It was supposed to be a relatively calm day for expansion speculation. A couple conference meetings. Some speculation that the Big 12 might make an effort to publicly speak of unity.

But, mainly nothing as the Big 11 wasn’t going to do anything right now so Mizzou and Nebraska would hedge for the time.

Well, no one really believed that the Pac-10 would upset things.

Because it appears the Pac-10, which has its meetings in San Francisco starting this weekend, is prepared to make a bold move and invite Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado to join its league, according to multiple sources close to the situation.

And things went really freaky in Dallas at the Big 12 meetings.

[Iowa State President Gregory] Geoffroy declined to address specific rumors. He deferred comments about the Pac-10 report to University of Texas President William Powers. Colorado Athletics Director Mike Bohn told the Boulder Daily Camera his school and the others could receive Pac-10 invitations this weekend.

“Until something firms up it’s all speculation,” Geoffroy said.

Speculation boiled over when Big 12 Conference Commissioner Dan Beebe first delayed then canceled a scheduled news conference to discuss the league’s future. Beebe declined to comment as he walked past a large media contingent and into an elevator.

Yes, Bohn did.

Bohn said CU has not had any contact with the Pac-10 or its representatives and he was not clear on how he came to believe invitations could be forthcoming. But he said Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech could receive invitations possibly as soon as this weekend when Pac-10 officials meet in San Francisco.

“The longer that we were together in Kansas City it appeared that that rumor or speculation did have some validity to it,” Bohn said in an interview with the Camera as he left the Big 12 spring meetings here today.

And then sanity and some sense of what he had said overtook his brain.

Bohn said at this point Colorado remains a committed and proud member of the Big 12 and he believes the conference has a bright future if its members remain together.

“There is great equity in the Big 12 Conference and currently the financial model and the competitive equity we have as a league is currently serving us well,” he said. “The future television partnership opportunities bodes well for long term financial viability.”

Meanwhile Pac-10 Commish Larry Scott, stifled a laugh and had a statement released of non-denial.

“We have not developed any definitive plans,” Scott said. “We have not extended any invitations for expansion and we do not anticipate any such decisions in the near term.”

Yet everyone seems to think something is up. Even if it is merely the Pac-10 examining such scenarios.

Even if the academic fit of Oklahoma, OK St. and Texas Tech doesn’t seem to match well with the Pac-10.

This is all about money (big surprise).

The thought is the Big 16 (or whatever they decide for the name) would start its own television network that could command premium subscriber dollars from cable providers on par with the Big Ten Network and pay out upwards of $20 million to each of the 16 schools in TV revenue.

Such a merger between the six Big 12 schools and the Pac-10 would build a conference with seven of the country’s top 20 TV markets (Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Houston, Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento). And such a league would likely command attention from every cable system in the country and command a premium rate from every cable system west of the Mississippi.

Those projected TV revenues would double the current payouts of roughly $9 million to Big 12 and Pac-10 members. If the Big 16 reached its projections, the league would also surpass the SEC’s projected payout of $17 million per school reached in a 15-year TV deal with ABC/ESPN and CBS signed in 2008.

What is amazing is that the politics of Texas  may not come into play. It was believed that state politics would force any conference that wanted Texas to also take Texas A&M. Instead Texas A&M seems more interested in going east rather than west.

In Thursday’s editions of the Houston Chronicle, A&M athletic director Bill Byrne was asked if the SEC is an option for the Aggies should the Big 12 break up, and he said, “It might be. You know what? It might be.”

Byrne, the athletic director at Oregon from 1984-92 before going to Nebraska, has been openly critical of having student-athletes travel west, only to return home at odd hours.

Byrne has used the example of when the Aggies had their men’s and women’s basketball teams in Spokane and Seattle for the NCAA Tournament in March and couldn’t get back to College Station until 6:30 a.m. with students having to attend 8 a.m. classes.

It’s no coincidence Byrne’s example included cities in the Pac-10’s dominant time zone.

There is also reason to believe Oklahoma could be enamored with joining the SEC. But that does not appear to be an option Texas officials would be willing to consider. There is a sense among UT officials the academics in the SEC are not on par with Texas.

If A&M and Oklahoma were to splinter off and join the SEC, the Pac-10 would obviously have to revise its invite list.

Yes, they would do back-flips and delete Texas Tech and Oklahoma St. as well from the invites. The Pac-10 would only go to 14 and would still have a huge media presence and impact with the same major markets.

The one thing about all of this that throws me off was how last month it seemed that the Big 12 and Pac-10 were more in the discussions of an alliance for TV deals. Maybe jointly going to form a cable channel. Now the Pac-10 might just pluck them apart.

What astounds me at the moment is how the Big 12 has become the conference most endangered of extinction. Not the Big East.

At least for now.

You remember that bowl game planned for Yankee Stadium in December? It has a name. Please welcome the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.

The New Era Pinstripe Bowl will be held on Dec. 30, 2010, and televised nationally by ESPN.

A press conference announcing the name will be held at 10 a.m. at Yankee Stadium. The name comes from the game’s four-year title sponsor, headwear and apparel manufacturer New Era Cap Company, Inc.

The bowl will match the third-place Big East team with the sixth-place Big 12 team, after the BCS teams from each conference are excluded from consideration. Both teams will stay in Manhattan, the Big East team at the Grand Hyatt and the Big 12 team at the Sheraton New York.

The bowl’s Web site, newerapinstripebowl.com, will be launched later today.

According to the press release I got sent:

There is a four-year agreement extending through 2013 for the Big East and Big 12 to participate in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. In future years beyond 2010, games will take place no earlier than Christmas Day and no later than New Year’s Day.

Will it last beyond that? I have no idea. Just as I have no idea if the Big East and Big 12 will be around in 4 years.

I’m sure there has been lots of arguing, angsting and general discontent between bowls, schools and conferences. But it sure seems that this yar it is a lot more public.

The Big 12 is trying to help Mizzou which has finished 8-4. Apparently the Tigers don’t have the best reputation for traveling in the conference (gee, that seems familiar). So that means the Tigers appear poised to fall to the Texas Bowl and being skipped by the Independence and Insight Bowls for 6-6 Texas A&M and Iowa State.

“This isn’t over,” Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe said Wednesday afternoon in a telephone interview with The Kansas City Star.

“I know (Missouri athletic director) Mike Alden and the Missouri folks have made a tremendous case to all the bowls they might be selected to,” Beebe said. “I don’t know that Missouri could do a better job than they are doing.”

And, Beebe added, he shares the concern of MU officials that the Tigers might be passed over for the Insight Bowl bid by a 6-6 Iowa State team.

“I am concerned about a bowl that would select a team that has two less wins and was beaten by that team head to head.”

Unfortunately, that is just the scenario Missouri officials have come to fear.

Of course, that is nothing compared to the boiled over frustration between the Gator Bowl and the ACC. We all know that this is the last year for the Gator Bowl and the Big East and ACC. The Gator has been stymied in multiple years at landing Notre Dame. Now they want FSU for Bowden’s last game. This in no small part because FSU went around the ACC offices and contacted the Gator directly about it. The ACC would rather send FSU to Orlando for the Champs Bowl.

Here’s where it gets problematic. Like most conferences the ACC has the pecking order where bowls can’t take a team that is more than 2 wins better than a higher team in the conference records. The Gator gets 3d pick. The Orange Bowl obviously takes the winner of the ACC Championship. The Chik-Fil-A picks next and likely will take Virginia Tech (6-2). So, for the Gator to take FSU (4-4), it would appear that they need GT (7-1) to beat Clemson (6-2) to be able to snag FSU. Otherwise GT would have to be taken.

Except that the Gator Bowl claims they have a different contract that allows them more flexibility to skip taking the loser of the ACC Championship. And since the Gator doesn’t have to play nice any longer they are threatening legal action.

“We have sat back so many times and taken it from the ACC,” [Gator Bowl executive director Rick] Catlett said, ” To have [ACC Commissioner John Swofford] trying to go around a contract is unacceptable.”

Of course, Swofford has to answer to the rest of the ACC and considering how many times he’s bent over in so many positions to take it from FSU for football, the rest of the members are probably not going to let him waive the rules to accommodate the Bowden farewell (and give FSU more money and exposure) at other members’ expenses.

Not sure who I want to fail more. The ACC of course, raided the Big East in no small part to benefit FSU. The ACC commish is a duplicitous dick so seeing him and his schools screwed once more would be nice.

On the other hand, the Gator Bowl people suck. They have acted like being associated with the Big East is a chore from the beginning, and made no secret that they would have screwed the conference this year to take a 7-5 ND team — if the Irish had won 1 of their final 2 games. They seem determined to take WVU regardless of tomorrow’s games. And Pitt could very well end up going to Birmingham.

Add in the sense of entitlement from FSU and Bowden, and it almost tips things in favor of the ACC.

I don’t know. I guess I’m hoping that it ends up in a lawsuit and costs both some extra money, time, and bad publicity.

The refs from yesterday’s game were calling everything in the first half. In the second half, they let up. 34 fouls called in the game. There was a sequence of flops by OK State and then Pitt that were both called. The last thing you would think is that a coach would be complaining that the officials let too much go.

“They did a good job on him,” Sutton said. “They got away with a lot of holding, a lot of grabbing and he hadn’t seen that kind of physical play yet. It hurt us because we depend on him to score points for us. He never got in any rhythm.”

Anderson was 2-of-8 from the floor and finished with eight points. He did not play the last five minutes of the game.

“He had eight points,” Pitt point guard Levance Fields said. “We can live with that.”

Much like Duquesne Coach Everhart decided to give the nod to WVU over Pitt as a better team they have lost to, Sutton gave the edge to Pitt over Marquette.

Sutton gave it serious thought and said the teams are pretty even.

“But I might give Pitt a slight edge based off (DeJuan) Blair,” Sutton said. “I think he’s good. I’m not sure Marquette has a guy in there that consistently scores. They both have great guards; they’re both tough.”

Those comparisons mean nothing. In both cases the edge went to the team that beat them last and was at home. As opposed to the road game or neutral site.

Sutton did think his team was better than they were against Marquette (to whom they lost by 30 in Maui).

“It’s going to be a process with a young team,” Sutton said. “I know we are a lot better team now than we were out in Maui. Hopefully we will make the same amount of improvement over the next two or three weeks.”

Why does Sutton think OSU is better than they were in Maui? His team fought back instead of folding.

To be fair, they really didn’t fold. Of course, I also find the oversimplification that but for that 1st half stretch where they let Pitt beat their brains in with a 20-5 run they were even with Pitt. That’s the sort of rationalization excuses the overall performance of a team.

Levance Fields, though, still said the one thing that Pitt fans should love to hear.

Pittsburgh couldn’t miss a shot in the first half, and then for a significant stretch in the second half the Panthers couldn’t make a shot.

Whether their shots were falling or not on Saturday, the No. 11 Panthers did not let up on defense in their 85-68 win over Oklahoma State.

It’s a lesson Sean Sutton hopes his young Cowboys picked up, and one that undefeated Pitt’s point guard was preaching after the game.

“If we make mistakes on offense we can’t compound it by making mistakes on defense,” junior Levance Fields said.

[Emphasis added — because it’s so important.]

Man, looks like Austin Wallace’s injury is very bad (Insider subs.).

Dixon said the patella (kneecap) injury to freshman backup center Austin Wallace could be a two-year injury since it will require multiple surgeries. Wallace, who had played only 12 minutes so far this season, injured his left knee during practice Friday in Seattle.

[Emphasis added.]

Good luck to Wallace in the surgeries and the long hard rehabbing ahead.

Oklahoma State has a youthful team in transition. Like Pitt they have a very big and raw freshman player who isn’t going to see a lot of time. They also have a star freshman player leading them in James Anderson.

James Anderson is a month into his Oklahoma State career and the freshman wing player has already scored at least 20 points five times this season, been named the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Week twice and reached double figures in all eight games.

The Junction City, Ark., native has hit 25-of-52 3-pointers (48 percent) and is 53-of-102 (52 percent) from the floor.

“He is hot,” OSU coach Sean Sutton said, adding that every time Anderson shoots the ball “you expect it to go in.”

There are a bunch of interesting statistical nuggets about the team. They gamble defensively on steals, but are not particularly good with rebounding. Not much of a passing team with 99 assists to 129 turnovers. They can shoot the 3 well, and are at 72% on free throw shooting.

The Anderson-Blair matchup could become the theme for Saturday.

2. James Anderson vs. DeJuan Blair. The top 25 schedule is especially bleak this weekend, with several teams off because of final exams. One intriguing matchup has Oklahoma State at Pittsburgh. Each team has one of the nation’s best freshmen. The Cowboys feature Anderson, a former Rivals four-star prospect who leads the team in scoring at 20.8 points. That’s third among the nation’s freshmen. Blair, the most recent Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week and another former four-star prospect, is one of the Big East’s steals leaders and is tied for eighth nationally among freshmen in rebounding at 9.0 per game.

Interestingly enough, Oklahoma should be a good match-up for Pitt since they don’t play with a lot of size. Or at least their best players aren’t their biggest.

Before the season started Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton said it might make fans nervous, but there would be times he would play four guards and Marcus Dove.

Sutton did that for the final stretch of Saturday night’s win over East Tennessee State, and it was undoubtedly the least nerve-racking period of the game for OSU fans. When Sutton made his last substitution of the game, with 6:20 to play, the score was tied 65-65. The five players on the floor were Byron Eaton, Obi Muonelo, Terrel Harris, James Anderson and Dove. Over that last 6:20 OSU held the Bucs scoreless and poured in 13 straight points.

It’s true that a small lineup can’t work all the time, and against dominant big men like Texas A&M’s Joseph Jones and 6-foot-11 Kansas center Sasha Kaun, fans have a right to be uneasy if the wiry, 6-foot-9 Dove, a great perimeter defender, is the biggest Cowboy on the court.

But at this point, with OSU’s young post players (all three are first-year players), putting the best five players on the court probably means going small. And to put the most experience on the court, Sutton will have to play a bunch of guards and Dove.

Noon on ESPN this Saturday for those unable to be at the Pete.

…at least for a week.

With LSU’s 3OT loss to Jeff Long’s Arkansas team on Friday, the BCS Championship picture has become much clearer. The newest BCS rankings look like so:

1. Missouri 11-1
2. West Virginia 10-1
3. Ohio State 11-1
4. Georgia 10-2
5. Kansas 11-1
6. Virginia Tech 10-2
7. LSU 10-2
8. USC 9-2
9. Oklahoma 10-2
10. Florida 9-3

Our Panthers have a very rare opportunity on Saturday — the ability to knock a team out of the title game simply by beating them. Too bad actually beating them won’t be too simple.

If either Mizzou or WVU lose, Ohio State will back into the Championship game. The chance of Missouri losing to Oklahoma in the Big XII conference championship is very possible. That would mean Ohio State plays WVU for the title. What about Pitt beating the Mountaineers? Dan Shanoff says no way.

If BOTH Missouri and West Virginia lose… well, that’s just not happening.

Did you see what West Virginia did to the next-best team in their conference, when WVU realized they had to impress the nation? They hung 66 on them.

They ran up the score, because they knew they had to, in order to silence any doubt spread from, say, Columbus. Those ‘Eers are one cut-throat bunch of s.o.b.’s; they ain’t losing to Dave Wannstedt with a trip to the national championship game on the line.

Since the Backyard Brawl starts at 7:45 and the Big XII game starts at 8:00, there won’t be time to know if Missouri wins or loses though. That means Buckeye Nation not only roots for Oklahoma, but also for Pitt. Other teams hoping that both OU and Pitt win are Georgia, Kansas, LSU, and Oklahoma themselves.

Pitt hasn’t had this many fans in a long, long time. We gladly welcome all of them — maybe someday they’ll come help us fill Heinz Field to more than 35% capacity.

ESPN has played the Mike Gundy tirade as often as they possibly can. Hey, it’s filler so that they don’t need any more original programming; as if showing SportsCenter 15 times a day wasn’t enough. I swear I’ve seen it a hundred times (and you can too). I like what Gundy did — his stock with the entire team is through the roof now. The article in question began like this:

Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal.

It would’ve been normal post-game activity but for one thing.

His mother was feeding him chicken.

Which brings us to the quarterback switch-a-roo at Oklahoma State.

The first thought that ran through my head with this was the similarity to Pat Bostick’s situation. A member of the media (ESPN Radio’s Mark Madden) made a comment about a player that delves into his personal life (about the supposed “panic attacks”). Just sayin’.

The game this week is on ESPNU. Pitt would rather be on a “national” channel that a large majority of their fans don’t even get rather than be an ABC/ESPN Regional game that most fans can actually watch. Fans always come first to the Pitt athletic department, no question. Maybe I’ll go to a restaurant and watch the game. Maybe I’ll listen to Hillgrove and Fralic on the radio. Perhaps I’ll actually enjoy my Saturday night and not even watch/listen instead of Pitt ruining another beautiful weekend night for me.

Virginia is 3-1, including a tight win over Georgia Tech last week. In SI’s power rankings, they come in at 43 (with Pitt at 78). Virginia sophomore QB Jameel Sewell has picked it up in the last few games after playing horrendously in the opener, a loss against Wyoming. Since that ugly game, he’s completed 64.3 percent of his passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.

More importantly, Sewell has contributed in three wins for the Cavaliers (3-1, 3-0 ACC), which includes the most recent victory, a 28-23 decision over Georgia Tech. Against the Yellow Jackets’ vaunted blitz-happy defense, Sewell passed for a 177 yards and guided the team on two lengthy touchdown drives.

The Pitt defense’s ability to get into Sewell’s head early and throw him off for the entire game is a possibility, and a key to a Panthers victory. Too bad he’ll have all day to throw like every other QB we’ve faced this year. For now, we’re 7-point underdogs.

Two days ago the Des Moines Register published an article about Big Ten commish Jim Delany talking about possible expansion from 11 to 12 teams (link via USA Today). Since then it’s been a strong point of discussion on TV, in newspapers, and on blogs.

The expansion talks come with the upcoming release of the Big Ten Network. The network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, could use another big-name university in a large television market to gain more exposure for the network and its sponsors.

So who could be that extra team? Obviously the first team that the conference will give significant attention to will be Notre Dame, but it’s more than likely that ND will quickly turn down the offer. A national TV deal, the ability to schedule whoever they want, and the fact that they can take the Big East’s bowl bids. As long as the Big East is getting a BCS bid then ND will gladly take it. Might as well cross the Irish off of the list of possibilities right now.

Then next tier of possible teams include Syracuse and Rutgers. Syracuse first: they allow the conference’s reach to extend to upstate New York. It’s a decent media market but wouldn’t get the attention of NYC residents. Plus they’re primarily a hoops school and the Big East, while not one of the top two or three football conferences, is one of the best for basketball.

What about Rutgers? They might feel as though if they add Rutgers they will gain a hold on New York City, the #1 US market, but that’s hardly true. Piscataway is over 40 miles from NYC and even after the RU football team has picked up a ton of hype, the NYC market barely notices. NYC is a pro sports town dominated by the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, and both NFL teams — not much room left for a college team, located a half hour away no less, to get attention.

The last tier of possibilities likely includes the following teams: Louisville, Missouri, your Pittsburgh Panthers, and maybe a handful of others. Louisville is a program that as a whole is on the rise…but they’re TV market isn’t all that appealing. It’s no secret that Missouri wants to join the Big Ten and adding them opens up the state of Missouri including possibly St. Louis. But what about Pitt? Well, what are the current B10 members saying about Pitt? One of the best college football bloggers (Brian Cook) on one of the best CFB blogs (MGoBlog) has this to say about the Panthers:

PROs: Geographic and academic fit. Also provides natural rival for Penn State. Football program has rich history; basketball program would be a fine addition.

CONs: Michigan and OSU are already raiding the hell out of the WPIAL. Adding Pitt opens no new recruiting grounds and only marginally raises interest in the Pittsburgh market. Their football fanbase would be amongst the worst in the conference.

Verdict: I guess. I would rather take a chance on Rutgers, personally.

Black Shoe Diaries has this to say…

2. Pitt – This isn’t the smartest choice for the Big Ten, but then this is my wish list. For all the crap I give Pitt around here, I want to see this rivalry played every year. Everyone does. Adding Pitt makes that happen.

But this doesn’t jive with Delany’s wish to expand the market for his new network. If it’s true he has an eye on the New York market, Pitt isn’t going to work.

Basically it comes down to this — the pros vs. the cons. We’re here in Pennsylvania, so we’re close enough for consideration. We have a long traditional rivalry going with PSU. As Brian says, we have a football program with a strong history and I don’t think things are going to be much worse than last season — things can really only go up. Our basketball team has been one of the best in the nation over the last 5 years and it doesn’t look like it’s going backwards any time soon. Pitt is also more than a two sport school. Many of our other sports are doing well, including a women’s hoops team on the rise. We have great facilities for football, basketball, and swimming, and with the planned renovations, the “Olympic sports” will have upgraded facilities as well.

That’s the good stuff…so what about the bad? Firstly, adding us doesn’t exactly open up a whole new market. Whether we like it or not, there’s a large contingent of Penn State folks here in Pittsburgh, so the Big Ten already has a portion of the city’s attention. We’re not in a recruiting area that hasn’t already been tapped into by Big Ten teams like they might get from a team like Missouri.

So what are the actual chances that we’d ever get seriously considered/invited? If I had to guess, I’d say the list looks like so (remember this is not who the B10 WANT, but the chance of it actually HAPPENING):

1. Rutgers
2. Missouri
3. Pitt

MGoBlog has the same three but instead has Pitt at #2 and Mizzou at #3. Black Shoe Diaries has Pitt at #2.

Say next year we do, in fact, have an offer extended to us. What’s our answer? Do we stay put in the Big East or take it? Personally I don’t know what I want us to do. Maybe we’ll just have to wait and cross that bridge when it comes, but the fact that we’re even in the consideration is interesting enough.

The bad news, OK State is also looking to rebound from a tough loss and their first of the year. They are also without freshman guard Obi Muonelo. The kid had been giving them 20+ minutes a night and 11 points/game. He broke his leg in practice over the weekend. This reduces their depth a little, but unless their guards get in foul trouble every game (they did against Tennessee) it won’t be that great of a loss. It’s not like losing a junior and senior who knows the system and provides leadership. He was a freshman, admittedly, a sparkplug type player with a lot of energy, but I’m not going to put that as a major loss for the Cowboys — especially going against Pitt. Yes, they’ve had 7 players foul out in 12 games, but they still can go 7 or 8 deep. It’s not like they are down to 6 bodies.
Both teams have their press releases and game notes — Pitt & OSU (PDF). Obviously, this is the first time the teams have met since the 2004 Sweet 16 meeting that Pitt lost 63-51. I must be a bit out of it, but it just hit me that Pitt will have played Wisconsin and OSU in consecutive games just like in the 2004 NCAA. I mean, I knew that they were two teams that Pitt had faced that year, but it somehow was lost on me until now that it was in the same order.

Vital statistics for Pitt from Pomeroy, Mid-Majority, and traditional.

Vital statistics for OSU from Pomeroy, Mid-Majority, and traditional.

Here’s some of what I get from all the numbers: Oklahoma State likes to play at a faster pace than Pitt, and plays a more aggressive defense. As such, they cause but also have a lot of turnovers. 234 turnovers by opponents, but 210 by OK State. Pitt of course is the opposite. Not a lot of turnovers by the team nor forced by the opponent — 133 coming and going.
They are a decent rebounding team (34.6), but they only outrebound their opponents by an average of 1.8/game. In fact, they tend to be outrebounded on the offensive glass. Pitt rebounding differential against opponents is +7.4.

A lot of that is because they are not particularly tall inside — they leap, are aggressive and get up there; but are not tall — Boggan is 6’7″ playing Forward-Center, Forwards Monds and Dove are 6’8″ and 6’9″. Back-up Center Kenny Cooper is 6’10” but only plays about 13 minutes. Boggan is their leading rebounder with 7/game. Their guards, though, are good at grabbing a lot of rebounds as well, in part because the defense has helped hold opposing teams to only 30% shooting from the 3-point line — lots of long rebounds.

The big danger for Pitt is that this is a team that can go inside and out. Both the forwards and the guards are willing to do that. They like to drive to the basket, and Pitt has struggled so far this year against teams that like to penetrate. They are also an excellent free throw shooting team at 73.4%.

For Pitt in the new century (Insider Subs.), at least.

The easy choice for Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was to take Florida International — a likely win — as a replacement opponent in the Aeropostale Classic New York and call the schedule official.

But Dixon is well aware that he has a Final Four-caliber team capable of playing anyone, anytime, so when South Carolina abruptly pulled out of the Dec. 21 event, leaving the Panthers scrambling for a nonconference game, Dixon didn’t waste time.

He waited about two days as Alabama, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State attempted to move games around to play the Panthers in New York as the undercard to Duke-Gonzaga in Madison Square Garden. Dixon was given a 6 p.m. deadline by the promoter on Friday. Florida International was a possible replacement — and with the Blue Devils-Zags main attraction, no one was too concerned over Pitt’s opponent. The money for the undercard was minimal (a contentious point for the Gamecocks), with the gate expected to be dominated by the Blue Devils and Bulldogs.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury actually worked it so he could move a game against the University of New Orleans in Jackson, Miss., but just when Stansbury had the deal worked out, he got word that the Panthers were out of the event.

Where will Pitt go instead? Oklahoma City.

Barring some sort of contractual hangup, Pitt, according to Dixon, will play against Oklahoma State in the All-College Tournament, an event Dixon was once the MVP of when he played at TCU, on Dec. 21. Oklahoma is scheduled to play Tulsa as part of the doubleheader at the Ford Center.

Ostensibly a “neutral court,” this is clearly a road game challenge for Pitt. That means Pitt will play on the road in Oklahoma City, at Auburn and at Wisconsin. In addition there are home games against Washington, FSU, Dayton, UMass, and a neutral court game against Western Michigan. Then there will be home games against Duquesne, Robert Morris and only a couple patsies. Season ticket holders will get their money’s worth this year.

And in Andy Katz’s preview of the top-50 Pitt comes in at #4.

What we like: We’ve heard from quite a few that this is too high for the Panthers. Well, they did get back a monster in the middle in Aaron Gray. He should be immovable at times in the post. The big secret, though, is in the rest of this squad. Big East coaches love Levon Kendall and Sam Young, two players that don’t get a ton of rep.

What concerns us: The heat will be on the perimeter to replace Carl Krauser‘s toughness and moxie. That means Ronald Ramon must be more verbal to ensure the Panthers meet these expectations.

Power-rating push: Coach Jamie Dixon didn’t shy away from big-time games this season, with a trip to Wisconsin, a game with Washington and potential pests UMass and Florida State on the slate.

As for the rest of the Big East and Pitt opponents:

Georgetown, #7

Wisconsin, #8

UConn, #14

Washington, #19

Marquette, #20

Syracuse, #21

Villanova, #23

Oklahoma St., #26

Louisville, #30

DePaul, #37

Florida St., #40

I don’t know off the top of my head if Pitt has played this challenging a non-con in the 20+ years it has been in the Big East.

So, former Pitt AD, Steve Pederson has to find a new head coach for Nebraska basketball. The question, naturally gets raised, as to whether a traditional football school can even become an occasional top-25 team. It seems like a stupid question. The answer is yes, assuming the commitment is realy there, resources are spent and the right coach is hired. Pitt is cited as an example as to a school that has done it.

When Pittsburgh — under the leadership of Pederson, it’s worth noting — fired Ralph Willard prior to the 1999-2000 season it had gone six years without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Panthers football legend Dan Marino sneezing was bigger news in the area than anything that happened inside or outside a 3-point line.

Enter Ben Howland/Jamie Dixon.

Howland and Dixon (otherwise known as coach and assistant) came to Pitt together, and almost immediately turned things around. The second year featured a winning record. And the third year, 2001-02, marked the Panthers’ first trip to the Sweet 16 in nearly 20 years. Howland departed for UCLA after the ’02-03 season, and Pitt wisely allowed Dixon to step in. All he’s done is go 76-22 the past three seasons while setting the stage for what may be a Final Four campaign this year.

In an interview with UCLA Coach Ben Howland, there is naturally nothing but support and belief that Pederson will hire the right guy. There is a short hand revisionism though, about the hiring of Jamie Dixon to replace Howland at Pitt.

“Kerry does a great job (but) I think Steve is going to first look at all head coaches. When you’re in a major conference, I would say almost always that’s the case,” said Howland, who had an assistant, Jamie Dixon, succeed him at Pitt. “Jamie was really unique, and I recommended him.”

That of course ignores the fact that Pitt pursued and offered the job to Skip Prosser of Wake Forest. Only after Prosser finally turned the gig down did Dixon get the offer. So the situation wasn’t quite that unique.

Then there’s the new incursion by Pitt into the DC area for recruiting. Luke Winn on his new CBB blog for SI.com noticed the article from Monday.

Today, the focus is much narrower: the changing dynamics of the Washington D.C. talent market.

…

A nice story in Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette describes how coach Jamie Dixon is banking on newly hired director of basketball operations David Cox to help make Pitt a player in D.C. recruiting. Cox, to put it lightly, is “hooked up” inside the Beltway after serving as an assistant with the Assault for seven years. Coincidentally, with Cox in the fold in July, the Panthers landed Darnell Dodson, a 6-foot-6, three-star wing player for the Assault. They’re also now in the hunt for Vaughn and McClain and are said to be considered by Beasley as a possible back-up option should he change his mind about K-State. Cox also gives Dixon more pull in his battle against Huggins for Herb Pope, an ultra-talented power forward from Alquippa, Pa., who formerly played for the Assault.

Oh — and Chris Wright, the lone, five-star D.C. prospect who hasn’t made his college decision? He doesn’t play for the Assault, but that doesn’t mean he’s unfamiliar with Cox. “Actually,” Wright told Scout.com this summer, “[Cox] was the assistant principal at my school [St. John’s College High]. We had a very good relationship before he went to the University of Pittsburgh.”

Wright has two Big East schools on his short list: Georgetown … and Pittsburgh. Is anyone surprised?

The only correction is that Dodson credited his verbal to Mike Rice, not Cox. Though, it seems not to be believed.

Should also note that PF Julian Vaughn gave a verbal to Florida State yesterday.

A little while back, in one of the blogpoll roundtables I averred that Oklahoma should be considered quite overrated. Now, I feel more confident in that prediction with this news.

Oklahoma starting quarterback Rhett Bomar will not play for the Sooners this season following an investigation by the team, according to a television report.

Oklahoma confirmed that two players had been dismissed by the team but did not identify them. The school said in a statement that the players violated NCAA rules by working at a private business and taking “payment over an extended period of time in excess of time actually worked.”

Oklahoma City television station KWTV reported that Bomar, who set an Oklahoma freshman record with 2,018 passing yards after taking over as the Sooners’ starter in the second game last season, was one of the two players who had been permanently dismissed.

“We spend a considerable amount of time addressing our players regarding their personal conduct and the NCAA rules,” head coach Bob Stoops said in a statement. “They know exactly what we expect from them. Ultimately, they have to make right decisions. The same holds true for our boosters. When they do not, the consequences are serious, and we will not tolerate this behavior.

“Our team and university actions are necessary because of the intentional participation and knowledge of the student athletes in these violations,” Stoops said.

Gee, who’d a thunk that Oklahoma would display higher standards than Ohio State in the new century?