I’m working my way through the various preview guides that have been released to date: Athlon, Lindy’s, The Sporting News and Phil Steele. The one thing that jumps out at me is that they all have Pitt pegged for about the same spot in the 1-119 rankings.

• Athlon — #55
• Sporting News — #55
• Phil Steele — #56
• Lindy’s — #60

Expectations are not particularly high and there isn’t any sense that the team will go out and steal a win or two — since they have yet to do so. Essentially, the belief is Pitt will win the games they should and lose the games they should.

From the Athlon Pitt preview (p. 125)

But maybe this is precisely what the Panthers need. When expectations have been high, they’ve traditionally failed to meet them. This season there is no pressure. No preseason ranking. No nothing.

This is not good for the football program. It isn’t a big deal that the national pubs all basically shrugged and slotted Pitt in the same spot that expecting a roughly .500 record from a BCS school deserves. It’s that most Pitt fans have similar feelings.

Just a shrug. By the end of last season and through the offseason, the rumble is that 2008 is the year. The problem is that has tamped down interest in 2007 before it even happens. It makes the underlying theme to 2007, “it’s development towards next year.” Yippee.

That follows the retroactive themes to 2005 — “The adjustment from the pros;” and 2006 — “It’s Walt’s fault.”