Ah, the Big East. I know football season has been, well, a disaster for the conference reputation. And the sooner you can change the subject to basketball, the better.
My understanding of publicity and press releases is that you release the bad news on a late afternoon on Friday. Not the good stuff. And certainly not as Yom Kippur is kicking off. Well, it wouldn’t be the Big East if they weren’t clueless.
So the schedules for the conference are out. Not any time to digest the full picture yet. Here’s Pitt’s schedule.
Date Opponent (TV) Location Time
| Saturday, Sept. 25 | FAN FEST/MAGGIE DIXON HEART | Petersen Events Center | 1-3 p.m. |
| HEALTH FAIR | |||
| Friday, Oct. 22 | BLUE-GOLD SCRIMMAGE | Petersen Events Center | 7 p.m. |
| Sunday, Oct. 31 | NORTHWOOD UNIV. (Fla.) (Exh.) | Petersen Events Center | 4 p.m. |
| Thursday, Nov. 4 | INDIANA, Pa. (Exh.) | Petersen Events Center | 7 p.m. |
2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
| Monday, Nov. 8 | RHODE ISLAND (ESPN-U) | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Wednesday, Nov. 10 | ILLINOIS-CHICAGO | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Saturday, Nov. 13 | NORTH FLORIDA | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer (New York, N.Y.)
| Thursday, Nov. 18 | vs. Maryland (ESPN2) | Madison Square Garden | 7 p.m. |
| Texas vs. Illinois (ESPN2) | Madison Square Garden | 9:30 p.m. | |
| Friday, Nov. 19 | Consolation Game (ESPN2) | Madison Square Garden | 5 p.m. |
| Championship Game (ESPN2) | Madison Square Garden | 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday, Nov. 23 | ROBERT MORRIS | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Saturday, Nov. 27 | PENN | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Wednesday, Dec. 1 | vs. Duquesne | Consol Energy Center | TBA |
| Saturday, Dec. 4 | RIDER | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Wednesday, Dec. 8 | DELAWARE STATE | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
DIRECTV SEC/Big East Invitational (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
| Saturday, Dec. 11 | vs. Tennessee (ESPN) | Consol Energy Center | 3:15 p.m. |
| Saturday, Dec. 18 | MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Wednesday, Dec. 22 | AMERICAN | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Monday, Dec. 27 | *CONNECTICUT (ESPN2) | Petersen Events Center | 8:30 p.m. |
| Tuesday, Jan. 4 | at *Providence | Providence, R.I./Dunkin Donuts Cntr | TBA |
| Saturday, Jan. 8 | *MARQUETTE | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Wednesday, Jan. 12 | at *Georgetown (ESPN/ESPN2) | Washington, D.C./Verizon Center | 7 p.m. |
| Saturday, Jan. 15 | *SETON HALL | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Monday, Jan. 17 | *SYRACUSE (ESPN) | Petersen Events Center | 7:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, Jan. 22 | at *DePaul | Rosemont, Ill./Allstate Arena | TBA |
| Monday, Jan. 24 | *NOTRE DAME (ESPN) | Petersen Events Center | 7 p.m. |
| Saturday, Jan. 29 | at *Rutgers (ESPN2) | New Brunswick, N.J./RAC | 8 p.m. |
| Saturday, Feb. 5 | *CINCINNATI | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Monday, Feb. 7 | at *West Virginia (ESPN) | Morgantown, W.Va./WVU Coliseum | 7 p.m. |
| Saturday, Feb. 12 | at *Villanova (ESPN) | Villanova, Pa./The Pavilion | 9 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Feb. 16 | *SOUTH FLORIDA | Petersen Events Center | TBA |
| Saturday, Feb. 19 | at *St. John’s (ESPN) | New York, N.Y./MSG | Noon |
| Thursday, Feb. 24 | *WEST VIRGINIA (ESPN) | Petersen Events Center | 9 p.m. |
| Sunday, Feb. 27 | at *Louisville (CBS) | Louisville, Ky./Yum! Center | 2 p.m. |
| Wednesday, March 2 | at *South Florida (ESPN-U) | Tampa, Fla./Sun Dome | 9 p.m. |
| Saturday, March 5 | *VILLANOVA (CBS) | Petersen Events Center | 4 p.m. |
| Tue.-Sat., March 8-12 | at Big East Championship (ESPN) | New York, N.Y./MSG | TBA |
Quick thoughts.
Pitt is on ESPN networks or CBS for 12 of their 18 Big East games. Impressive, and tells everyone what the expectations are for Pitt.
Four of the 13 non-cons are already on ESPN’s schedule. Should not be a problem for all the other games to be aired on FoxSport Pittsburgh and the FullCourt package.
As usual with the Big East, there aren’t any real breathers. The toughest stretch appears to be in early January with Marquette, at Georgetown, Seton Hall and Syracuse.
Not that the last few weeks of the season will be easy. Aside from the USF games, there are two games with WVU and Villanova along with trips to Louisville and St. John’s plus Cinci.
media.
