Time for another challenge from Volvo for the Biggest Fan in the Big East. Please go and vote for me. I really need it. I didn’t get to offer the usual draft post first. It was in the pipeline, but then last week happened.

This challenge takes us away from Pitt. It’s all about the roadtrip. What towns are tops in the Big East for taking the roadtrip?

Roadtrips take different meanings when you are in college versus when you are out. In college, you try to find the local connection. The high school buddy who is at the school. Maybe if you are in a frat, contacting the local chapter for a place to crash. As you get older, it’s about the hotel rooms or an old friend from Pitt now living in the area. If you have to lug the family with you, it may have to be a place where your significant other can take the kids while you hit a local watering hole and the game.

I’ve been out for nearly 20 years. The idea of crashing on a couch — while still happens on occasion — holds little allure. The college bar can feel a little strange when I visit Pitt. So, it gets even weirder at another campus.

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There was a pleasant  attack on Fraud Graham (Yes, I would like to make that one stick) from the Steelers.

The Steelers practically threw a party when they heard that Pitt coach Todd Graham quit. That goes from the top to the bottom, from those who work in the offices to the coaches and every-day workers who came into contact with Graham and his staff in the building.

They described Graham as an arrogant man who had no use for anything the Steelers might have offered, and they say he resented having to share the building and the indoor practice field at the UPMC complex with them.

Before Graham, the Panthers and the Steelers ate in the same cafeteria, although at different times. Graham came in and put an end to that. The cooks at the cafeteria still prepare the food for the Panthers, but it is then brought over to the other side of the building, where Pitt created its own cafeteria to serve Graham’s players and his wishes.

Instead of embracing the advantages that an association with the Steelers might bring, Graham rejected them, even if there was little he could do about the shared facilities. That really came down to just sharing the indoor practice field and the parking lots because everything else is separate, including weight rooms, outdoor practice fields, locker rooms, etc. It’s one building, but it’s really two, like a big duplex.

I admit, I don’t understand the resentment. Other than the fact that just about every college football headcoach has at least a touch of “little dictator” in him and hates the idea of not controlling everything.

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Sorry, kind of had to take a “if you go near the computer I will kill you” day on orders from the wife. Something about the way I have ignored everyone and everything since Wednesday. Has it really only been since Wednesday around noon when all this craziness started? Seems so much longer.

Anyways, by all accounts Mario Cristobal is anywhere from the leading candidate to a done deal (h/t to Scott and several others) — but for the bowl game.

We have learned that Pitt offered the job to Mario Cristobal last night. Cristobal, we are told, asked that they pause the discussions until after FIU’s bowl game (Tuesday night). Class move.

Yes, see how well that worked out for John L. Smith and Louisville when the ESPN crawl announced he was leaving for Michigan St. during the Cards bowl game.

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…to talk about the PITT head coaching search.  We can cross Todd Graham off the short list.

For some reason the spam filter wasn’t working on the last post and it was irritating as hell.

So.

1) Who do you want?

2) Who do you think is going to be hired?