach that runs and “entertaining style” of basketball is definitely bunk.

Here’s something that seems to have escaped most of the Duck fans and people covering Oregon’s search. Or at the very least, seems incredibly minimized. Mike Belotti screwed Oregon.

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