Big East basketball media day is tomorrow. Geez. I never even got to Pitt Basketball media day. Going to have to do this briefly.

Andy Katz at ESPN.com refreshed his preseason top-25. Pitt was put at #4 — but that was before Purdue’s Robbie Hummel went down for the season (Purdue was #2).

The Panthers don’t have the star power of the aforementioned top three. But this Panthers team is like an old-school Big East team that has experienced players who have been together and found roles. The summer trip to Ireland provided more positive bonding time for Jamie Dixon’s crew as it takes on the role of Big East favorite. There were no flaws this summer, making it more palatable to move the Panthers up a few spots.

Odd factoid. In the entire top-25, only Pitt’s blurb is without any mention of a specific player.

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Still lots of questions about this Pitt team. The dismantling of Syracuse was necessary and the kind of thing Pitt was expected to do against a team like the Orange before the season started. Limited time and with basketball stuff and Rutgers looming, I’m blowing through the post-mortem stuff quickly.

Not sure if it was really redemption for the team and players, so much a s a series of wake-up calls. Mike Cruz did not start the game at TE, and he responded. Brock DeCicco did start and played well with the opportunity. Tristan Roberts and Greg Williams finally played good games — Williams seemed to get his jump start from having to come in after Shane Gordon got the start. Cam Saddler seemed to find some confidence and finally busted a nice run on a punt return.

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I generally allow comments to flow freely within the blog, and don’t interfere. Disagreements are expected and dissenting opinions are encouraged. That is until people stop acting without any self-control or respect.

This is not a message board, free-for-all open forum. There are expectations of some self-policing behavior. Expectations that even when you vehemently disagree on something that you show some self-control and at least try to respect others.

Do not take it to personal attacks. Take a moment to think how broadly you wish to paint someone, some group, whatever. If you want to make it a pissing match, take it elsewhere.

That also applies to how you speak of the Pitt players as well. Unfounded, uninformed, and unsubstantiated personal attacks on their character are  generally off-limits. The fact is these are still kids, and Pitt students. Many will eventually be fellow alumni that will share a common bond with most of us. Regardless of how you feel about amateur status within major college sports, keep that in mind.

And please, please spare me the “I’m speaking truth to power/no one wants to here my incontrovertible reality/I’m the only one who sees what is really happening” self-righteous BS. When you fall into that trap, it usually means that it has become about you being right and shouting out how wrong and stupid everyone else is. At that point it is no longer a discussion, because you have become as close-minded and ignorant as those you believe to be that way.

If you can’t follow that, I will take steps to remove you from commenting on the blog.

Not a lot of time right now, so this will be brief.

Pitt mostly did what it had to do yesterday. They took it right at Syracuse. Beat them soundly early, and never let them get close after the 1st quarter. I wasn’t thrilled with some things that Wannstedt didn’t at least take a shot to put the game out of reach before the half and that Pitt only scored 10 points on offense in the second half. Just seemed that Pitt eased off a little too soon. Of course, Syracuse was not that good and made lots of mistakes that the defense capitalized to make that seem like nitpicking.

At 45-14, with 4 turnovers forced, control of the clock and nearly 400 yards of total offense. In the box score the only negative continues to be penalties. Pitt committed 10 for 99 yards.  That still is a big problem for a team that does not rely on being overly aggressive and attacking.

This was actually more dominating a win for Pitt than over Maine or FIU. Both of which seemed more like superior size and strength wearing the other side down over 4 quarters. This one was about superior talent just taking the other team out right in the first half.

Does this game tell us much more than before? Not really. I am hoping it means that the team is inching closer to what it can do, rather than what it has done up to that point. The next two games are at home. Pitt will be and should be favored. They, like the Syracuse games are can’t lose games.

[Editor note: Sorry folks. Thought I hit publish, and instead hit draft.]

So is everyone ready? 0-3 in liveblogs this season. Not a good trend. But then there really haven’t been many good trends this season to date. Hard to believe that this game will be the halfway point in the season.

Pitt loses today, and Pitt becomes a basketball school for the duration. A win and the jury is still out.

Usual caveats. Moderated liveblog. Partially to deal with potential trolls, but also to avoid redundancy and useless comments. The liveblog begins around noon below the fold.

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Taking a break from pondering whether Yuengling’s looming purchase of an ex-Coor’s plant in Memphis (apparently they once made Zima there) means that the expansion will finally get it to Ohio sometime in the near future.

Liveblog tomorrow, because I just love sharing in the frustration.

Just trying to hit some quick things.

After hearing that one of the good things post-ND was that Taglianetti was all the way back from his injury, he appears out (or at least unlikely) for Syracuse. As is freshman CB K’Wuan Williams. I mean, it’s not like the secondary has had issues or anything this year, or that Williams was outplaying Ricky Gary.

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Or at least he best not do so to Syracuse.

Coach Dave Wannstedt — in only a slight oversimplification — takes a general view towards football that you line your 11 best against the other team’s 11 best. That ultimately it is the talent on the field and the team that makes the fewest mistakes that determines the winner. It’s why Wannstedt views the spread as a gimmick offense. Schemes, styles, and everything else matter little when it comes to just playing basic football. Something Coach Wannstedt seems to acknowledge with this game.

For that reason, I have to agree (and I’m not particularly thrilled about this) with Smizik’s post that the Syracuse game is a “can’t lose”  game for Pitt and Wannstedt (not a “must win,” though). Aside from being a road game, Pitt should be the team expected to win.

Across nearly every position, Pitt has superior talent than Syracuse. Both teams play similar styles. Presumably, that is how Pitt is preparing for this game. The fact that Syracuse is even slightly favored to win this game speaks to the issue of the coaching and motivation of this Pitt team.

Did you know that today is Pitt’s Media Day? And I didn’t get an invite. Shocking, I know. Well, that means there should be some more local stories tomorrow. In the mean time, here are some other things to note.

Everyone has probably seen, read and digested the Jamie Dixon piece from the P-G over the weekend. Nice one. I hope Coach Dixon stays a long time at Pitt, not just because he is an excellent coach and appears to be a great guy. But because it would mean Pitt basketball is still thriving. Check out Pitt Script’s take on things.

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I’m not taking Syracuse lightly. I really am not. What is good about facing Syracuse is that this is Dave Wannstedt’s kind of opponent. A run first, pro-style offense; and rather straight-forward defensive schemes. In fact, that may be the best thing about Big East play for Pitt’s hopes — I mean beyond the overall putridity — plenty of pro-style, simple offenses.

He also said it is clear when you watch the Orange, “they are running the ball, they are very similar to us.” “They will use two tight ends, they will use two backs, they will use three receivers. But what we know is they are going to be physical.

“And, when you run the ball, it gives your defense a chance to play better because they are going to be more rested, you generally are going to have less turnovers and that will let you have better field position. And the play-action passing game opens up when you run the ball — and that is what they’ve done and they’ve reaped the benefits of it.”

Syracuse’s running game, like Pitt’s, is powered by two running backs, and both are very good. Delone Carter, however, has been more of the featured back, rushing 99 times for 524 yards (5.3 yards per carry) as the fourth-leading rusher in the conference.

The other tailback is Antwon Bailey (33 carries, 195 yards).

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I want to try and put the ND loss in the rearview and move on to Syracuse. But between what feels like unfinished posting due to limited time, and my own continuing frustration over the game; I am not quite ready to do that. I’m making this the last look-back type of post. Try to get the bile and anger out.

Turning to Coach Wannstedt’s presser yesterday, I’m not sure there is much that he could have said that wouldn’t have me feeling sarcastic and bitter. So, I’m going with it.

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The point of no return for Walt Harris with Pitt fans came in the loss to UConn in 2004. The infamous “slide right” call near the end of the first half to set up a field goal. Many still derisively make mention of it. It was a weak, conservative call and a big error.

Not only did the team fail to take one shot at the endzone or the first down, it sent a message to UConn that they had this game. The Huskies proceeded to march down the field before the half ended and kick their own field goal to take the lead at the half. The Huskies proceeded to dominate Pitt in the second half.

Coach Dave Wannstedt may have had that moment late in the 4th quarter when he called timeout on 4th and 4 or 5. Only to decide to punt.

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I’m going to keep this brief as I try to give myself a breather after games like this. When I’m feeling ticked, frustrated and more likely to overreact. Still…

Make no mistake, it isn’t like Pitt deserved to win this game. Too sloppy. Too stupid.

I’m not saying Notre Dame did anything to cover themselves in glory. They did their best to piss it away. It was almost like an inversion of last year’s ND-Pitt game where Pitt had the game well in hand and then nearly gave it away late.

That said, this game has me highly upset for the shear volume of mistakes.

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Hope no one had too much to drink during the noon games. It is difficult to type effectively when the keys keep moving under your fingers. As for me, I’m out for the morning and early part of the afternoon doing the dad thing. One of the few pleasant and dry fall Fall weekend days in Ohio. That means stock family activity option #7 — a trip to an apple orchard. Whee.

I will be back, though, with time to spare before the game. ND is not a top-25 team at this point, but neither is Pitt. I think nationally, no one is sure where either team really is in the national pecking order. The perception/bias probably leans towards ND but they also benefit from that new coach smell.

Anyways, below the fold will be the liveblog. Most of you know the rules. It’s a moderated chat. Comments are approved or not as they come in. Reasons for not being approved range from being repetitive, trolls, ridiculously stupid, or just because I’m feeling capriciously unfair. Some of the trusted readers (regulars who have proven over time that they are reasonably sane and haven’t abused it) will get permission to comment without the approval process.

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This fall I started working in the offline world, outside of the house for the first time since this blog started. Crazy hours and I’m still not used to wearing pants. As many have probably noticed, the posting frequency has suffered. Still working on finding my time management footing. I mean, I haven’t even had a beer or bourbon since Saturday. Just not natural.

There will be a liveblog for the game on Saturday. Gametime is 3:30, so you can expect the liveblogging to start around then.

Lots of stuff to hit, and still little time to do so.

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Time has become an extremely limited commodity for me since September. So, there have been some basketball links piling up for the last few days.

Ashton Gibbs., now a Wooden Award nominee, made the regional cover for USA Today’s basketball preview, along with a featured article on him and Pitt’s team.

Jeff Goodman at FoxSports did an article on Coach Jamie Dixon and the expectations of this team.

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