As reader, B.B., pointed out Greg Doyel at Sportsline actually put Pitt #10 in his rankings.

No. 10 Pittsburgh

Ranked too high if: We’re underestimating the losses of offensively challenged wings Jaron Brown and Julius Page.

Ranked too low if: Two newcomers on the wing, John DeGroat and Keith Benjamin, can make an occasional jumper and defend at the Big East level.

He had UConn at #5, Syracuse at #8 and ND at #20. Doyel also took note of Aaron Gray’s performance at the Blue-Gold Scrimmage, and is cautiously positive.

Unlikely superstars emerge in scrimmages!

We want to believe that, but every year we get suckered.

This year we’ve seen breakout practice performances from centers Aaron Gray of Pittsburgh, Marcus Campbell of Mississippi State and Chris Manker of San Diego State. Louisville point guard Brandon Jenkins also has posted some eye-popping numbers.

Gray, who scored 26 points in all of 2003-04, had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Panthers’ Blue-Gold Scrimmage this past weekend. We have reason to respect those numbers for several reasons: One, he’s only a sophomore with plenty of time to get better. Two, he’s a 7-footer. Three, he lost 33 pounds in the offseason, so maybe his body will lead to new results. We’ll see.

Part of it will depend on him seeing minutes this year.

Final piece concerns graduation rates and the NCAA finally changing the rules. Now the system will take into account JUCOs and transfers. The system is not straightforward, in fact it seemed a bit obtuse and confusing (or maybe that’s because of the cold) but it seems to be something of an improvement.