The Big East Basketbal Media Day has its flurry of press releases. You can download your copy of the 2006-07 BE Media Guide (why doesn’t Mike Tranghese ever send me a copy?).

Now for the Coaches polls. Aaron Gray took home the BE Preseason Player of the Year and was a unanimous choice for the bizarre 10-man All-Big East squad (and then, apparently for shits and giggles they add 3 more players for “honorable mention”).

Gray is the fourth Pitt player to earn BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year recognition. The others were Charles Smith in 1986-87, Jerome Lane in ’87-88 and Brandin Knight in ’02-03.

In addition to Gray, a 10-player Preseason All-BIG EAST Team was selected. A pair of Georgetown junior standouts, forward Jeff Green and center Roy Hibbert, were unanimous selections along with Marquette sophomore guard Dominic James.

No other Pitt players made the list.

The Big East beat writers may have surprised with G-town taking 1st place, but the Coaches were predictable in their pre-season ballot.

School	Pts.
1. Pittsburgh (10)	219
2. Georgetown (4)	212
3. Syracuse (1)	182
4. Marquette (1)	181
5. Connecticut	173
6. Louisville	149
7. Villanova	146
8. DePaul	134
9. St. John’s	105
10. Providence	102
11. Notre Dame	80
12. West Virginia	72
13. Cincinnati	52
14. Rutgers	49
15. Seton Hall	42
16. USF	22

First-place votes in parentheses

Pitt will be hard-pressed to play the “disrespect” card. Though, individual players might feel that.

Syracuse at #3 is something of a stunner, but I think it reflects on how good the coaches think Freshman Paul Harris will be. Providence up at #10 is a stunner to me. They are not nearly that talented and even if they want to keep Tim Welsh around as the easy mark, giving Providence fans a benchmark of expectations like that won’t help.

Cinci will be better then that. They have a lot of JUCO kids, so if they can get it together during the non-con, they could be more dangerous once the season starts. Seton Hall will be better then 15 if for no reason, Bobby Gonzalez will coach the kids up and steal a couple extra wins.

I’m sure it’s just the nature of the byes and an eight team conference that there are only 2 BE Football games this weekend. The same week that the Big East has its media day. Coincidence. There are only 2 BE football games the following weekend as well.

The beat writers in the Big East have their annual media poll for picking the conference.  A bit of a surprise.

… the tandem of Green and Hibbert makes Georgetown the Big East’s preseason favorite in the eyes of the writers.The Hoyas picked up 10 first-place votes, four second-place votes and two third-place votes to out-distance Pittsburgh at the top of the predicted standings. Georgetown and Pittsburgh accounted for all 16 first-place votes.

Connecticut came in third in the writers’ poll, while Marquette was fourth and Syracuse fifth.

However, not every writer was sold on the Hoyas.

“It’s surprising how many people are jacked up about Georgetown,” Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal said. “The Hoyas have the best 1-2 post pair in the country in Hibbert and Green, but do Jonathan Wallace and Jesse Sapp at guard make your heart skip a beat? Not me.”

While Georgetown and Pittsburgh were solidly atop most writers’ polls, the rest of the standings were fluid. Syracuse received two second-place votes and two eighth-place votes. DePaul was picked to finish as high as seventh and as low as 15th. The Blue Demons finally settled at No. 8 in the poll behind No. 6 Villanova and No. 7 Louisville.

The bottom half of the standings were like this: No. 9 St. John’s, No. 10 Providence, No. 11 Cincinnati, No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 13 Seton Hall, No. 14 West Virginia, No. 15 Rutgers and No. 16 South Florida. Coming off its 1-15 inaugural Big East campaign, South Florida was picked to finish last this season on 15 of the 16 ballots.

Notre Dame received the lone remaining last-place vote.

I’m not shocked to see G-town getting picked for first by the writers. Surprised, but not shocked.

Aaron Gray and Dominic James of Marquette were co-Players of the Year in the preseason survey. They were both the only unanimous picks for the All-Big East 1st team.

It’s tomorrow for basketball. Last year, the Big East and CSTV showed Media Day activities live on TV and streamed. Apparently that was too much fun and too much content.

Fans can access video from 4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. ET on both days. It will also be available in an archived version shortly thereafter.

BIG EAST Media Day Central has full BIG EAST men’s and women’s basketball media day coverage, including previews, rosters and schedules for each team. The preseason coaches’ poll, news releases and media guides will be also be unveiled at 9:30 a.m. ET on each respective media day – along with additional quotes and features taken from the players and coaches on site.

On the Media Day Central site, you can read a capsulized preview of Pitt along with the other 15 teams. Pitt is expected to be the pre-season top team in the Big East. Georgetown would be the darkhorse surprise.

A round-up of some stuff from national sites on Pitt basketball.

From a chat with ESPN’s Andy Katz:

Paul (San Diego – Pitt Alum): Is Pitt able to live up to the hype this year. They are being touted as a final four team again but I just see us settling for another Sweet 16 exit. Can you ease my mind?

Andy Katz: Yes they can. Aaron Gray is better and so are the guards in Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields. Levon Kendall has become one of the top role players in the Big East and a capable scoring option. I still say there is a high ceiling for Sam Young. So, yes, they should be in the group that goes for a Final Four berth.

Luke Winn at SI.com blogs his “All-Attribute team.”

THE GLASSMASTER-AT-BOTH-ENDS CENTER: Aaron Gray, Sr., Pitt.

Rebounding percentage — not total rebounds, but the percent of available boards grabbed while on the floor — was the determining factor in this pick. And in that department, no one comes close to Gray, who ranked in the top-10 nationally in both offensive and defensive rebounding. The Panthers’ 7-footer, who matured from reserve to national star last season and was a late scratch from the 2006 NBA Draft, got his hands on 15.7 percent of offensive boards (seventh in the country) and an amazing 27.0 percent of defensive boards (fourth in the country) — better than such monsters as Tyrus Thomas of LSU, Leon Powe of Cal and Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech. The pros may have been skeptical about Gray’s athleticism, but he’s welcome on this team any time.

Meanwhile Seth Davis sits down with Jamie Dixon and Orlando Antigua for dinner at an old favorite Tessaro’s in Bloomfield after taking in a Pitt practice. He raises some serious questions about the team leadership, but comes in at the end with this.

Bottom line: Not only has Pitt not reached the Final Four since 1941, but the Panthers have not been past the Round of 16 since then either. They’re one of only four schools to make the NCAAs in each of the last five years, and three of those times they reached the Sweet 16. This feels to me like a program ready to break through. Pencil in the Panthers to at least reach the Elite Eight. If they get a little lucky, a trip to Atlanta is definitely within their grasp.

Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News thinks Pitt will end up redshirting Freshman Center Austin Wallace. It makes sense with Gray, Tyrell Biggs and Doyle Hudson all ahead of him. Next year it will just be Biggs. Give Wallace time to really learn and have full eligibility. Not that he has a big shot of getting meaningful playing time.

Has it really been 84 years since Pitt visited Cinci to play football? I guess that’s why it’s a rivalry game.

There is some credit being given to the Cinci defense (the offense is not getting any).

Paul Zeise: No this is going to be a tough game for Pitt. It really will. I think the thing people need to realize is last year was a complete rebuilding season for the Bearcats but two years ago they were in a bowl game. They have somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 starters back and they are always going to be a good defensive team with Dantonio — who was the defensive coordiantor at Ohio State the year they won it all. The thing that I don’t like is that they use two quarterbacks, I think that is a losing formula all the time. Pitt should win but they better be ready to play.

…

Paul Zeise: Well, let’s see. They can’t turn the ball over. Do you remember the Ohio game? Pitt destroyed that team but lost because they turned it over. That’s the number one thing. The second thing is — Pitt isn’t good enough to show up and beat anyone, they better not think that because if they aren’t focused and play with intensity they’ll get beat. Also, they need to stop the run game. The passing game is not going to be an issue for Pitt given their athleticism but you have to admit, Virginia wasn’t much of a test in this area and really didn’t even try to run the ball. The Bearcats at least have a chance of trying to establish a run game, which will be a good test for Pitt’s rebuilt defensive line.

Against 1-AA Eastern Kentucky, Cinci picked off 3 passes. So, no, Cinci can’t be taken lightly. Pitt is in no position to take any team lightly. Especially in a road game. Coach Wannstedt can claim not to have been aware of Pitt’s struggles on the road last year, but it is a concern. Not to mention that this is a conference game.

“We’ve already put the Virginia win behind us and have been practicing and focusing a couple of days on Cincinnati,” Wannstedt said. “We know the importance of the first conference game, and how tough they are to win this early in the season, and we’re even traveling on a short week with the game on Friday night, so we’ll have our work cut out for us.”

Still, it’s hard to pick against Pitt in this game.

What will happen: A better protected Palko finally has depth at receiver and looks poised for a rebound season. He’ll be the difference in a game that’s dominated by turnovers and the defenses.

CFN Prediction: Pitt 27 … Cincinnati 17 … Line: Pitt -8

A receiving corp with question marks going into the season, after only one game is now declared to have depth. That’s great.

And boy there were a bunch today. How about with a national perspective before we get more specific and downright unnerving about the season. I’ll start with this warm fuzzy.

The season’s right around the corner, and as always, it’s gonna be a fun one. A ton of seniors to root on, newcomers to watch, programs on the rise, and a bunch of good stuff to watch out for. So, let’s see who made my lists.

Here are some schools that I wouldn’t want to play over the next four or five seasons …

…

2. Pitt

Dave Wannstedt is bringing in a ton of talent, and Pitt football is gonna get special again real soon. Wannstedt didn’t inherit enough players to pull of a Charlie Weis in his first season, but he still looks like the “next Pete Carroll” to me. Sure, Pitt was only 5-6 last year, but remember, Carroll was only 6-6 in his first season at USC. The second year, USC made a big jump, thanks to a talented senior quarterback who finally developed into the talent we all thought he would. And, playing the role of Carson Palmer this season will be Tyler Palko.

That may be a little too optimistic. Not to mention, making me think he just purposefully jinxed Pitt.

Both the P-G and the Trib were doing more season preview stuff today. That required lists. While Zeise specifically singled out Palko as needing a big year for Pitt to do well. The Trib listed 5 players who Pitt needed to have good years, along with the reason why. I’m just going to list them.

1. Tyler Palko
2. Darrelle Revis
3. Mike McGlynn
4. LaRod Stephen-Howling
5. Clint Session

The UVa game tomorrow headed the list of key games for Pitt this year. Followed somewhat surprisingly by Cinci and Rutgers. There is some logic.

The piece closed with 5 big questions.

1. With four starters returning, can the offensive line open holes for the rushing game and protect the quarterback?

2. After having someone lead the Big East in receiving yardage eight times in the past nine years, can the Panthers find a playmaker to spark their passing game?

3. Has the defensive line matured enough to improve a run defense that ranked seventh out of eight teams in the Big East?

4. How will Pitt’s place kicker, who has never played in a college football game, handle pressure situations?

5. With so many newcomers on the two-deep, can the Panthers withstand injuries to any starters?

The P-G lists and explains the 5 keys for Pitt. Guess what they are.

1. The offensive line can’t be offensive

2. The defensive line must show up

3. Adventures in kicking

4. Somebody had better make some plays

5. Many of the Panthers’ problems last year were intangible

There aren’t any surprises really as to the questions about Pitt. We’re all just waiting to learn the answers.

Several little things I need to get out of the browser tabs.

H.B. Blades has been put on the Butkus Award Watchlist for the top linebacker. He’s one of 65 candidates. I’m reasonably sure he was on the list last year. CBS Sportsline also named him the 3d best pro prospect at linebacker.

3. H.B. Blades, Pitt, 6-0, 240, Sr.

Blades enters his senior season with 286 tackles, including 18.5 for loss, and 24 career starts. He also has strong football bloodlines: His father, Bennie, and his uncles Al and Brian were standouts at the University of Miami and went on to successful careers in the NFL.

They also listed Darrelle Revis as the 4th best DB pro prospect.

4. Darrelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh, 6-0, 190, Jr.

Revis is an exciting young cornerback who established himself as a quality prospect almost immediately. He earned freshman All-American honors in 2004, starting all 11 games and finishing with 14 passes broken up. Opponents learned not to test Revis last season, instead choosing to pass against future sixth-round pick Josh Lay. Revis was the only sophomore to earn first-team Big East honors, coming through with four interceptions and nine passes broken up. He also became one of the better young return specialists, averaging 11.6 yards per punt return.

Revis not only has the size teams like, but his short-area burst, vertical speed and flair for the dramatic are noteworthy. Like Arizona’s Cason, Revis has NFL bloodlines. His uncle is former Pitt defensive tackle Sean Gilbert, who went on to play for four teams in the NFL.

Rivals.com does a sleeper team prognostication. The surprise is who tops the list.

1. Pittsburgh: Last season’s record: 5-6. Returning starters: Six offense, six defense.
Outlook: All the preseason hype in the Big East centers on West Virginia and Louisville, but the Panthers have a realistic shot at winning their first 10 games before closing with the Mountaineers and Cardinals. The Panthers started slowly in coach Dave Wannstedt’s debut season, losing four of their first five. This year, four of their first five games are at Heinz Field, and Notre Dame and Nebraska aren’t on the schedule. Until facing West Virginia and Louisville, the only Pittsburgh opponents to win as many as eight games last season are Toledo and Central Florida. Quarterback Tyler Palko and All-American caliber linebacker H.B. Blades are proven commodities and good leaders.

It is true that the first 10 games contain none that should be thought of as “sure losses,” but there are a slew of “toss-ups.”

P-G beat reporter Paul Zeise’s Q&A shows a little testiness at being asked about his prediction for the team this season.

Look, if I could predict the future I’d be on one of those Vegas handicapper shows on the radio on Saturday mornings screaming “I LOVE THIS GAME. CALL ME!” That being said, I have been at camp every day, I’ve seen every practice and I have a good idea of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

I think the team will struggle to score a lot of points because I just don’t see enough big-play threats. I also think the kicking game is going to be an adventure, at least until one of those two kickers gets settled in. That doesn’t mean the offense can’t be productive and efficienty — there are a lot of good players and veteran players, so it will be. In college football, though, to try and grind it out every time you touch the ball is tough, and Pitt is going to have to do a lot of grinding. Those 10-play, 70-yard drives are great for controlling the ball and the clock, but to pull them off you have to be near perfect in execution. You can?t take any penalties or negative plays, and that’s asking a lot.

The defense will be better. It can’t be much worse than it has been in the past few years, particularly against the run.

He could just tell them to pick up the Sporting News or Lindy’s preview guide since he made his predictions then. He sticks with his 7-5 call.

Q: With so much inconsistency at wide receiver, do you see coaches using other skill position players, such as Darrelle Revis, to help the cause?

Zeise: Last year they had some packages to use Revis as a wide receiver in the game plan for West Virginia but didn’t use them. I don’t know that they would go that route simply because the biggest problem the receivers have is inexperience, not talent. And thus, the only way to get them better is to let them get out there and play. When you take an honest look at this team, it will be much better in week eight than it is right now. There are just so many young players being counted on that they can’t help but get better with more experience.

That also means a lot of mistakes to be expected in the first few weeks.

As noted last night, Shane Brooks really stood out in camp, that isn’t up for dispute judging by the articles about practice.

In other parts of practice and depth chart determination. Redshirt Freshman Doug Fulmer has the starting right DE spot won, and Sophomore Tommie Campbell will start at Weakside Linebacker. Both had another very good day on the field.

Surprisingly Left OT is still undecided between John Bachman and Jeff Otah.

Pitt’s radio broadcasts will be moving down the FM radio dial from 104.7 to 94.5 in November. The new station is a 50,000 Watt signal. There is no change to the Flagship AM side (970). During the transition the games will be simulcast on all 3 stations. Pitt basketball is included in this move. (These are all Clear Channel owned stations.)

An AP article that does a good summary of the question marks around this team.

• The offensive line returns four starters.

That would be good news for most schools, but the Panthers almost never mounted a reliable running game while being outrushed by an average of 69 yards per game last season. The lack of a solid running game put even more pressure on Palko to succeed, a problem that could return this season.

“Tyler’s not talking as much this year,” Wannstedt said. “By that, I mean he is more focused on his job. He has been very businesslike and that rubs off on all the players.”

• The defensive line badly needs upgrading.
This is where Wannstedt hopes some of the recruits can move in quickly. Pitt never did establish much of a pass rush last season, getting only 22 sacks. The rushing defense (185.2 yards per game allowed) was one of the worst in Division I-A, meaning opponents could stay on the ground and run the clock after getting ahead.

We just aren’t going to know a thing about these lines until the games start. It’s frustrating, because it really will decide what kind of season Pitt will have. And there is no way to know. Hope, believe, think — sure. Presume it has to be better than last year simply because it couldn’t be much worse — hard to disagree. How much better?

And on the issue of newcomers, the national perspective on the Big East presumes that of the new players in the conference to have the biggest impact, 3 of the 5 freshmen will be Pitt players (Insider subs.).  Call this the conventional wisdom list.

2. WR/RB Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh
Dickerson not only will be counted on at wide receiver, but he also might see time at running back as Pittsburgh is searching for some help in the backfield to complement gunslinger Tyler Palko.

Dickerson is big, physical and very smooth for a player of his size. A local Pittsburgh product, he is expected to add speed and a significant red zone threat to a receiving unit that only returns one starter in Derek Kinder.

…

4. RB Kevin Collier, Pittsburgh
While Collier isn’t very big yet, his speed and quickness will be a significant upgrade to a below-average running game at Pittsburgh.

He is a darter-type back with great explosiveness and vision, but he is also a surprisingly effective inside runner, and the Panthers need a physical presence up front. Also expect Collier to contribute in the passing game as he is a threat in space and can make multiple defenders miss in the open field.

5. WR Tamarcus Porter, Pittsburgh
Simply put, Tamarcus Porter is an excellent overall athlete who we actually projected to play safety, but it seems Porter is making a statement at wide receiver early. He and Dickerson could give Pittsburgh a dynamic young tandem out wide.

Porter is explosive and at his best in space. He can make people miss and has excellent instincts and playmaking skills. He lacks ideal vertical speed, and if he had it, he would have been a national recruit.

Louisville DE Deantwan “Peanut” Whitehead and Syracuse WR Andrey Baskin were 1 and 3.

As for predictions for the BE, at least one person thinks Pitt will get off to a fast start.

4. Pittsburgh will go bowling. The Panthers were within one victory of playing in the postseason in Dave Wannstedt’s first season coaching his alma mater in 2005. With quarterback Tyler Palko bouncing back from an up-and-down junior season, and linebacker H.B. Blades and cornerback Darrelle Revis leading an improved defense, the Panthers will get off to a hot 5-1 start and finish 7-5. Rutgers and Connecticut will play in the postseason, too.

5. The Big East will flex its growing muscles against the ACC, the conference that raided three of its best teams. Connecticut will beat Wake Forest on Sept. 16. Pittsburgh will wallop Virginia in its Sept. 2 opener (ESPNU, 7 p.m. ET) with players from the Panthers’ 1976 national championship team watching. Rutgers will upset North Carolina on the road the same weekend, and West Virginia will beat Maryland on national television on Sept. 14 (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET).

I would be thrilled if Pitt got off to that kind of start. If Pitt starts out that way, then 8-4 or 9-3 would be more likely. I know conventional wisdom has Pitt losing the final 2 bames to L-ville and WVU. Fine, pretending to accept that, I have trouble accepting that Pitt would go 2-2 versus UCF, Rutgers, USF and UConn. With Pitt being as young as they are, it is more reasonable to expect the team to get better further into the season as things shake out more and the players become more comfortable with the system and their roles.

Yesterday, SI.com listed Pitt at 60 out of 119 Div. 1-A schools. Behind Rutgers and USF in the Big East. Today they have their snippet BE Preview. Basically they put Pitt at 6-6 (3-4 in conference), and tied for 5th in the conference with UConn. I realize there are diminshed expectations, and I’m trying not to be all fan-boy, but this sort of thing ticks me off. I guess, in large part because there is no explanation for anything. Just their predicted final records. Not even a capsule exlpanation (I know, you have to buy the magazine). Here’s how they rank some of Pitt’s non-con foes this seasn

Virginia — 44
Michigan St. — 33
UCF — 46
Toledo — 61

The rankings for Virginia, UCF and Toledo have me flummoxed. And I am just not seeing USF (50, 4th in the BE) as that good with the loss of Andre Hall at RB. Their top WR gone, the same QB because the other had to leave because of grades and a dope bust, and a third of their recruiting class learning to read or fighting legal issues.

As for the best players in the BE. SI.com has H.B. Blades at #4, and that’s it. I mean, sure they have Darrelle Revis listed as an All-American CB, but he isn’t one of the top-10 players in the Big East. That about sums up the preview.

CBS Sporsline has its Big East preview posted. You have to get through the puff piece on WVU first — in fact it’s the majority of story — but it is essentially the same thing they had in their print preview mag (hmm, I still have a couple more of those to do). The big difference is that Pitt is now listed ahead of Rutgers in order of finish (3d instead of 4th).

Both previews single out H.B. Blades as the team’s star and big performer for the year.

The SI college football preview issue is apparently out now.

They rank Pitt at #60. They put Rutgers (#47) and USF (#50) ahead of Pitt. The Big East, not surprisingly is ranked 6th in conference strength.

In their bowl projections Pitt goes to the new/old Texas Bowl in Houston to play Baylor.

Darrelle Revis made their All-American team.

Once more, I am doing the Blogpoll. Here is my ballot.

1. Ohio St. — I don’t think there is a clear #1 team going into this season, but someone has to be at the top. Issues with all of the teams in one way or another. Yes, I have big questions about how good their defense will be. I also have questions about their offense. Tressel has shown a reluctance to loosen up the offense at the start of the season. Playing things a little too close to his sweatervest. OSU gets the early judgment as to whether it deserves this ranking with the Texas game.

2. ND — Another team with big questions on the D. No real questions about the offense (unfortunately). Would love to put them lower, but…

3. Texas — If Vince Young was back, a no doubt #1 team. The QB situation seems murky. Still a very good team in most other places.

4. Auburn — I like Irons for the Heisman. This is a very good team. The SEC schedule is very favorable as all their away games (Miss. St., SC, Ole Miss and ‘Bama) are against weaker teams. They get Florida, LSU and Georgia at home and miss Tennessee completely. Their non-con may hurt them again in the BCS, though.

5. WVU — There’s no reason that WVU can’t run the table and be playing for the national championship. They have a very good team, their lines are excellent. I have to give grudging props to Rich Rodriguez for the way he has carefully built the Hoopies, and is clearly an excellent coach. He squeezes much of the talent from every kid he gets. Yet, echoes of 2004 are still lingering.

(more…)

The first Q&A of the training camp is out. Lots of goodies to read.

The first week of camp is nearly complete. Although the Panthers have yet to go in full pads, I can make some observations about the team and some of the players. As most of you know, Dave Wannstedt split the squad into two groups with half practicing in the morning and the other half, primarily the freshmen, practicing in the afternoon. The result has been two distinctly different practices: The first is more crisp and efficient and the other is more choppy and has a lot less flow to it because the freshmen are just trying to learn the plays.

…

The key for everyone to remember, however, is most of the talent on the team is young and that means there is no way to be certain how they will respond when the lights go on. I think the offensive line in will be better than people think and the defensive line will compete, but the team’s fate lies mostly with the younger players and how quickly they develop.

I have a hard time believing this team is capable of winning more than seven or eight games. Still, that would be a nice step forward and there is an excellent foundation being built for the future.

I would caution anyone from putting unrealistic expectations on any of the freshmen because they are just that — freshmen — and they have a long way to go. A few of them will help this year, but this class won’t ultimately be ready to really make an impact for a year or two.

As a beat writer, he is almost protective of the new kids.

Right now it’s a lot of speculation.

The local punditry weighs in with gut feeling expectations for what Pitt’s record should be this year. It’s couched in the usual stuff about how it is really about seeing progress and making strides for the long term. No, let’s keep it simple. It’s about the Wins and Losses. That’s how they and everyone else measures things.

It’s nice to say things like how what you really want is to see the growth of the team. Improvement as the season goes on. Talk about the long term plan and vision by the coach for the team. It comes back to winning more games than last year. Meeting or exceeding the expectations — whether inflated or not.

Joe Starkey puts the wins and losses a bit higher than the reasonable mark of 7-5 (which seems to be the expected record for Pitt if they have an average season).

All those question marks up front. Precious little depth. Too much youth. I could see 6-6.

Palko-Revis-Blades. Highly favorable schedule. Gifted freshman class. I could see 10-2.

So, let’s split the difference and say Pitt will go 8-4 in coach Dave Wannstedt’s second season. That sounds about right. It would mark a significant upgrade on last year’s 5-6 fiasco and point Wannstedt’s semi-rebuilding job in the right direction.

Anything worse than 6-6, and you’ll have every right to seriously question Wannstedt, who addressed reporters on the South Side Monday on the eve of Pitt training camp.

I guess the bright side to severe underachieving last year is that it shouldn’t be as hard to go up. The big issue for the season as far as the column is concerned, the lines.

Does anyone disagree with that conventional wisdom any more? Everyone with even a passing interest in Pitt knows it will be all about the lines.

Ron Cook says something with which I agree. The opening game against Virginia is absolutely crucial for Coach Wannstedt and Pitt.

Sept. 2 wouldn’t be too soon to start.

The opener against Virginia at Heinz Field.

Pitt badly needs to win it.

Wannstedt needs it.

It’s almost unreal how the perception of Wannstedt and the Pitt program has changed so drastically in a year. Last August, people around here were fired up about Pitt football. Wannstedt was seen as the right guy at the right time, the perfect coach to pick Pitt up and carry it to greater heights after Walt Harris had taken it as far as he could. Wannstedt had come in eight months earlier and done everything right. He was a Pittsburgh guy — a Pitt man, to be more specific — and came with a long NFL resume. His energy and enthusiasm were contagious. He mended fences with the local coaches and recruits. He reached out to alumni and fans. He recruited aggressively. And — get this — he talked openly about competing for a national championship.

How sweet that sounded.

Now I don’t buy a lot of the sky is falling, people are turning on Wannstedt stuff locally. Yeah, there was a fair amount of that nationally, but that was just reinforcing past perceptions from the NFL head coaching stuff. Wash out of the NFL and don’t come in like Charlie Weiss in his first year, and that perception will be presumed until proven otherwise. Pete Carroll changed it after an unimpressive first year. So did Al Groh, though, he is regressed back in perception. Chan Gailey and Rich Brooks haven’t changed the perception of inconsistent and overmatched.

The Cook article is great for lowering expectations with some ridiculous predictions for the season and continuing the theme that people have turned on Wannstedt.

Now the man isn’t seen as a savior by nearly so many. If you had a dime for each time someone said, “They should have never let Harris go,” you’d be a wealthy person.

There also are minimal expectations for the Pitt team this season. There isn’t nearly the same anticipation for the Virginia game that there was for Notre Dame. Some have predicted 3-9 or 4-8 for the Panthers.

Shame on ’em.

Shame on those who have given up on Wannstedt after just one season, disappointing and embarrassing as it was.

Shame on those who have lowered the bar so drastically for this Pitt team.

It’s a strawman argument. Now, admittedly I don’t catch Pittsburgh sports radio, so in between the Steelers, Pitt basketball, complaints about the Pirates and Penguins performance and such, I don’t know how the team is being treated for what 5 minutes a week? I have noted the P-G chats and most other media. It doesn’t seem particularly harsh and neither do the fans. I definitely haven’t seen anyone predicting only 3 or 4 wins for the team.
That said, he is absolutely right about Pitt needing the Virginia game. It’s the season and home opener. A definitely beatable opponent. The team can’t come out flat. It doesn’t have to be a blowout, but Pitt, Coach Wannstedt and all the coaches have to look like they know what they are doing. Have a recognizable and working gameplan. And yes, win.

Finally, a column about the “wall” around Western PA that Coach Wannstedt is trying to build.

With photos to be taken of all the players individually, with their position mates and with their high school alumni, someone needs to be in charge. But, predictably, a mild form of chaos can ensue as players file to and from the photo area.

Yet, five letters managed to bring Media Day to a halt when Borghetti bellowed, “WPIAL” at the top of his lungs.

A drove of young men filtered from all sections of the practice field on Pittsburgh’s South Side to near the 50-yard line. Thirty-eight in all found their way to the lineup, and two (media darlings Darrelle Revis and Tyler Palko) didn’t hear the command and had to be dragged away from pressing interviews.

And that mass didn’t include a pair of City League alumni and two players from nearby Johnstown.

Dave Wannstedt’s wall around western Pennsylvania? It was formed by the 60 or so remaining players who watched photos being snapped.

Pitt’s second-year coach and Baldwin native made the wall a platform for his coaching campaign, even after a 5-6 record last year. He said he’d do whatever necessary to keep western Pennsylvania’s best prospects in western Pennsylvania.

Hoopie fans and Penn St. fans point to any WPa kid that doesn’t go to Pitt as proof that either the “wall” Wannstedt wants has already failed or that it galvanized their coaches to recruit and work harder in WPa. Of course, the idea was to build a wall, not claim it was just going to be formed the minute Coach Wannstedt and the coaches started recruiting. But whatever sets their mind at ease that trying to get prospects from Western Pennsylvania away from Pitt is not harder and more challenging than before.

[Editor Note: Okay, Lee not only lives in Altoona, he works in State College. His office, of course is just slightly filled with Penn State homers. Lee, graduated from Pitt and did masters work at Ohio State, so he carries dual loyalties, and completely annoys his co-workers with his teams. Rather than do real work, they demanded his analysis of the season from Penn State, Ohio State and Pitt. What follows is all Lee, and thus is credited as his post.]

But enough about me and the pride of the Big Ten. Let’s first focus on what I’m technically being graded on here.

You are… Penn State

Offense: Penn State’s surprising season last year has made many college football fans forget that it is still coached by the same staff that refused to play the eventual 2005 league MVP Michael Robinson at quarterback for at least two years and then barely started him over Anthony Morelli last fall (remember that?). For most of what could have been a great career, MRob sat behind the slow, immobile, pocket-passer Zack Mills and watched him get literally no protection from his offensive line (a mobile QB like MRob could have helped such a situation, I’m told). For the life of me, Anthony Morelli reminds me a lot of Zack. A great arm, but somewhat limited mobility. So ask yourself, can Jay “I’m here because I’m the best quarterbacks coach available” Paterno do a better job of coaching Morelli than he did the fellow pocket-passer Mills? Somehow, I doubt it. Hopefully, Morelli will spend more time with my boy, Williamsburg (Blair Co.) native Galen Hall, than JayPa.

As a former offensive lineman, I can’t help but focus on the trenches. And I question whether Morelli’s o-line in 2006 will be a whole lot better than some of Zack Mills’ lines. I agree with Bob that Levi Brown is probably going to wind up first team All Big Ten. But you can’t hide the fact that every other person on that line will be new. And experience counts with o-lines. Just ask Pitt. I always hated lining up with a sophomore beside me. So I think that Morelli’s going to be running for his life some this fall — especially against some of the better defensive lines of Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan. Surely, Morelli can’t run like MRob. But, maybe some quick-outs or screens to those wonderful wide receivers or Hunt will help. Those receivers remain the one tool that Mills never had.

(this is borderline epic, so) and, much, much,

(more…)

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?