Sorry that there can’t be a liveblog tonight. Be interesting to see what the ratings and attendance will be for the game. What with the Steelers on Monday Night Football as well. I expect a good crowd. Ratings will be decent since the Steelers aren’t on until 8:30 and Pitt starts at 7.
I’m really looking forward to getting home from work, and watching the game. Even on DVR delay. Excited to see how the players look this year and just start the season.
Pitt kicks the start of college basketball season off tonight. I’m excited. Unfortunately, I can’t watch the game until late tonight on DVR delay. So I’ll be on a self-enforced media blackout from 7pm on. No Twitter, no checking websites, ignoring texts, just isolation. But that is my problem.
Time to run through the media.
You never take a team like Rhode Island lightly. Especially in a season opener. Their coach, Jim Baron, is one of the better teaching coaches in the game. His recruiting can vary based on his assistants, but he will get a lot out of his players and they will be sound.
In the last couple seasons, Rhode Island has stormed out in the non-con with impressive wins and wilted in the A-10 to end up in the NIT. You can imagine how the players feel about that.
But talk to any of the seniors, and the response is the same. They are not thinking about what they’ve done. Or their chances of putting themselves in the school record book. They all point to the one goal for this season.
“We want to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Jones says in similar words to those used by each of the seniors.
“The NIT has been nice,” Jones says, “but I’m kind of tired of that. I want to play in the NCAA Tournament.”
As to what kind of team this is, it has several seniors and was expected to be deep.
I was going to call it news. but most of it doesn’t even come close to that. Opinions, pontifications, lunacy, and stupidity? Plenty. Actual news. Well, that’s rather limited.
So let’s get that out of the way first with some comments from Big East Commissioner John Marinatto from a Wednesday interview.
One factor that could play a huge role in the league’s expansion plans are its current and future television markets. The Big East’s current TV contract with ESPN/ABC expires after the 2013 football season and the 2012-13 basketball season.
If the Big East added new members before the current TV contracts expire, the league could seek to renegotiate.
“Membership — quality membership and quality inventory — drives value,” Marinatto said. “We’re certainly cognizant of the value that expansion and quality inventory would bring to a television partner.”
Marinatto also indicated there has been “no discussion” about forcing out any existing members to make room for any additional schools.
None of this is really news, so much as confirmation of what was believed/expected.
Pitt did not have a hard time against IUP last night. Not exactly unexpected. Still, there were some problems and the players themselves were not exactly pleased with all aspects of their performance.
On Thursday, the Panthers faced far stiffer competition, didn’t have a player score more than 13 points, and never led by more than 21.
All of that aside, Pitt did beat the in-state Crimson Hawks 73-56 at the Petersen Events Center. But for the players and coaches, the performance wasn’t exactly convincing.
“Today we got outworked; no one wants to say it, but the other team outworked us today,” senior guard Brad Wanamaker said after the game.
It’s hard to read too much into exhibition games. The talent disparity is huge. The energy level in the building is different. Definitely the approach of both teams are far, far apart.
The decision may be a ways off on actual expansion, but it is likely that Villanova will make a decision before the year is finished. Stay as a 1-AA power or make the commitment to 1-A and join the Big East in football.
There are plenty of good reasons against ‘Nova. The costs. Where they will play. Fan support. Alumni base. The future of the Big East if BCS-mega-conferences do come to pass.
If ‘Nova goes 1-A, the only BCS conference team with a smaller student population would be Wake Forest. (For the record, TCU has a smaller student population than ‘Nova.) In fact, if I were a Villanova trustee or alumni, I think I would be leaning against taking the risk.
With that kind of set-up, then why am I leaning towards the side that wants ‘Nova to make the jump?
So much to choose from on topics. Pitt basketball and the IUP exhibition tomorrow? Pitt football trying to remember how to score in the red zone? Mindless babble on expansion of the Big East and candidates?
Fine. Basketball it is.
In case you didn’t know, Coach Dixon has no problem expecting big things from this team this year. No downplaying goals. No excuses about youth, talent, size, etc.
Dixon has been vocal about the Panthers taking the next step and winning a title, but he shrugged off the importance of reaching a Final Four. The goal, he said, has always been to win it all. Nothing less.
“The goal is to win the national championship,” Dixon said. “If you get it, it’s not going to change anything. North Carolina won a national championship [in 2009] and what were they trying to do this past year? They weren’t thinking about their national championship last year.”
And the players feel the same way.
“We always have high expectations, so that hasn’t changed,” forward Gilbert Brown said. “But our goal is to exceed expectations. We’ve come close, but we want to do something very special this year.
As much as there is a part of me that fears the letdown if they fall short, I love the fact that the coach and players are willing to embrace the expectations and goals. Taking the pressure with it.
Oh joy. Well, at least the Big East waited to stir things up until there was a bye week for Pitt.
The BIG EAST Conference submitted the results of its extensive self-analysis and evaluation of the college athletics environment today at its annual Conference Board of Directors meeting. Based on those results, the BIG EAST presidents agreed that the interests of each of the conference’s 16 member institutions would be served by increasing the number of Bowl Subdivision football-playing members to 10. They unanimously approved the process to evaluate the terms and conditions for potential expansion candidates.
That means — nothing. It means the only they approved the concept that going to 10 teams in football is a good idea (duh). The other thing they approved is the manner in which they will decide to figure out the best way to figure out the best possible options.
So the Big East athletic directors are having a regularly scheduled meeting in Philly tomorrow, and what do you know, time for the New York Post to leak an expansion rumor.
The regularly-scheduled meeting of the presidents and athletic directors figures to be intense as the BCS-football playing members of the league intend on pressing their agenda to add teams to the eight-team football conference.
“The goal is to get the presidents’ blessing to seriously pursue teams,” said one Big East athletic director. “I don’t think we’re going to get pushback on that.”
Several sources confirmed a Post report last month that TCU is a strong candidate. Houston, Central Florida, Temple and/or Villanova, which is in the midst of evaluating a move up from FCS, are other lead candidates.
Gee, was it was back in September that Villanova made it public that it was considering the move to 1-A at the request of the Big East. Since then, the NY Post has had it leaked a couple times regarding TCU.
Not that it was surprising that Pitt pounded the NAIA team. Even if they were the preseason 12th ranked team in that level. Of course, considering Syracuse and LeMoyne last year, I suppose nothing should be taken for granted.
Both locals focused on two players who will compete for time at the small forward spot. Oddly only one actually played. Lamar Patterson tweaked his ankle in practice, so he was scratched from the game. But he is still expected to be a significant contributor.
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