I admit to being surprised by the new ACC TV deal that has apparently went down.

The back-and-forth bidding, which reached its final stages last week at the league’s spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., drove up ESPN’s rights fee from initial projections of about $120 million a year to $155 million, sources said, providing the ACC with more than double the revenue it was receiving from its previous football and basketball contracts.

ESPN’s increase was in response to an unexpectedly strong pursuit by Fox Sports and sources familiar with the negotiations say the bidding was neck-and-neck last week.

The ACC broke from its spring meetings without announcing a new deal, and the conference said a formal contract had not been finalized. But industry sources pegged a pending deal with ESPN at $1.86 billion over 12 years .

That annual figure of $155 million dwarfs the average of $67 million the league was getting from its previous media deals…

I’ve been thinking about it for the last 24 hours because there’s a lot to it.

One of the things I noted is that like the Big East deal with ESPN, it is all encompassing. In other words it appears to give up all rights including digital and mobile platform. That’s a significant difference from the SEC and Big 10 deals with ESPN that allows those conferences greater control over other and future revenue streams.

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Reminder, all of this is simply talk and speculation. Freaking out now is kind of silly. Obviously I’m following it and take it semi-seriously (insofar as Pitt’s future is concerned), but it should not be a stress thing.

Losing one’s mind over this crap is your own problem.

Let’s start with the Big 12 right now, since the big money is on at least 2 teams from there going to the Big Something.

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The preview mags are coming. The preview mags are coming.

• Athlon — May 27
• Sporting News — June 1
• Phil Steele (chorus of angels singing) — June 8

Usually dropping about the same time as Athlon is Lindy’s. They have their preseason rankings and put Pitt at #14 — and winning the Big East. WVU clocks in at 19th and Cinci at 22d. Very kind to the Big East.

Lindy’s also likes Pitt for their All-American preseason team.

Individually, three Panthers were named to the Lindy’s All-America Team. Sophomore running back Dion Lewis and senior defensive end Greg Romeus were named first team All-Americans, while junior receiver Jon Baldwin was a second-team selection.

Lewis is 1st team RB with returning Heisman winner, Alabama’s Mark Ingram. Behind them are Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State and Noel Devine of WVU.

Baldwin was beaten for 1st team honors by Michael Floyd of ND (who actually should have a big year with Brian Kelly’s offense) and Georgia’s A.J. Green.

The time when coaches and key members of the athletic department are throughout the state for Pitt-events and dinners, etc.

This week took Coach Dave Wannstedt and Coach Jamie Dixon and others into central PA to York for an alumni golf event. Guess what they were asked about?

“I really haven’t commented on it much for one reason: It really isn’t going to change my job day-to-day,” said University of Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt, addressing the speculation that the Panthers may be a potential target in Big Ten expansion.

“We have to go out and try to recruit the best players that we can,” Wannstedt added. “Regardless of who we’re going to play and when we’re going to play them.”

Both Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson and Pitt men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon stuck to a similar mantra when addressing the idea of potential conference changes on Thursday afternoon. The three men, along with Pitt wrestling coach Rande Stottlemyer, were in York for the University of Pittsburgh Sports Banquet and Golf Outing. The event was held at the Out Door Country Club.

I guess if you want to read between the lines a bit you might note that Coach Dixon is no longer saying much about conference realignment. Going more with the whole not commenting on things like this

/on snark

Much like when his name is mentioned for other jobs.

/off snark

But that is stuff covered ad nauseum (and will continue to be) even as Pitt and all other schools stick to the official “no comment” policy.

Meanwhile the visit to York allowed local reporters to ask about local players.

Asked for an update on York High graduate Greg Gaskins, Wannstedt, 57, started by stating that his offensive line will need a new center and two new guards because of graduation losses.

That means that Gaskins, a redshirt junior who saw action in all 13 games last year, will have a shot to distinguish himself.

“Greg Gaskins will get his opportunity this year,” Wannstedt said.

The Pitt coach also said that Gaskins will compete for time at right guard after he was a backup right tackle last year.

In the post-spring practice depth chart, Gaskins was listed ahead of Ryan Turnley at Right Guard. That is one of the spots that isn’t solidified and Turnely could well supplant Gaskins in the summer.

Coach Wannstedt was also asked about Jack Lippert. Coach Wannstedt praised Lippert’s work in school and in the weight room.

“He’s probably put on close to 40 pounds in one year’s time and it’s all good weight.”

Lippert made the move during the Panthers’ spring practice sessions after some concerted lobbying by the Pittsburgh offensive line coaches.

“[It was] because of a need,” Wannstedt said.

“He has progressed extremely well. I think he’s going to be a heckuva player for us on the offensive line. You know, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s athletic.”

“We were looking [for] some depth at center,” Wannstedt continued.

“So we said, what player could possibly be smart enough, No. 1 and athletic enough, No. 2, and have a chance to get over there and develop down the road and be a two or three-year starter?”

“Jack was a guy that our offensive coaches wanted. He had a very good freshman year even though we redshirted him.”

They also spoke well of another local recruit, WR Salath Williams.

And Pitt’s 2010 recruiting class includes another McDevitt big-play threat – 6-4 wideout Salath Williams.

“Salath’s got a lot of talent,” Wannstedt said.

“He’s a little bit raw but he’s got speed, he’s got size and he’s got skill.”

In Dauphin County, former Pitt running back LeSean McCoy held his first annual “Shady’s Community Day.”

Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy signed autographs, footballs and jerseys for kids and adults, while kids played games and had plenty of activities going on the entire day. Also, a basketball tournament was held for kids and adults. Some of McCoy’s teammates committed to make an appearance and meet the fans. Overall, it was great to see as McCoy gave back to the community.

“It’s a great turnout … it’s a good thing to see them [kids] out there,” said McCoy, a former Bishop McDevitt High School and University of Pittsburgh star. “The reaction has been great and special. It’s all about giving back to the community.”

There was also a silent auction for the Pennsylvania ALS Foundation for Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Something McCoy’s grandmother unfortunately is suffering from.

The problem with all this expansion pr0n is that it sucks the time and energy out of everything else that I keep meaning to post.

One of of those things is what should be an upbeat story on Todd Thomas finally getting on Pitt’s campus for the summer session and playing this year.

This after having to go to Milford for an extra year of prep work. Through it all he never wavered in his desire to play at Pitt. In that respect it is a great story to celebrate Thomas getting here.

But…

It seemed odd when Coach Wannstedt mentioned it in spring practices. Now unless Todd Thomas is far better than any of us realized, he is going to redshirt in his first year at Pitt. He is coming in to play wide receiver. I assumed that this was Coach Wannstedt keeping a promise to a player that he could come to Pitt and play WR rather than safety where Pitt has less depth, more injury issues and clearly more need than at the WR spot — now and in the future. Nope.

But if it were Thomas’ choice, he’ll play safety. That was his position at Milford.

“(The Pitt coaches) want me to play receiver. But I want to play safety,” said Thomas, who played linebacker, safety, running and wide receiver during his scholastic career at Beaver Falls.

Why does Thomas prefer safety?

“I just love using my athleticism to run around and make plays,” said Thomas, who’s 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. “I’m more of an animal on defense. I’m more menacing on the defensive side of the ball. I just think that’s the position that fits me best. That’s just how I feel.”

Last year while playing safety at Milford, Thomas intercepted four passes and was named the Falcons’ most valuable defensive player.

I’m trying not to be too hypocritical here, I really am. I deferred to Coach Dixon on the basketball side with regards to Dante Taylor and playing the 5 rather than the 4. So I’m going to grit my teeth and trust the coaches on this one. That Thomas and the team is best served by him at WR. That by next year Thomas won’t have wasted even a month of training camp and development before the coaching staff makes the switch with Thomas to DB.

But…

Seriously? You have a big athlete that wants to play at a position of need. Where you actually have to replace a lost safety-like player and big time athlete like Elijah Fields. A kid with size and strength and who could so obviously be a big help in passing downs — where Pitt needed a lot of help last year.

Okay. Letting go of it.

The Daily Gopher is doing Q&As with potential Big Something expansion candidates. Today was Pitt’s turn with me providing the answers. As has become almost common, from a fan and competition standpoint we are well liked. It’s just that thing that this is all about that is the problem.

In the pecking order Pitt sits behind Rutgers but ahead of Syracuse and UConn.  Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska would be ahead of the Panthers as well.  And then their resume is very similar to Missouri’s. At 14, I think it is doubtful but at 16 I think they are right in the mix.  Personally I think they’d be a great addition when seeing this from all angles.

But as we all know, this is all about the money for both sides. Then again, if this wasn’t about the money why would we really want Pitt out of the Big East.

Most people have come back to admitting that they are purely speculating, guessing, and just plain trying to look at the most logical scenarios. So the hype that was earlier in the week has died down.

Now, for those that missed it the final installment of the Big East Raiding Roundtable was yesterday. A bit of talk about what if your team doesn’t get in and can the Big East be saved.

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You know, before the NCAA moved the draft withdrawal date to May 8, these revised, but still-way-too-soon lists of preseason top-25 basketball teams weren’t out until June. At least by then you also had a better idea about which teams might have injuries or academic casualties (either present or incoming class).

Here are yet a few more top-25 revisions.

Mike DeCourcy from the Sporting News comes in with the lowest ranking in to this point with a ten-spot.

10. Pitt. The Panthers need their youngest players to score. They relied too heavily on Ashton Gibbs last season and won more games than most anyone — Louisville, WVU, Providence — that could have gone either way. If sophomore Dante Taylor and some of the team’s freshmen can improve the offense, they might not need to win as many close games.

You could throw Wofford, Duquesne (2OT) and Cinci into that mix of either OT or games won by 3 points or less for Pitt. On the other side of the ledger, only two losses — Seton Hall and Xavier were by 3 points or less. And in both cases, it took a furious late effort just to make those losses that close. 6-2 in games that close. There’s a reason my liver took a few extra hits this past season.

Gary Parrish for CBS Sports updates his list with Pitt at #6.

The top three scorers — and seven of the top eight — return from a 25-win team, including Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wannamaker and Gilbert Brown. The roster still doesn’t seem imposing from an individual-talent perspective. But it’s basically the same roster Jamie Dixon used to tear through the Big East last season. There’s no reason to believe he won’t do similar things next season.

He does have ‘Nova at #4 and installs them as a slight favorite for the conference over Pitt. Lot of ‘Nova love this offseason. Seems that their late season swoon and Tourney flop is being pinned on Scottie Reynolds. How quickly they can turn.

Rivals.com is a fan of Pitt. Putting the Panthers at #4.

BUZZ: The Panthers went 25-9 overall and 13-5 in the Big East in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season. Guard Ashton Gibbs was a revelation as a sophomore, and he should continue to improve. The Panthers need to beef up the frontcourt to justify their top-five ranking. The Panthers will look to sophomore Dante Taylor, a former McDonald’s All-American, to contribute more than 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds.

The top-2 or 3 in all of these lists seems to be some order of Duke, Michigan St. and Purdue.

If you are interested, the NCAA released attendance figures for 2009-10 (PDF). Eighteen homegames with a total attendance of 185,209. That averaged 10,289. That was 7th in the Big East and 42d overall. Not bad in a rebuilding year. Esepcially with a non-con that was light on marquee home games. Should be better this season with the expectations.

As promised, Part 2 of the Big East Expansion Roundtable is available at On the Banks. Go take a read.

Big 11 commish Delany sent e-mails to all of the Big 11 athletic directors to let them know that no offers were made to other schools at this time.

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The passing of the draft withdrawal deadline gave college basketball writers a chance to rehash their top-25s that were way too soon with slightly less ridiculous ones.

Before getting to those, just worth confirming that Bradin Knight is not going to Rutgers to be an assistant for Mike Rice. Eventually Knight will leave for another assistant position. Simply because his career aspirations will demand it. Just glad it isn’t today.

Coach Dixon also was one of several to recommend that Robert Morris promote Andrew Toole after Mike Rice left for Rutgers.

Seven seems to be the number for Pitt. Yesterday I noted a preseason ranking that put Pitt at #7,  Andy Katz at ESPN.com concurs.

7. Pittsburgh: The Panthers aren’t going to wow you with their overall talent. But what they have is a solid core of players who grew into their roles and became winners again under Jamie Dixon last season, which has become expected with this program. Pitt loses Jermaine Dixon, but it had to play without him at times last season. Ashton Gibbs has become a big-shot maker and a quality lead guard, Gilbert Brown has grown into his leadership role and Brad Wanamaker will continue to shine. Nasir Robinson emerged as a better post option than McDonald’s All-American Dante Taylor, but that could shift as Taylor matures. Pitt might not have the most talent in the Big East, but the experience should lead the Panthers to the conference title.

Luke Winn at SI.com also says lucky #7.

The Panther I’m most curious about this season is power forward Dante Taylor, the former McDonald’s All-American who came in and averaged 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game as a freshman — hardly overwhelming numbers. Taylor’s per-possession statistics, however, are intriguing. If he could keep up his offensive rebounding percentage of 16.1 over a larger chunk of playing time, he’d be considered one of the country’s best offensive rebounders and be immensely valuable to Jamie Dixon. Of all the big men that DraftExpress projects to go in the first round in June, only one — Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins — had an OR% higher than 16. Pitt’s team offensive rebounding dropped off by nearly six percent after losing DeJuan Blair, and a breakthrough year by Taylor could help the Panthers get back among the elites in that category.

Offensive rebounding was expected to and did suffer after losing Blair. Considering how it seemed that Taylor was struggling with position and getting after boards at times, Winn suggests that a more consistent effort — and more minutes — will be a big difference.

The other side of that, though, is finishing. Whether it is going up strong with putbacks or knowing to kick it out for someone else.

Mike Miller at NBC Sports, is far more bullish than anyone else to this point. Picking Pitt for #4.

There’s a drop from 3 to 4, but not as much as some might think. Considering the Panthers return seven of their top eight players from a 25-9 squad, including two star-caliber players in Gibbs and Brown and Jamie Dixon’s squad is a fair bet to make that Final Four breakthrough. There won’t be any embarrassing losses in 2010-11.

Love that optimism.

Hey, how about something non-expansion related? Maybe just for a post or so.

Not sure of the veracity of any of this bit since it is unsourced, but according to Bleed Black and Gold, Coach Jamie Dixon was indeed targeting Dave Leitao as the new assistant. Leitao, however, has declined. If so, bummer.

Leitao has kept a relatively low profile since being fired by Virginia. The only times his name has surfaced was as a candidate for the Hofstra job and for a coaching spot in the NBDL.

Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com updated his way too soon top-25 now that the early entrant period to enter and withdraw has past. Pitt is in at #7.

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 only real loss is Jermaine Dixon, but guards Gibbs and Wanamaker have another year under their belts and McGhee made dramatic improvement in the past year. The key could be the progress of Taylor and redshirt freshman Talib Zanna up front.

He has Villanova at #6.

NBE Basketball blog ranks the Big East recruiting classes and puts Pitt at #5.

The Panthers are going to be absolutely loaded on the perimeter next season, with the arrival of three four-star (in our opinion) guards.

Syracuse, UConn, Georgetown, Marquette round out the top-4. Villanova was 6th. WVU was ranked 10th.

So, as we all await what happens with the Big Ten and their expansion plan, it seemed a perfect time to have a little chat with still a couple fellow Big East blogging compatriots and either future mates in the Big Something or rivals to get there. Sean of Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician (Syracuse) and Jon of On the Banks (Rutgers) joined me for a roundtable bit about things relating to the Big Ten and Big East.

Actually the questions were asked prior to the past day’s spurt of rumorism, so it may already be moot. Who can say anymore.

Both have their own questions and the roundtable will be moving to On the Banks (OTB) for Wednesday and then finish up at Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician (TNIAAM) on Thursday. By then, of course, the Big East could well be disbanded. the Big 12 swallowed by the Big Something, the Pac-Whatever and SEC Magnum edition.

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It really does seem to be it’s own beast now.

The reports are swirling that offers have been made. Honestly, while the story may be close to what could ultimately be reality — Nebraska, Mizzou, Rutgers and then a last chance offer to ND followed by one more team if they say yes — I don’t believe anything has actually happened yet. It doesn’t pass the smell test — right down to the outlet reporting the story.

So, another round of speculating and dreaming…

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While a radio station in KC is being mocked for being the latest to breathlessly report “sources” indicating that the Big Something has made offers to Nebraska (already denied by Nebraska’s chancellor), Rutgers, Mizzou and ND, I’m going to focus on something a little more realistic — preseason prognosticated rankings.

Yes, I’m setting the bar low.

Tony Barnhart is ranking Pitt at #13.

No mystery here. The Panthers will give the ball to sophomore RB Dion Lewis, who ran for 1,799 yards on 325 carries (only Stanford’s Toby Gerhart had more with 345). Lewis is the nation’s leading returning rusher and will get into the mix for the Heisman. There are a lot of starters to replace (six on offense, seven on defense) but I’m picking Pittsburgh to win the Big East.

Dennis Dodd at CBS Sports, updates his top-25 preseason pickings and moves Pitt from 24th to 20th. Yippee.

Preseason mags seem to be stepping back a bit from trying to get their mags out first this year. No early May publications, but Athlon — usually one of the first — is releasing their top-25, one per day, until releasing the mag in June. Pitt clocks in at #18.

The Panthers find themselves among the best of the best once again, underscoring the success of coach Dave Wannstedt’s rebuilding project. No longer is he simply hoping for success. Now, it’s a matter of how much. In 2009, Pitt was within a quarter of a BCS berth. Don’t be surprised if they get there this time.

They also like Lewis for Heisman candidacy.

And since it is never too early to start laying money on games (so I’m told), Covers.com looks at some of the best games to start the college football season.

Pittsburgh at Utah, Thursday, Sept. 2

Dave Wannstedt’s Panthers are the favorites in the Big East. Sophomore Tino Sunseri takes over at quarterback for Bill Stull and has a pair of NFL-caliber weapons at his disposal in running back Dion Lewis and wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin. The offense, however, struggled in the spring.

Utah returns quarterback Jordan Wynn, a sophomore who won the starting job midway through last season. Wynn passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns in the Utes’ bowl win over Cal. The Utes slipped into Sports Illustrated’s preseason rankings at No. 25, one of only two Mountain West teams in top 25.

Pittsburgh will be the higher-ranked team, but traveling across the country for a Thursday night game in what will be a raucous environment won’t be easy.

Projected line: Utah -3

No question, the winner of that game gets a lot of bounce coming out of the first week.

And so it continues.

A little tale to make Louisville and Cinci (among others) quiver. The tale of UTEP. An original WAC, but not brought into MWC to C-USA.

The bad, the blind-side hit that [UTEP AD Bob] Stull alluded to, came on May 28, 1998. Before that, the WAC that UTEP had been a part of since 1968 — the “old WAC” with Brigham Young, New Mexico and Wyoming — thought it was pioneering new ground in the conference landscape by expanding from 10 teams to 16 in 1996.

In came some old members of the Southwest Conference (SMU, Rice and TCU) that fit well with UTEP, but the result proved unwieldy.

Stull still can’t really explain the scheduling concept for football that had schools grouped into four four-team pods, and talk of dividing the conference into two eight-team divisions ended, according to Stull, with Air Force upset with its draw.

On May 26, 1998, a few months into Stull’s tenure at UTEP, eight schools from the “old WAC” staged a jailbreak to form the Mountain West Conference. Two hours before their news conference to announce their plans, they called UTEP president Dr. Diana Natalicio to let her know UTEP wasn’t coming along.

Suddenly, the WAC that UTEP had known for three decades was a new league, and the Miners were in a leftover mishmash.

Now it’s C-USA, and who knows where next. Maybe still there. Maybe brought into the Big 12, or even the MWC belatedly asks them to help out.

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