Another Monday has arrived (and it’s a “Big Monday” for the Panthers tonight on ESPN) which means all kinds of different polls and numbers can be seen left and right. First we start with the two Top 25 polls, both of which bumped Pitt up to 7th in the nation. The six teams in front of Pitt are the same and in a matching order in both polls with teams such as Duke (who had a win handed to them last week), Oregon, and Texas A&M.

Next we get something interesting from the Big East Basketball Report: RPI ratings for Big East teams composed of stats just from conference games. From that, here’s what we get through yesterday’s game.

….TEAM………..CONFERENCE RPI………CONF SOS….SOS RANK
Marquette—————.5846——————.5218———–4
Pittsburgh—————.5594——————.4709———-13
Louisville—————-.5508——————.5020———-9
Villanova—————-.5418——————.5507———–2
Syracuse—————–.5368——————.5137———–7
Notre Dame————-.5268——————.4941————11
Georgetown————-.5260——————.4690———–14
West Virginia———–.5069——————.4676———-15
DePaul——————.4973——————.5215———–5
Connecticut————.4946——————.5584————1
Providence————–.4940——————.4748———-12
St. John’s—————-.4653——————.5133———-8
Seton Hall—————.4516——————.4949———10
South Florida———–.4446——————.5303———-3
Cincinnati—————.4181——————.5191———–6
Rutgers——————.4019——————.4525———-16

I don’t think it would be expected to see Pitt at anywhere but the top two or three slots at this point through conference play.

The weekly conference poll they run there also came out for the new week with Pitt checking in at number one. The top five looks like so:

1) Pittsburgh (16): 286 pts.
2) Marquette (2): 269 pts.
3) Georgetown: 245 pts.
4) Notre Dame: 228 pts.
5) Louisville: 208 pts.

I found it a bit surprising that more voters did not give their first place vote to Marquette and the voting followed how things have gone the past few weeks.

Also following suit from last week were the player of the week, Dominic James, and freshman of the week, Scottie Reynolds from a ‘Nova team we’ll see tonight, both of which were voted into those spots for the second straight week.
Also a few notes from ESPN Insider who now have Aaron Gray as their #22 draft prospect.

Positives: Gray is a legit 7-footer, and he has the girth (he weighs in at 270) to handle the middle full time. He’s a good rebounder, especially on the offensive boards. Excellent hands. Good lower body strength helps him hold position in the paint. Nice baby hook. Good perimeter shooter.

Negatives: He’s not a very good athlete, and weight has been an issue in the past. With the NBA moving toward an up-tempo style, Gray’s type of game is less valued than it’s been in the past. Not much of a shot blocker. Poor free throw shooter.

Summary: For a second straight season, Gray continues to prove that he’s a legit NBA center prospect, despite scouts’ misgivings. He’s moved from the first round bubble to a pretty firm first round pick.

Two freshmen, Texas’ Kevin Durant and OSU’s Greg Oden, are battling it out to be in the #1 spot according to both ESPN and anyone who has eyes and has seen either of them play.

Jay Bilas also has Gray as his Big East Player of the Year so far (Insider subs.).

Big East
Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh: The most productive player on the top team in the league. Gray stands just above the rest in a season when there is no signature player or team, at least by traditional Big East standards. Gray is having a great season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds and shooting just under 60 percent from the field.

Fran Fraschilla and Doug Gottlieb both took Dominic James over Gray.

For those of you sick of hearing about other things regarding Levon Kendall, this will depress you. The new meme may be that he had a role in the seminal animal playing sport movie, “Air Bud”:

How come no one’s talking about his acting skills, though? IMDB — and I don’t think this has been reported previously — lists “Levon Kendall” as an “Additional Basketball Player” in the epic 1997 film Air Bud (star Kevin Zegers is pictured at right). Pitt’s Kendall would have been 13 then, and the movie had a Canadian casting director, so it makes sense.

Let’s see how long until someone in the local media asks him about it. Actually, the question is, where was the film shot. If it was shot in Vancouver, then yes, it could very well be him. How many Levon Kendalls are there in the world? Luke Winn also dropped Pitt to #12 in his power rankings.

The ESPN Power Rankings puts Pitt at #8 which is actually better then where I and the rest of the AOL Fanhouse bloggers ended up putting Pitt (#9).

If you really want to find out more about Dixon — and maybe a little insight into why he won’t publicly rip into his players. Something many seem to crave. Maybe the FSN “In My Own Words” episode that runs on FSN-Pittsburgh next on Monday at 12:30pm will help people to understand (doubt it).

Recent addition to Pitt Blather, Dennis, inserted himself into P-G Pitt b-ball beat writer Ray Fittipaldo’s online chat today with a couple of questions.

PittHoopsatPittBlather: Those of us who have been following Pitt basketball for at least the past five years generally see this team as the best of the Howland/Dixon era in terms of being able to go deep into the tournament. But what do you think is the greatest reason? My vote goes to three-point shooting.

Ray Fittipaldo: I’m not sure I agree that this is the best team of the Howland-Dixon era. That team in 2002 and the one in 2003 were pretty good. Both lost in Sweet 16 games. This team is good for a number of reasons. The 3-point shooting is certainly one of them. The Panthers lead the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage and Ronald Ramon might be one of the top five 3-point shooters in the country. But there are other reasons to like this team. It has balance and it has depth. When Sam Young plays the way he did last night against Cincinnati, it adds another dimension to the team. They’ll need performances like that from him and other reserves in the tournament.

Jeff: I was curious about several of the last few Pitt losses; Marquette, Big East finals Syracuse and last regular season game with WVU … There is one constant in all three games — Tim Higgins was on the crew that did the game. This is one rather large coincidence. What are you thoughts?

Ray Fittipaldo: You mention those three games, but my understanding is that Pitt has a very good record when Higgins referees the game. One Pitt fan I saw at the Cincinnati game keep-s track. He said Pitt is in trouble when Jim Burr and Curtis Shaw are calling the game. I know Shaw was an official in all three of Pitt’s losses this season. And everyone at Pitt remembers Shaw throwing students out of the game a couple of years ago. If I was a Pitt fan, I’d be happy to see Higgins but maybe not when I see Burr and Shaw.

PittHoopsatPittBlather: Just when it appeared that Sam Young was steadily falling out of the rotation he stepped up with a solid performance last night. Do you see him being a factor come tournament time or do you think yesterday’s game was an aberration?

Ray Fittipaldo: If you noticed Young was into the game at the first media timeout last night, which is something new. I think Dixon wanted to give him more playing time to see if he could get more production out of him. Young has to do more than score once every five games, though, if Pitt is going to be successful in March. We all know the problems at power forward. If Young plays the way he did last night, their problems are masked a little better.

Nice.

Luke Winn at SI.com finally puts Pitt back in his weekly power poll at #16.

Welcome back to the rankings, Pitt. For the record, it wasn’t all of your fans’ hate mail that got you reinstated — it was the road wins at Syracuse and DePaul, and the 3-0 start in the Big East. None of that is anything to get too excited about, but let’s face it: You didn’t really beat anyone before January. The resume matters here. The good thing is that kenpom.com’s new feature — “Game Plan” — has diagnosed your problem: You’re struggling in the games in which you get killed on the offensive glass. The three times you let an opponent grab at least 40 percent of the available offensive boards, you either lost (to Oklahoma State and Wisconsin) or nearly lost (to Buffalo). So beware the Big East’s two best offensive rebounding teams, UConn and Providence, OK?

Meanwhile, Clemson is ranked #8 and Air Force #9. That doesn’t bother me as much as the not beating anyone comment. Mainly because he credits both Wisconsin and UNC for beating FSU. Something Pitt also did by a similar margin. I realize those two teams beat more good teams (like Wisconsin beating Pitt), but the absolutist tone annoys. Thanks for the tip on the offensive rebounds — we were already aware of it.

ESPN.com puts Pitt in the #2 seed group (#7) in its power poll.

Panthers are quietly playing solid ball while the rest of the Big East continues to stub its collective toe. Interesting to note how similar Pitt’s dossier is to the team ranked No. 9 this week, which very few are talking about …

That team is Texas A&M.

All kinds of new polls come out each Monday and here’s a few with Pitt. New AP and ESPN/USA Today polls are out with the Panthers checking in at the seventh spot in each poll. Each has the same teams rounding out the top 10 and a very young, possibly unready North Carolina team takes over the top spot.

The Big East Bloggers Poll came out after the first real week of conference play and Pitt continues to hold onto that #1 rank. The ‘Eers are closely coming in behind us; even though Pitt got many of the 1st place votes, WVU got a few and then raked in the rest of the second place votes.

This Week’s Poll (first place votes in parenthesis):
1) Pittsburgh (16): 300 pts.
2) West Virginia (3): 274 pts.
3) Georgetown: 256 pts.
4) Notre Dame: 234 pts.
5) Connecticut: 221 pts.
6) Providence: 207 pts.
7) Syracuse: 205 pts.
8) Marquette: 181 pts.
9) DePaul: 150 pts.
10) Villanova: 144 pts.
11) Louisville: 114 pts.
12) St. John’s: 82 pts.
13) Seton Hall: 79 pts.
14) Cincinnati: 54 pts.
15) Rutgers: 45 pts.
16) South Florida: 31 pts.

Looks like we managed to make South Florida bad enough that they took over the last (and definitely least) spot.

Over at the Fanhouse, I have the results of a small voting bloc of Big East bloggers on Big East football awards. It’s a small bloc, because not many responses were received.

Here’s my ballot.

Coaching performance from Best to Worst:

1. Jim Leavitt, USF
2. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
3. Bob Petrino, Louisville
4. Mark Dantonio, Cinci
5. Rich Rodriguez, WVU
6. Randy Edsall, UConn
7. Dave Wannstedt, Pitt
8. Greg Robinson, Syracuse

I was stunned by how well USF did. At the start of the season, I figured them for last. What with all the injuries, arrests, and drug suspensions. Yet, they kept winning. They got better during the season. For just the 2006 season, I think Leavitt edges Schiano who would get this award if it was for evaluating the job over his whole tenure.
Greg Robinson does not have the talent, and the team did not quitting. I have some real questions about his decisionmaking and coaching . Dave Wannstedt and Pitt’s secon-half nose-dive keeps all the questions and doubts about Wannstedt being a head coach answered for many and unanswered for poor Pitt fans.

Offensive Player of the Year:

Pat White, QB, WVU. He makes the offense go. His decisionmaking in the spread option has been excellent all year. The threat of him taking off, frees up Steve Slaton. He doesn’t pass much, but is quite accurate when he does.
Defensive Player of the Year:

H.B. Blades, MLB, Pitt.
It’s hard to pick Blades, considering how bad the defense around him was. I think to some degree that this is a reflection on how down the defense was overall in the Big East. Rutgers had probably the best team defense, but who was the actual difference maker on the squad? Rameel Meekins? Courtney Greene? That was a squad where the sum exceeded the parts.
Defense, on the other hand, was lacking in major star power. Rutgers had the best defense this year, but it was a unit outperforming the individuals. Is Courtney Greene better or more important to Rutgers than Rameel Meekins?

That made Blades the only standout in the Big East, despite being on a defense that was torched by any team with a competent O-line and running back who could go north-south.

Special Teams Player of the Year:

Art Carmody, K, Louisville.

Some good return guys in JuJuan Spillman (L-ville), Lowell Robinson (Pitt) and Ean Randolph (USF); but Carmody was reliable and extremely valuable to Louisville. Especially during the games when Brohm was out and then just trying to get back into form.

Newcomer of the Year:

Matt Grothe, QB, USF.

A no-brainer. He was the reason that USF did much better than expected. Stepped in when Julmiste went down to start the season, and just won with his arm and legs. He was the entire USF offense for many games, and still couldn’t be stopped by defenses keying on him. Could very well be better than Pat White next year.
Most Overrated Player:

Brendan Carney, P, Syracuse.

Ray Guy hopeful, the only thing working for Syracuse last year. Just fell to middle of the pack in Big East punting.

Most Surprising Team:

Cinci

I thought they would be 6th or 7th in the Big East this year. Instead, they improved all season despite lesser talent than nearly every team in the conference. The lack of depth caught up to them in many games as they faded in the second half. They gave every team they faced at least one half where they scared the crap out of them including: VT, OSU, Pitt, WVU and L-ville.

USF was a close second in this category for me.
Most Disappointing Team:

Pitt

The way Pitt collapsed in the second half of the season was pathetic. They folded as they faced better competition. The team failed to improve throughout the season like good teams or teams with promise do. Very frustrating to see them skid off the tracks in the final five games.

Way too early prediction for best team in 2007:

USF.

I think USF might be able to challenge next year — assuming their players can avoid arrests and drug suspensions. They’ve got the coach, and the talent is starting to fit into place. It’s going out on a limb, but if you really want to make predictions about the 2007 season in December, then why not go on the crazy side. Why take the easy call with Louisville?

Pitt is #2 in both polls. Actually receiving #1 votes.

A Buffalo sportswriter who is anticipating Pitt’s visit this weekend thinks Pitt is #1.

Full disclosure: I have been one of the 72 voters on the Associated Press basketball poll for several years. It is a task I take seriously, spending several hours during the week following scores and trends before voting on Sunday nights. But I would not do it if the polls helped determine who made the NCAA Tournament come March (poll rankings are not used by the selection committee when choosing schools).

Our weekly task got quite a bit juicier this week because I can’t stop myself from looking ahead to Saturday afternoon when No. 2 Pittsburgh, my No. 1 pick for two straight ballots, comes to Alumni Arena to meet the University at Buffalo.

We just don’t get this chance for an in-the-flesh view of a team that high in the polls very often.

…

Besides, I’m not a coach or player. I’m allowed to look ahead. I know there are plenty of people at UB already doing the same thing and there’s no way for coach Reggie Witherspoon to slow down the buildup.

You can even go on Facebook.com and find plugs for a “Reggieville” tent city that’s planning to sprout outside Alumni on Friday afternoon so students can get the best seats when the doors open the next day.

Two days before his team dismantled Niagara on Saturday night, I couldn’t resist asking Witherspoon about Pitt. He laughed at me. I deserved it, too. It’s normally a journalistic no-no to ignore the next game and ask about another one.

Not this time. Witherspoon understood.

“It’s a college campus with 30,000 people running through here on a daily basis,” Witherspoon said. “I’m reasonably sure you’re not the only one thinking about it. If you’re a student and a college basketball fan, you’re probably watching ESPN and that means you’re hearing the typical talk about who’s No. 1. So there’s going to be a lot of talk around. Our job is to not pay attention.”

Pittsburgh will be the highest-ranked team ever to visit Alumni and the highest-ranked visitor to a Big 4 school since No. 1 Massachusetts came to St. Bonaventure in 1995 and 1996.

Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News also listed Pitt as his #1 team (at the very bottom he lists his top-10).

SI On Campus has a feature called “Monday Awards.” A look back at the past week in college games. One of the new features is a basketball “power poll.” For top-10 teams they give the partisan blogger for that school a chance to comment about the past week. Despite not quite getting the my name right, I got to summarize Pitt who was slotted at #2.

Okay, last minute poll, so here it is. A little incoherent, but honestly, I don’t think any team is that clearly defined after the top 4 or so. And even then #4 seesm shaky. A very strange season of parity.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Southern Cal	—
3	Michigan	—
4	Florida	1
5	Louisville	4
6	LSU	2
7	Rutgers	4
8	Boise State	4
9	Wisconsin	4
10	Oklahoma	4
11	Notre Dame	5
12	West Virginia	5
13	Texas	3
14	Arkansas	10
15	Texas A&M	11
16	Auburn	1
17	California	2
18	Virginia Tech	1
19	Wake Forest	1
20	Georgia Tech	2
21	Nebraska	—
22	Oregon State	1
23	Hawaii	3
24	Tennessee	2
25	Houston	1

Here are the final polling results. I don’t know what to make of the ACC any longer. The whole conference is just a blend of teams that aren’t that good or bad (well, except for 3 out of 4 teams in North Carolina). Just a frickin’ mess.

So give CBS Sportsline’s Gary Parrish credit. After calling this game a challenge for Pitt, he didn’t mind coming back and addressing what Pitt did to FSU.

Worst game of the weekend: Florida State was supposed to give Pittsburgh its first test. If that’s true, then Jamie Dixon’s team had a cheat sheet, because the Panthers thoroughly dominated the Seminoles, and that much of the damage came from the perimeter is an indication that Pitt is balanced enough to win games in multiple ways. The final was 88-66, but that score is misleading. This beating was much worse than that.

Andy Katz seems a little bothered by Ohio State getting to #1 in the Coaches (hat tip to Steve).

It’s not worth getting too worked up about the polls, since they don’t matter in college hoops like they do in football. But since they exist, they should at least make sense. Putting Ohio State No. 1 this week doesn’t.

Jay Bilas is a bit annoyed at the polls on Pitt’s behalf (Insider subs.).

2. Pitt Should be No. 1
Because college basketball has a tournament, the debate over which team is No. 1 is largely irrelevant. All the No. 1 ranking gives you is bragging rights and a nice reward with top billing on SportsCenter highlights and news coverage. Otherwise, it means bupkes.

Notwithstanding the overall lack of true meaning, I think that Pitt should be No. 1, even though I don’t think the Panthers are the best team in the nation. Pitt and UCLA have not yet lost games and should have risen in the polls over Florida, North Carolina and Kansas because of it. The polls are a snapshot only, and the current photo shows the top contenders with bloody noses while Pitt and UCLA are still clean and unmarked.

Remember, Pitt has been in this position before and lost to St. John’s, then lost in the NCAA Tournament to Bradley. The Panthers, however, look like a team that will be a tougher out this season. The reason? Pitt scores the ball much more easily than in prior years. While Pitt advanced to the Sweet 16 when still grinding it out on the offensive end, it is much easier to play when you can score some easy baskets. So far this season, Pitt is doing that.

A little more love and support for Pitt than in the past. Takes some getting used to.

Safe to say the local media was figuring on doing some more stories about Pitt getting a #1 ranking for the first time in b-ball history. Since that didn’t happen, they had to scramble with other angles.

“What I really like about them is they’ve taken to what we’ve tried to talk to them about each game, what we’ve tried to emphasize, and I think we’ve carried that over from game to game really consistently,” Dixon said. “They understand that it’s not good enough where we’re at right now. That’s the most gratifying thing about this group.”

A No. 1-ranking wouldn’t have altered that mindset — especially in November.

I think Coach Jamie Dixon is just angling to have the Jim Rome Show call to schedule another interview. It’s the only reason to bring up UCSB. Nothing gets you on his show faster then a UCSB shout-out.

Dixon gave credit yesterday to former UC Santa Barbara coach Jerry Pimm, who had Howland and Dixon as his assistants in the early 1990s.

“You can look at our practice plans,” Dixon said. “It’s the same practice plans Jerry Pimm was drawing up at UC Santa Barbara. That’s where we get our defensive fundamentals and philosophies. That’s what carried over.”

The players didn’t deny watching the polls, but they weren’t particularly bothered.

“I definitely thought about it,” sophomore guard Levance Fields said. “But we’re fine with where we’re at. We think we’re playing excellent. If it would have happened, of course we would have been happy. It’s good to be ranked that high, but it doesn’t really mean anything. As long as we’re getting better throughout the season, I’d rather do that than be No. 1.”

Saying exactly the right things.

“We don’t worry about the rankings,” Ramon said. “But how could we be disappointed to be No. 2? We just have to go out and keep winning games. As a team, you always want to do good for your school and your city.

“We feel that we’re a team that can go out and play well against anybody. And if we do what we can do, we can compete with any team.”

And of course, the other angle is the fact that UCLA jumped Pitt for #1 in the AP Poll. There’s that little connection between the coaches and Pitt.

UCLA coach Ben Howland called Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and, naturally, the topic of which team would be No. 1 in the AP college basketball poll came up.

“He said, ‘Hey, you guys are going to be No. 1, and I said, ‘No, you guys are going to be No. 1.’ It just went back and forth like that,” Dixon said Monday. “We joked about it and that was it.”

Turns out Dixon was right.

UCLA, coached by Dixon’s best friend and former boss, jumped from No. 5 last week to No. 1 after the Bruins won the Maui Invitational and last week’s 1-2 teams, Florida and North Carolina, were beaten. UCLA had not been top-ranked since the final poll before the Bruins won their 11th and most recent NCAA title in 1995.

Dixon was so concerned he went to the Pittsburgh Zoo with his kids.

I’m not exactly outraged or scandalized that Pitt is now ranked #2 in the AP and #3 in the Coaches. UCLA didn’t just have bigger wins this week, they had bigger televised wins. There’s no pretending that getting on TV doesn’t matter for the profile and the voters. No one got to see Pitt destroy FSU (who, before the game was supposed to be good, but on Sunday night I had the misfortune of hearing Doug Gottlieb stump for UCLA and dismiss Pitt with a “they haven’t beaten anyone,” comment. So predictable.) or any of the other teams Pitt has beaten. Not even on FullCourt for the first 6 games.
That Ohio State got the top spot in the Coaches, though, is a bit of a stumper. If the argument is that Pitt hasn’t beaten anyone, OSU is even worse. Pitt can at least claim to play a team from the ACC and A-10 to this point. The best from Ohio State is Kent St. in the MAC. Yes, OSU takes on UNC on Wednesday, but that doesn’t explain the present.

Still, it’s too early to get that worked up over this. Just slightly annoyed.

It’s a big deal, insofar as the team has never been ranked #1 in basketball. Heck even RMU, Pitt’s next opponent is hoping so, since it will be the first time they have played a #1 team at that time.

This early in the season, though, it is also a big target on the team’s back. Actually, I was going to argue that was a negative. Now I’ve changed my mind. One of the questions about Pitt, that may not be fair, but history requires asking. How can this Pitt team do with all the expectations they have on them?

Every team, every group of players are different. Yet, if we are willing to point out (sometimes gleefully) how other teams always blow it in the big moment, the same has to be asked and proven otherwise of Pitt.

Pitt is 3d in the AP Poll and 3A (4th) in the Coaches poll. It’s nice but don’t take it seriously. Most of the polls are still about pre-season expectations and name recognition this early in the season.
5-0 is a solid start, and it is impressing people.

No. 5 Pittsburgh (5-0)
The Good: The Panthers proved they are for real. Pitt routed Massachusetts (one of the Atlantic 10’s top teams) 85-68 at home. Better yet, the Panthers proved they can play without 7-foot center Aaron Gray. With Gray’s minutes limited because of foul trouble and a cut on his lip that required seven stitches, the Panthers relied on their balance. Five players scored in double figures, but nobody had more than 14 points. Nine players have finished in double figures already.
The Bad: The balance is certainly impressive, but a go-to guy has yet to emerge – a role that trigger-happy Carl Krauser played for the last two seasons.
The Ugly: None.

Rex made a good point about Pitt not going to blow any team out of the water by 50 points.  Pitt is a very efficient team on offense, but they are not a run and gun team. The Pitt approach is to take their time to find the shot on offense and make the other team work hard on both ends of the ball. It’s a very controlled tempo. A team like UNC or Memphis will seek to run like crazy so they will have 50 point wins over Gardner-Webb. Pitt won’t. Don’t expect it or you will make yourself crazy complaining about wins.
Just remember, at least Pitt didn’t go down in flames to Stony Brook and are looking to a game with 0-3 Bucknell as a statement game. That’s building up the old confidence.

I noted for AOL that it might be in the best interests of the Big East and the SEC to downgrade Boise State in the coaches poll, so that they don’t get a BCS bid. Especially after UConn’s Randy Edsall all but admitted that sort of thing goes into considerations in voting.

An old WV columnist seems to think that the Big East has already taken advantage of having 4 BE Coaches voting and now needs to get the rest of the Coaches convinced.

Utter crap time here. Lee claims to be too busy to help draft this one. Bull. Even he’s trying to avoid trying to figure this mess out.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Michigan	—
3	Southern Cal	6
4	Arkansas	6
5	Rutgers	7
6	Florida	1
7	Notre Dame	6
8	West Virginia	—
9	LSU	2
10	Louisville	7
11	California	5
12	Texas	8
13	Boise State	2
14	Wake Forest	3
15	Wisconsin	1
16	Oklahoma	2
17	Auburn	10
18	Boston College	2
19	Maryland	2
20	Georgia Tech	1
21	Nebraska	1
22	Tennessee	8
23	Kansas State	3
24	Tulsa	1
25	Virginia Tech	1

Just looking at it, tells me I have to make changes. Cal slides further. Maybe flip ND and WVU. Maybe. Flip Oklahoma and Wisconsin, perhaps.

Help!