For those of you not planning to actually be at the game, it airs on ESPNU at noon this Saturday.

Awful Announcing has the crews working on this Saturday. It looks like Dave “wow” Armstrong and Larry Coker.

Additional useless information is that Armstrong has a book to push and for only $4500 he will speak at your corporate function.

Larry Coker has a wikipedia page and  his video from 2002 where the then Miami Hurricane coach “shares examples of how sportsmanship is taught in his program” is marked down to $9.99 — as is an autographed picture of Coker.

Latest press release has the Big East TV appearances. They grouped them by networks so here are the relevant (Pitt) appearances.

ABC
Fri., Nov. 28 WEST VIRGINIA at PITTSBURGH Noon

ESPN
Thurs., Oct. 2 PITTSBURGH at USF 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 6 PITTSBURGH at CONNECTICUT * TBD (might air on ESPN2)

ESPNU
Sat., Aug. 30 Bowling Green at Pittsburgh Noon

CBS College Sports
Sat., Oct. 18 Pittsburgh at Navy 3:30 p.m.

NBC
Sat., Nov. 1 Pittsburgh at Notre Dame 2:30 p.m.

ESPN Regional/Big East Game of the Week
Sat., Nov. 22 PITTSBURGH at CINCINNATI or WEST VIRGINIA at LOUISVILLE

ESPN Regional
Sat., Sept. 6 Buffalo at Pittsburgh 6 p.m.
SportsNet New York/ESPN GamePlan

CBS College Sports is what used to be the  CSTV channel. They rebranded it during the NCAA Tournament and after CBS purchased them outright.

More games will be added, but this is what is known so far. For example the October 25 BE Game of the week is open — and just happens to be the day Rutgers-Pitt play. So that will likely get added.

Not bad for Pitt to already have 6 games on national (non-PPV/regional) distribution considering the last few years. As for the other schools: Louisville has 6 games, WVU has 5 games, USF has 5, UConn has 5, Rutgers has 4, Cinci has 4, Syracuse has 3

The Backyard Brawl this year will be a national telecast on ABC at noon on Friday.

OK, so what’s the big deal about that? Well, since Big East Conference football was regenerated following the loss of three programs to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the league has had only one national TV date for a conference game on ABC.

One more excuse to skip out on any “Black Friday” crap.

I didn’t see this in the Spring Practice Guide (PDF), nor anywhere else. I was tipped off by a contact — okay, it’s an old frat brother who works for NFL Films.  And it wasn’t exactly a tip so much as a “why haven’t you posted this” e-mail, you idiot. Details, and that’s not important.

The info I am trying to share is that the Blue-Gold Spring Football game will be aired live on the NFL Network. That’s 6pm on Saturday, April 19. There will be a re-airing again at Midnight.

That’s right, as long as you can watch the NFL Network you can actually see the game on TV. No settling for the grainy and glitchy internet video feed like last year.

The Pitt women’s basketball team beat 11th seeded Wyoming on Saturday 63-58 to advance to the second round against 3rd see ded Baylor. They advanced this far last year but Candace Parker from Tennessee rolled right over them on their way to an NCAA title.

Baylor (25-6) limped into the tournament with three straight losses — its first three-game skid since the 2000-01 season. The Bears’ struggles were largely due to inexperience and a lack of healthy bodies. They have just one senior on the roster and haven’t played more than seven players in any game since beating Oklahoma on Feb. 17.

That one senior, however, made a big difference on Saturday, when Tisdale had 26 points and six assists in Baylor’s 88-67 first-round victory over Fresno State. “She’s the key to our offense,” junior forward Rachel Allison said of Tisdale, averaging 24.4 points in her last five games. [ESPN preview]

If they are able to beat Baylor tonight, it would be the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history. Game time is set for 7pm on ESPN2.

Women’s basketball was once a strong point of Penn State athletics, but now we have that. At least they can always fall back on their 12 NCAA men’s gymnastics championships.

And holy hell does ESPN have a lot invested in this tournament or what. After CBS picked up the exclusive rights to every game of the men’s tourney, ESPN swooped in for the women’s. I’m willing to bet if they didn’t have the women’s tournament on their networks they wouldn’t have as much of their website dedicated to the women as they do the men. Just sayin’.

Congrats to coach Agnus Berenato for putting the Pitt women’s team on the map when they weren’t relevant even two years ago. Back-to-back tourney appearances is a big deal.

Any doubt ESPN may have had for signing Bob Knight to whatever amount they paid, has to be gone. While we keep watching, hoping, that he at least goes on a blue streak that gets a sustained bleep as if he were off camera — this and this are positively brilliant — people remain riveted to what he is saying.

He goes off and picks Pitt to win the NCAA Tournament on the ESPN Selection show and everyone notices. Even the players and coach. I think Knight got a bit caught up with Pitt. He made his debut on ESPN and had to primarily focus on the Big East Tournament. Just a bit of myopia.

He’s sticking with Pitt, though.

“They really, really impressed me because they won that game with Georgetown in a way where they didn’t have to make a miracle shot, they didn’t have to come from behind to do it,” he said.

“Pittsburgh just manhandled ’em. Played them off the court, really. I’m still high on Georgetown. One game changes the tournament committee’s opinion, never mine, but I’ll get to the tournament committee in a minute.

“Pitt with [Levance] Fields, and [DeJuan] Blair and [Sam] Young inside are just tougher than hell, and [Jamie] Dixon is a tough coach that really works them hard and stays on them.”

He is impressed, too, with UCLA’s Ben Howland, Dixon’s former boss at Pittsburgh. And don’t tell Knight that some people are going to say Howland can’t win the big one if UCLA doesn’t win the title after consecutive trips to the Final Four.

“That’s bull . . .,” he said. “Just getting there is such a difficult proposition. You’ve got to win big ones to get there. Jesus, I wish people would spare me that.”

As for why Knight was doing an interview in the first place.

“Obviously, I’m getting paid to do this,” he said nicely.

Knight was in L.A. for a one-day whirlwind tour as a spokesman to promote DirecTV’s Mega March Madness package.

I love that package.

But Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News, disagrees.

Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight anointed Pitt as his choice to win the NCAA title. That statement proves coaching basketball can be easier for some than analyzing it.

If Pitt were to win the title, it would be one of the shortest modern teams to do so. The Panthers start a 6-7 center (DeJuan Blair) and 6-6 power forward (Sam Young). They typically use one reserve big man who stands 6-8 (Tyrell Biggs).

Knight’s prediction writes a check Pitt’s team can’t cash. Pitt fans who’ve wondered why their team can’t get past the Sweet 16 — generally, it has been because the other teams were better — will point to Knight’s prediction and claim the Panthers underachieved.

Nope — it’s Knight who underachieved. His analysis has dropped to the level of his wardrobe.

Gee, and I just assumed the sweaters with the ESPN logo was because ESPN wouldn’t let Knight sell the ad-space to O’Reilly Auto parts.

AOL FanHouse did something similar to a “Choose Your Own Adventure”, but it was “Choose Your Own Cinderella Team”. Starting here and picking “Pay attention to the front of the jerseys” then “Pick a team with experience” followed by “You like a team that keeps coming back to the tournament”, you’re Cinderella option is Thursday’s opponent, Oral Roberts. Their experience-based preview is here.

Oral Roberts won’t be intimidated by the bright lights. They’ve done this. Sure, they get a very hot Pittsburgh team right now, but how many times have we watched the Big East tournament champion end up losing fairly early in the dance?

ORU has been to the tourney the previous three seasons as a 16 seed, then a 14 seed, and now a 13 seed this year. The “adventure” was fun and I thought was brilliantly done.

According to the Oral Roberts official site, their mascot is the Golden Eagles (changed from Titans in 1993). The name of the costumed mascot is Eli, both for it’s biblical meaning and it’s acronym: Education, Lifeskills, and Integrity. Um, maybe they need to add an ‘f’ for “fighter.” Eli found himself in a bit of a scuffle against the IUPUI Jaguar during the Summit League title game. Of course, like most things these days, it made it’s way onto YouTube.

The best Penguins blog on the web is The Pensblog. They say Pitt won’t win because of a tough first round draw.

What would Gary Roberts do? Probably play a solid 2-3 zone (“with man-to-man principles”)…

…by himself.

[Quick aside: Bill Raftery doesn’t just yell “onions” – he draws them.]

Chances are you probably saw or heard that Bob Knight picked Pitt to win it all. He also has reiterated it more than a few times on various SportsCenter segments that he’s sticking with them. If you missed it, the video is here.

TV coverage map for the afternoon time slot? Yes.

Just a final reminder about our Bracket Challenge. See if you can beat me (you will). Commenters, what’s the name of your bracket? Just so we all know.

Terrelle Pryor mania is over – and he’s attending “The University of Ohio State.”

I’ll be watching the game at the Pete tomorrow – you should too. If you’re a part of the “general public” then feel free to come.

Well, I hope the next coach at Providence proves to be as much a patsy for Pitt as Tim Welsh’s Friars. 10 years, and getting lucky with Ryan Gomes to show for it. Even then, they were one-and-done. A team that has no fundamentals. They just shoot. I can’t even respect them.

That said, I always worry. This team did beat UConn in Hartford because they were incredible from outside in that game. Always a fear. Great work on the liveblog Dennis. I have to say, though, if they had upset Pitt, Dennis would have been banned from basketball liveblogging at the very least in games with supposed patsy teams. No, I’m not blaming him for the Rutgers loss, but that would have been an unsettling trend.

Pitt won 82-63, and it was nice to get an easy win after so many stressful ones.
Not much to say about this game.

Pitt was a little lazy to start the game on the perimeter. Providence made them pay. Right away, though, it was clear how sloppy a team Providence is. They can shoot and run up and down. They have no defense and they don’t even pass real well.

In the first half, that style was clearly tempting the Pitt players. Pitt just wanted to run around as well. It is fun, but it meant Pitt got lazy on defense trying to outscore the Friars.

The good in the first half: Pitt was 18-32 (3-8 on 3s). Only 3 turnovers and 13 assists. Shockingly Blair had 0 rebounds in the first half. This was Young’s kind of game with the running.

Pitt also got Providence to commit 8  turnovers — okay, the Friars helped on several.

The bad in the first half: Providence shot 15-26 (5-11 on 3s). Lazy defensive effort. A bit of gambling on steals — because it was more fun — but gave up easy baskets.

In the second half, clearly the team got the message from Coach Dixon that they can play offense, but not at the expense of poor defensive effort. The Panthers went on a 21-4 run to make a 5 point halftime lead, a 22 point walk to the end.

It also helped that Providence was extremely streaky in their 3-point shooting. They were hot for the first 5 minutes and hot for the final 5 minutes. It was that other 30 minutes that killed them. The Friars finished 9-22 on 3s.

Pitt by contrast shot 5-11 on 3s, with Ramon making all 5 on 7 attempts. Between the poor Providence defense and some confidence by Ramon, he looked fantastic. He finished with 15 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers.

Heck, probably the best thing about this game was that it was a confidence booster for the whole team on offense (well, maybe not Gilbert Brown’s perimeter shooting — but even he had good with 4-4 on free throws).

On the post-game interviews. Naturally Dixon wouldn’t give anything about whether Fields will play on Friday at Marquette: “it’s day-to-day.”

Sam Young’s interview amused the hell out of me. He actually cracked a smile. I really don’t know how easy it is to tell when he is pouting, and when it is his normal expression. He seems to have a naturally dour look. Plus his body language generally pushes a sense of discomfort. He kept hunching forward.

I could probably do a lengthy post on how bad a color analyst Mike Jarvis is, but his post-game interview was even worse. In doing some highlights with Young there, Jarvis actually said to Sam Young that he looks just as happy to make a good pass as he is scoring.

Sam Young just looked confused. Like he couldn’t even believe there was a comparison of the two. He didn’t actually answer with a yes to skip past the inane, softball question. He just kind of moved away from the question. Even Young couldn’t buy into that.

Programming note: On FSN Pittsburgh at 10:00 pm tonight, Under The Lights: Pitt Road Trip will be shown. The previews for it look entertaining as they follow the Panthers trip to New York for the game against St. John’s.

Watch it or DVR after the Providence game tonight. Liveblog/open thread on the way…

That’s exactly what this game was. Sure, Pitt had a horrible night (both by their own doing and some back luck) but Dayton — especially Roberts — played very well. Exceptionally well, maybe even reaching “unreal”. He finished with 31 points with 15 of those coming from three pointers, some of which were taken from very deep. It seemed like he couldn’t miss all game, but neither could any other UD players. They shot 52% from the field compared to Pitt’s 29%. Marcus Johnson (15) and Kurt Huelsman (12) also hit double figures. Add in the fact that they hit 22 of 28 free throws and out-rebounded us 41-34, even though coming into the game we were at +11 rebounds per game against our opponents.

That was the tip of the iceberg during a flat our horrible game for Pitt. Pitt settled for some of the worst shots I’ve ever seen a basketball team take. Tyrell Biggs is not a three point shooter, but that’s not what he seems to think. Sam Young is a forward too, but he threw up two treys. Ronald Ramon, who’s job is to hit a damn three, went 0-6. As a team, we were 3-25 from deep. Ouch.

Moving to DeJuan Blair, who came back down to Earth after a great game against Duke where I think a lot of people forgot he’s just a freshman. He picked up two fouls early, sat most of the first half, and had to play most of the second half with four fouls. This was the first really hostile environment he’s faced and he made plenty of “freshman mistakes”.

Back to Ronald Ramon though. Oh geez, Ronald Ramon. Ramon is basically worthless if he’s not going to hit threes, especially some of the wide open looks he got tonight. He’s a liability on defense and has no real speed or quickness. At 6-1 (6-4 with the hair) and 180 pounds, he definitely has no size and when Fields went out he looked lost while running the offense at PG. He misses hitting wide open players with passes because he lacks court vision and always seems like he’s a step behind everything else. Problem is, with Gil Brown and Keith Benjamin filling in for Mike Cook and Brad Wanamaker only a true freshman who needs some work, our options are limited and Ramon will continue to see the minutes.

As TMG says in the comments:

Ramon didn’t play tonight, but some walk on was using his jersey.

No, my 7 year-old brother isn’t even a walk-on yet. [/Ramon rant]

Of course, Ramon only played the point because of Field’s injury. Obviously it looked like a foot or ankle type of thing but it seems like no one has any real information. The AP report said nothing of value and the radio guys didn’t seem to know much either except it’s some type of sprain. The severity is the big question. Losing Cook for the season was bad, but losing Levance for an extended time (which hopefully isn’t the case) is just horrible. I know this debate has been going on for a while — Fields is one of the best point guards in the nation. He’s the man on this team.

None of the views ESPN had showed the actual injury but he backed into where the cheerleaders were sitting so a good guess would be he stepped on one of their feet or something. A bit surprising that ESPN only had three camera angles, since usually they have a camera to focus on every single player. I guess the other five hoops games plus three bowl games used up every resource the network has.

Lastly, with the way college basketball games are broadcast today, trying to fit them into a two hour time slot and hoping they don’t spill into the next game’s air time is not working anymore. Commercial breaks at every chance they can get (media time outs every four minutes) make the games run longer and longer. Add in the general rule of thumb that every minute of game time ends up translating into about two minutes of real time and a smaller number of games are going to fit into the time slot. Although it’ll never happen (having less teams play means fewer markets are interested), networks like ESPN should show fewer games but give them each a 2.5 hour window. [/ESPN rant. Two of those in one post — I need to cut back a little.]

To end this great night, Penn State won the Alamo Bowl. Still, the sky is not falling. We’re 10-1 and it’s just one non-con loss against a good team.

The kickoff time for Pitt and Syracuse’s November 3 game at Heinz Field has been set for noon. Similar to Saturday’s game against Cincinnati, it will be televised on ESPN Regional as the “Big East Game of the Week”. It can also be seen locally on WTAE.

Also, kicker Conor Lee was recognized as the Big East Special Teams Player of the Week (to be known as the BESTPOTW from now on). Lee accounted for 10 points against Cincinnati which ties his career high. He was perfect on three field goals (41, 25 and 37 yards) and one extra point. Lee, who is a candidate for the Lou Groza Award, extended his school-record PAT streak to 66.

Enjoy today. It’s one of the few Sundays this fall where you won’t be replaying every single Pitt mistake in your head after an ugly loss. Instead, we’ll save that for Thursday this week. How about some women’s hoops? Last year’s landmark season, which included our first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, put the women’s program on the map.

This year could be even bigger. All five starters are back plus the addition of All-Big East point guard Mallorie Winn who missed all of last year. Now we’ll be on TV a number of times this season.

“Playing on television seven times this year is a tremendous reward and opportunity for our program,” Berenato said. “It is very gratifying that networks like ESPN and CSTV have recognized the excitement surrounding Pitt women’s basketball and want to showcase our program to a larger audience. I know our players and fans are really looking forward to the season and this announcement is one more reason to be excited about what we are building at Pitt.”

Pitt’s ESPNU telecasts include its road game at DePaul (Jan. 6) and home contests against Louisville (Jan. 27) and Connecticut (Feb. 17). The Panthers’ Feb. 10 game at Notre Dame will be an ESPN2 telecast.

Other TV games are on the Big Ten Network and CSTV.

Expect a preseason poll ranking for the team.

The Pitt women’s basketball team continues to break new ground as it has received numerous preseason rankings, including a No. 18 ranking from Lindy’s Sports Annuals and a No. 21 ranking from both Athlon Sports Annuals and WomensBasketballMagazine.com.

A full team preview can be found here.

I definitely think I’ll come to at least a few women’s games this year — come support the program, too.

Huge day of football underway and continuing into the wee hours of the night. Wisconsin, ranked 7th in the BlogPoll, already lost to Illinois. Mark May has already pronounced the s in Illinois not one but twice. Penn State just kicked off against Iowa (go Hawkeyes!). Michigan State just lost in OT to Northwestern. Kansas is at 5-0 after defeating #22 Kansas State. Plenty of fun going on…

Quickly, some Big East picks (a little late but what I wrote down Thursday night — honest):

Louisville over Utah (The Cards are really falling apart…and killing my picks)
(14) WVU over Syracuse
(5) South Florida over Florida Atlantic
(23) Rutgers over (17) Cincinnati (So it looks like I’m finally hopping off the Cinci bandwagon)

Thankfully Pitt is not playing today — they tend to ruin my Saturday’s when they lose — which is more often than not.

Other news, notes, and assorted fun:

— In Mel Kiper Jr.’s top junior-class players by position, he has Conredge Collins ranked 1st at FB and Conor Lee as the #4 kicker. (ESPN Insider)

— Penn State’s Austin Scott might be involved in a sexual assault and isn’t playing today.

— Every single channel I turn on has a game worth watching…I love it.

— I’ve had my high-definition TV for a while but only recently have realized how amazing it is to watch football (and any sport) in HD.

Updates:

5:30 pm: This has to be a joke. Also, Penn State is winning 13-0 at the half and Tennessee is destroying (12) Georgia. I’m beginning to formulate a BlogPoll ballot, and it’s going to be a mess.

6:25 pm: The NCAA has a new all-time leading rusher in D-II Chadron State’s Danny Woodhead. I’m still waiting for USF to turn it on; I’ve supported them as a legitimate top 5 team so they better not let me down against FAU. The Bulls lead 21-17 with 11:46 left in the game.

11:15 pm: If you live in the Wexford, Franklin Park, or Cranberry areas you need to try out Patron Mexican Restaurant on Route 19. Great stuff. I come home from there and on CBS, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 I can see four games between ranked teams. Top ranked LSU is 12 minutes from losing, #2 USC already lost against Stanford, and one of the best Big East games of the year (Cinci vs. Rutgers) is close in the 4th quarter.

If you’re looking for some perspective on Pitt’s loss to Virginia last week, that same Cavaliers team beat Middle Tennessee by 2 points. On a field goal with 8 seconds left. Against Middle Tennessee. Against Middle Tennessee!

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.

It’s Michigan State week, and not only am I pumped because we finally play a real team, but I’m also heading up there to see it. This will be my first time in a Big Ten environment and the first time in a (probably) full stadium since going down to WVU in 2005. The game will be on ESPN with Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Andre Ware (color) and Quint Kessenich (sideline).

Unless you dropped off the face of the Earth and didn’t see how the Grambling game unfolded, you’re aware that Kevan Smith is going to be starting under center. Coach Wannstedt, your thoughts…

On things that Kevan Smith needs to improve on:
As simple as this sounds, just hitting open receivers and taking what the defense gives him. He needs to work on those little things. It’s not sitting back there and reading the defense, that’s not the problem. He made some great throws on his deep balls. He had a great throw to Nate Byham. I think he just needs to continue to work on the little things, and he will.

On preparing Kevan Smith for his first game in a hostile environment:
We’ll bring noise out there on Wednesday and Thursday. That will benefit not just the quarterback but our entire football team, particularly the offense. He’ll be fine. We’ll continue to practice Pat Bostick. He’ll take half the reps in practice and we’ll continue to get him ready just in case we would need him.

On playing Pat Bostick:
We’ll play him if he’s needed, but we’ll have to see how the game unfolds.

There are some people out there who think Smith is even more talented than Stull, but I don’t see how any type of comparison can be made seeing them each in one game. Then taking into account the type of teams we played, and it’s nearly impossible right now to say one is more skilled than the other. Get used to Smith though, he’s going to be leading us through the next few weeks because Bostick didn’t look nearly as great as we expected.

How did the Spartans do last week? Saturday Sound Offs gives them a B letter grade.

Michigan State-They looked alright out there against the Falcons. Brad Hoyer was efficient through the air and the MSU ground game was the difference. The run defense also didn’t let Bowling Green do too much.

Pitt was graded as a B+.

EDSBS doesn’t buy or sell MSU at this point, but merely holds on them.

Michigan State Held off Bowling Green. Simmering until the inevitable collapse at some point over the next month. At the point the Spartans really start to look like a ‘buy,’ unload them. Fast.

Last year, after running all over Pitt (by using the same 2 plays — a RB dive and a RB stretch), MSU looked like a team to “buy”. They then proceeded to throw away their season by blowing a huge lead against Notre Dame. As Stuart said in the comments, “Can MSU please vomit away their season 1 week early this year? We all know they’re going to fold, its just a question of when.”