Time for some media and navel-gazing while trying to put things in a little perspective.

If I was obsessed with numbers and hit counts, then I would want this coaching search to drag out for a while. People have been hitting this site hard. Commenting, refreshing, just trying to get any new scrap of info they can get.

But I’m not. I’d rather have this search over soon. If for no other reason than to let everyone take a breath and (over)reacting to every report, rumor, scrap and even when there is no information.

I get it. This is very tense. The next head coach will do one of three things. Push Pitt football forward and move it past where it is now to something greater. Neutral results that have Pitt still around the same place it has been for most of the past decade. Backwards where the program regresses and is just a general disaster. Or in terms of recent Big East coaches: Kelly, Wannstedt or Kragthorpe.

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Yesterday Pitt and Comcast announced a Pitt Panther TV channel.

Pitt and The Comcast Network are proud to announce the launch of Pitt Panthers Television, a breakthrough programming service that will annually present more than 500 additional hours of Pitt athletics coverage to area fans exclusively on The Comcast Network, including live broadcasts of men’s basketball games this season and football coach Dave Wannstedt’s weekly press conferences as well as re-airs of all home football games.

Pitt Panthers Television, which debuts Sept. 21, will also broadcast live football and men’s basketball pre- and postgame shows, women’s basketball games and women’s volleyball games as well as other Olympic sports and original programming. It will also bring rebroadcasts of football and basketball games to Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand platform, allowing Comcast digital customers to enjoy all the Panthers’ great moments whenever they want.

As you would expect it is limited to Western Pennsylvania and some parts of Central PA. It is on channels 188 or 210. As long as you live in the region and are a Comcast subscriber this is a great thing.

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Because I don’t really care.

Yes, Pitt dropped out of the polls. From 15th in preseason polls to unranked. Who didn’t see it coming? Polls are of questionable value, other than extra attention. Preseason and the first few weeks even more so.

A preseason poll is little more than a guesstimate of how good you think a team is. Pitt lost and even if it was to a good team on the road, it is still a loss and most teams outside of the top-10 that lost that way would fall out of the rankings.

You can complain about teams beating up on 1-AA moving up in the rankings, but there is no real reason to take them out. It’s really just reshuffling some deck chairs in the early going. Trying to feel out things.

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A short story that has little context.

The national telecast of the Pitt game on Versus drew an overnight rating of 8.6 in the Pittsburgh market. According to a network spokesperson, it was the highest cable rating of the evening and second overall in the market.

The top rating belonged to the Steelers, who played their final preseason game against Carolina at Heinz Field. The game drew a 30.0 rating on KDKA-2, the local CBS affiliate.

An average of more than 99,000 households tuned into the Pitt game. More than 346,000 viewed the Steelers game.

Now, am I or anyone else really shocked that even an exhibition Steelers game would be the runaway ratings winner in Pittsburgh? Especially when one is on a regular network and the other is on a less than pervasive (semi) sports channel?

No information as to how many households in the Pittsburgh market have Versus, especially compared to KDKA.

To put this in context, since it is hard to compare anything that airs on Versus except the NHL. When the Pens were playing the Red Wings for the 2009 Stanley Cup, game 2 was on Versus. That game got a 26.1 rating in Pittsburgh. Meaning that the Steelers’ exhibition also outdrew the Stanley Cup.

Also to put it in perspective, the highest watched regular season NHL game in Versus’ history (and apparently since 2004) — Pens-Red Wings — drew a 6.7 in Pittsburgh. Which the Pitt game beat.

If you want to claim a theme from the Big East Media Day, I think it would be considered, “Hey, we’re still here and doing okay.”

At media day at the historic Hotel Viking, Marinatto hoped all the talk of pillaging and plundering would be put on pause as he rattled off the league’s accomplishments. (The past four years, the Big East has won 72.2% of its non-league games, trailing only the Southeastern Conference. League teams have also won 73% of their bowl games.)

This could be one of the more competitive seasons in league play. “The conference is truly up for grabs,” says Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt, whose Panthers were picked to win the league in the preseason media poll. He says five of the Big East’s eight teams could contend for the league title, given all the inexperience at quarterback. Only three starting QBs are back.

Expectations are modest. Parity is being stressed. As is the fact that there are 3 new head coaches and only 3 teams returning a starting QB.

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In case you were somehow thinking that Pitt would not be the preseason favorite of the Big East, the media poll results blew that out of the water.

1. Pittsburgh (22 first-place votes) 190
2. Cincinnati 142
West Virginia (1) 142
4. Connecticut (1) 131
5. Rutgers 99
6. USF 79
7. Syracuse 41
8. Louisville 40

That’s 22 first place votes out of 24 for Pitt. The Panthers, narrowly were the choice last year. In the prior 19 years of Big East football media polls, the preseason pick has won it only 9 times.

Cinci gets respect and no respect. Everyone expects them near the top of the Big East, but no one thinks they will win it.

The one guy who voted UConn? A USF beat writer.

USF getting knocked down to 6th is something of a surprise as Brian Bennett has noted the Bulls have been a bit overrated at times — probably owing to their potential with Florida talent. At least that they were that far back from 5th and Rutgers.

Rutgers is roughly where they were predicted in the preseason mags.

Congrats to Syracuse for finally not being picked last in the conference.

Big East Media Day, the start of camp. Too much coming too fast to take my time getting to links piling up in my tabs. So I’m just going to pass along the links and let you do all the work.

Starting with remaining Terrell Chestnut stories.

Chestnut had a hard time deciding between Pitt and Rutgers, but ultimately felt more comfortable at Pitt.

He is looking forward to playing defensive back full-time when he gets to college — whether it is cornerback or safety.

While Chestnut appears more comfortable at cornerback, he said he’s willing to make a change if necessary. That, of course, bodes well for Chestnut, considering Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt routinely suggests some recruits switch positions in an effort to maximize their potential.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to play — and win,” said Chestnut, who has 17 career interceptions, including four in 2009.

Solid local paper article on Chestnut and his commitment. He is just happy to have made the decision to try and enjoy his senior year.

“I went out there and felt it was the best place for me,” Chestnut said. “I want to major in pre-med, too, and (Pitt) is one of the best pre-med schools in the country.”

“Right now, though, (making a decision) is a big relief. It’s just a lot of stress off my back.”

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Today is Pitt’s turn for the ESPN blitz in Bristol, CT. Coach Wannstedt, Dion Lewis and Greg Romeus.

“This is one of the most anticipated seasons for the University of Pittsburgh in recent history,” Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti said. “In addition to having extremely high team aspirations, we believe we have two of the elite talents in all of college football in Dion Lewis and Greg Romeus. And I can’t think of a better place to promote that than the worldwide leader in sports.”

And on Tuesday, it is Big East Media Day up in Newport, Rhode Island. In addition to Coach Wannstedt, Lewis and Romeus, Jason Pinkston, Jonathan Baldwin and Dom DeCicco will be representing Pitt.

Closing fast on the start of training camp and the start of the 2010 season.

I’ve had this tab open for well over a week, yet it still isn’t resolved. The long expected move for Pitt football and basketball to 93.7 The Fan as the team’s flagship station has yet to occur.

The long negotiating process involving the broadcasting rights to Pitt football and basketball has hit a snag.

The deal was almost done between Pitt and The Fan 93.7 (KDKA-FM) and was in the hands of the lawyers for a final look. But it appears the issue of  woman‘s basketball is holding up a finalization.

When Pitt was carried by Clear Channel, as it has in recent years, football and men’s basketball were heart first on 104.7 (WPGB) and more recently on 94.5 (WWSW), both on the FM dial. Women’s basketball was heard on Fox Sports Radio 970, an AM station that Clear Channel uses for auxiliary sports program such as the Altoona Curve, coaches shows and various insider programming.

Is there a lot of interest or listening for Pitt women’s basketball? No. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t important for Pitt to have a home for it.

It needs a place for broadcasts. The women’s basketball team has been growing and becoming better than simply respectable. Pitt has to show recruits its commitment, and have a home for the broadcasts so they can be streamed.

The problem is that KDKA-FM has no other minor station to put the broadcasts. As such it puts both sides in a bad spot.

93.7 has not taken off quite as expected. They need Pitt football this fall to get bring in new listeners and then try to retain them. Same with basketball later.

For Pitt, they need a place for their sports. While it appears Clear Channel is still willing to have them, it has gotten more crowded as Clear Channel has already made a move to carry WVU games as well.

Both sides want the move to The Fan. Pitt wants more attention that being the primary live programming on the station would bring locally. The Fan wants to have signature live programming to fill time slots.

The longer this draws out, the worse it is for promoting Pitt football for the upcoming season. 93.7 won’t devote as much resources and energy to training camp and the upcoming season if it doesn’t know that it will be the flagship.

Ultimately, it seems that it has to be resolved. I wonder if they could at least reach a short-term agreement to have women’s basketball games streamed over 93.7’s website.

The Big East meetings came and went without anything happening. Not that anything was actually expected, but before every conference meeting there seems to be this silly expectation that something might happen.

Speaking of which.

Big 12 officials, including the board of directors, will be discussing issues related to “conference membership,” according to the agenda. With Missouri and Nebraska at the center of Big Ten expansion scenarios, some fret that the Big 12 will be cannibalized for parts.

Expect Beebe to push conference loyalty. One possibility, he acknowledged, would be legislation that would stiffen the penalties for schools to exit.

The odds of such legislation passing would be slim and none. Colorado, Mizzou, Nebraska and even Texas and Texas A&M would never support that.

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The first batch of preview mags are out. Athlon and Lindy’s came out just before the Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to pick them up until today. So, this is just a cursory bit on them.

No, they aren’t the “bible” that is Phil Steele — next week — but they are a light snack.

Lindy’s — which disturbingly enough still uses the circa 2003 logo for Pitt — has Pitt at #14 nationally. Their Big East preview was done by Tom Luicci, who writes for the New Jersey Star-Ledger (NJ.com). Pitt is picked to win the Big East.

Athlon, puts Pitt at #18 nationally. They also have Pitt winning the Big East.

Sporting News’ preview should be out today or sometime this week. At least I have reading material to start distracting me for a little while.

I’ll have some more on these mags and content later in the week.

As expected the words of Big 11 Commish Delany set off a frenzy of parsing what he said and what it means for expansion. Specifically the bit about population shift and the Sun Belt (not the conference).

Delany said the expansion process has been driven primarily by two factors: the demographic shift of population toward the Sun Belt and expanding the reach of the Big Ten Network.

“As far as the shifting population is concerned, I think that is reason enough by itself to look at the concept of expansion,” Delany said. “The rates of growth in the Sun Belt are four times what they are in the East or Midwest.”

That statement seems to contradict widespread conjecture that the Big Ten is looking at schools from the Big East (Notre Dame, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pittsburgh) and Big 12 (Missouri and Nebraska). The only Southern school mentioned as a possibility is Texas, which is considered the biggest catch, but probably the most elusive one.

The issue of demographics was actually mentioned in advance by Iowa’s AD. Now as Black Heart, Gold Pants noted that still helps a school like Rutgers that is about the metro NY area and subscribers. To say nothing of a region that isn’t shrinking, but constantly replenishing itself. Metro areas that consistently reinvent and are reinvigorated by people coming there — NYC, DC, Boston those types of metro areas.

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I admit to being surprised by the new ACC TV deal that has apparently went down.

The back-and-forth bidding, which reached its final stages last week at the league’s spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., drove up ESPN’s rights fee from initial projections of about $120 million a year to $155 million, sources said, providing the ACC with more than double the revenue it was receiving from its previous football and basketball contracts.

ESPN’s increase was in response to an unexpectedly strong pursuit by Fox Sports and sources familiar with the negotiations say the bidding was neck-and-neck last week.

The ACC broke from its spring meetings without announcing a new deal, and the conference said a formal contract had not been finalized. But industry sources pegged a pending deal with ESPN at $1.86 billion over 12 years .

That annual figure of $155 million dwarfs the average of $67 million the league was getting from its previous media deals…

I’ve been thinking about it for the last 24 hours because there’s a lot to it.

One of the things I noted is that like the Big East deal with ESPN, it is all encompassing. In other words it appears to give up all rights including digital and mobile platform. That’s a significant difference from the SEC and Big 10 deals with ESPN that allows those conferences greater control over other and future revenue streams.

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It’s 68 teams not a 96-team expansion.

The NCAA today announced a new 14-year television, internet and wireless rights agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., to present the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship beginning in 2011 through 2024 for more than $10.8 billion. As part of the agreement, all games will be shown live across four national networks beginning in 2011 – a first for the 73-year old championship.

Additionally, CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting have been licensed and will collaborate on the NCAA’s corporate marketing program.

Late Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee unanimously passed a recommendation to the Division I Board of Directors to increase tournament field size to 68 teams beginning with the 2011 Championship. The recommendation will be reviewed by the Division I Board of Directors at its April 29 meeting.

I can’t begin to say how happy I am over this. 4 play-in games is fine. That keeps things relatively stable as there will now by 37 at-large teams.

If as it says, all games will be on TV, that means saving a $65-70 every year on the Mega March Madness package I’ve been getting. That’s a plus.

The day suddenly seems a little brighter.

Nothing to report on the new assistant front.

The end of the season basketball banquet took place. Here’s the list of award recipients:

TEAM AWARDS

Most Valuable Player: Brad Wanamaker, Ashton Gibbs
Most Improved Player: Travon Woodall
Best Defensive Player: Jermaine Dixon, Gary McGhee
Captains Award: Jermaine Dixon, Brad Wanamaker
Team Rebounding Leader: Gary McGhee (6.8 rpg)
Free Throw Shooting Leader: Ashton Gibbs (88.4%)
Most Inspirational Player: Nasir Robinson
Coaches Award: Gilbert Brown, Chase Adams
Academic Excellence Award: Dante Taylor
Jaron Brown Pursuit of Excellence Award: J.J. Richardson

Everyone is still waiting to find out if J.J. Moore will qualify academically for the fall, or if someone (*cough* Dwight Miller *cough*) transfers. Moore, though, was impressive at the Jordan Brand Classic and Adam Zagoria has a story.

“Those guys definitely shined through,” said Mike Kelly, the Suburban Team coach who also coaches at Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep. “Fu does so many things. Fu really played hard and J.J. Moore is an incredible talent. He is an incredible talent. And I’m a Pitt alum so I’m going to be happy with him up at Pittsburgh.”

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“The biggest development from when he was at Brentwood to this year at South Kent is his ability to score from outside of defenses. He can hit the 3 off the catch consistently. In the past that wasn’t something he could do. He was always athletic. He was always a great transition scorer, he could always get to the basket,” said Tom Konchalski, who has covered New York high school basketball for four decades.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon called Moore “his next Sam Young,” the former Big East star now with the Memphis Grizzlies.

“Wow, that’s pretty incredible,” Kelly said. “He’s got the strength and power that Sam Young has. I think he shoots the ball deeper than Young did. He’s got the body and he’s a great kid.”

Asked how it felt to be compared to an NBA player, Moore said: “It makes me feel confident that I can definitely be able to be in the NBA and play at the next level.”

In other news, Louisville sold the naming rights to their new arena: the KFC Yum! Center. As you can imagine, the Double Down cracks are already in full swing. Nothing like having a randomly inserted, meaningless bit of punctuation tossed in the name.

In what passes for good news/bad news, it looks like CBS will retain the rights to the NCAA Tournament — no matter how bloated it gets.

ESPN has told the NCAA that it will not increase its bid to obtain the NCAA men’s basketball tournament rights, clearing the way for CBS and Turner to share the rights starting next year, according to sources with direct knowledge of the talks.

CBS and Turner have a 14-year deal on the table that is worth more than the $710 million annual fee that CBS would have to pay over the last three years of the existing deal, source said. No deal has been formalized, though, and the NCAA still hopes to reengage ESPN in some way.

The good news is that it means no Dick Vitale calling the games. Always a good thing. Not to mention the continuing presence of Gus Johnson on the NCAA Tournament. It also means that CBS will still give something of a passing care to college basketball once the NFL season is finished.

The bad news is that it means the extra incentive for ESPN to upgrade their ESPNU broadcast center located in North Carolina to HD is lost. To say nothing of the hideous bloat of a 96-team tournament.