Lots that I have not gotten to for a couple days.

Working backwards, there was the Seton Hill exhibition blowout. A chance to play with the line-ups and give the new guards lots of playing time.

Gibbs, who started at point guard, and Woodall, who came off the bench, combined for 22 points, four assists, five steals and three rebounds. They shot 9 of 12 from the field, going 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while playing a combined 37 minutes.

“Both of them played well,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “They are both good players. They are great kids. …Both guys have got to get better defensively. But it was good minutes for them.”

Gibbs, a Seton Hall Prep product, started alongside sophomore shooting guard Brad Wanamaker, and finished with nine points, two assists and two steals. He had no turnovers in 17 minutes.

Woodall, who played at USA Today No. 1 St. Anthony’s, went 3 of 5 from 3-point range, with 13 points, three steals, two assists and two turnovers.

“I think I could have done a lot better,” Woodall said. “When Levance gets here, you know he’s not going to turn the ball over. So, I have to improve that. But I think I came out and did all right.”

Fields has returned to practice, but he won’t return until he’s full-strength.

Gibbs learned at the morning shoot-around that he would start.

“I think I did well,” he said. “I did all right. I’m just glad we were able to get in there and get some playing time.”

All of Pitt’s newcomers performed well. Freshman forward Nasir Robinson went 5 of 6 from the field for 10 points and junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon had five assists and four rebounds while playing turnover-free ball.

It seems to be partially necessity with Fields out, but also Coach Dixon’s comfort level with tinkering in exhibition rather than focusing on making sure a rotation is set and everyone knows their roles. Despite this being a veteran team, there are still a lot of open spots in the rotation and determining whether there will be an redshirts.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon cautioned not to read too much into the starting lineup he had on the court yesterday afternoon for Pitt’s first exhibition game against Seton Hill College. By the time the regular season rolls around, the starting five of Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, Sam Young, Tyrell Biggs and DeJuan Blair could be ancient history.

Or, if things unfolded the way they did against the Division II Griffins, Dixon could be tempted to keep it the same. Pitt routed Seton Hill, 102-51, before 6,020 spectators who saw what Dixon described as his “tinkering” process as the preseason unfolds.

Josh (Merlin) Verlin at Oakland Zoo has a very good game write-up of the exhibition.

DeJuan Blair talked a little about his leadership role and offseason conditioning. Can’t wait for the first game on TV so I can actually see the difference.

Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com and The Sporting News preview both peg Pitt at #9 in the preseason rankings.

Not surprising, are the concerns.

Pittsburgh’s season hinges on the health of Levance Fields’ foot and the development of a reliable perimeter shooter.

Plain and simple.

The Sporting News Preview from Mike DeCourcy is always interesting since he is the only national college basketball writer who has his roots back in the ‘Burgh.

So when the subject of that drought comes up — and it comes up often, because it’s pretty much an obsession with Pitt fans — folks want to know what the program needs to do in order to get past the Sweet 16.

And the answer is simple: Have more than one DeJuan Blair grow up in the backyard every 20 years.

Not that there’s ever been another DeJuan Blair. He’s darned close to unique as a college basketball player: a 6-7 bear who can handle himself as a center both offensively and defensively. But around him are guys from Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and New Jersey. There are as many scholarship players from the Bahamas as there are from Western Pennsylvania.

That lack of homegrown talent, as much as anything else probably had much to do with why Pitt pursued Herb Pope despite most observers not seeing him worth the risk after a point. One of those other potential local talents took a visit to another school last week. Tom Droney was in South Bend to visit ND and watch their scrimmage. Unfortunately he returned home Saturday morning. So, he didn’t get to see the football game.

Finally Big East Basketball Report pegs Pitt for #3 in the Big East and sees a 13-5 conference record.

They couldn’t schedule some collective bye week for Big East football or something. It would have made things a little easier. Not to mention allowed the spotlight to go to a little bit of hyping for basketball season. As it is, I’m way behind on catching up.

Okay. The basics. UConn was picked to win the Big East by the coaches. Pitt finished 3d in the voting.

1. Connecticut (9) — 214
2. Louisville (3) —– 205
3. Pittsburgh (3) —- 200
4. Notre Dame (1) —195
5. Villanova ——— 153
6. Marquette ——- 146
7. Georgetown —– 141
8. Syracuse ——– 139
9. West Virginia —- 121
10. Providence —– 99
11. Cincinnati —— 91
12. Rutgers ——– 53
13. Seton Hall —– 50
14. St. John’s —— 44
15. DePaul ——— 43
16. USF ———— 26

Not sure if that was taken before or after Nate Miles ended up joining the cast of CSI: JUCO.

I’m not bothered by being picked third. The voting for the top 4 teams is so close, and rightfully so. All four are fully capable of winning the Big East — or finishing 9th. I mean WVU down at 9th. Damn. That’s a fringe top-25 team in preseason. That just feeds the meme of how loaded, deep and tough the Big East will be this year.

While Luke Harangody was picked as the preseason Big East Player of the Year, he and Sam Young were the only unanimous selections to the all-Big East Team. No other Pitt players were put on the 11-player, plus 3 All-Big East team. Coach Dixon and Sam Young were bothered.

But when Dixon sees Fields, the team’s heart and soul, and Blair, his gregarious, always-smiling man-child, omitted from All-Big East honors, even the normally reserved sixth-year coach was left bewildered.

“How is Levance not an all-conference player?” he said. “He would be all-conference in any other conference in the country, and DeJuan probably, too. It’s hard to believe.”

…

“I don’t know,” Young said, “I don’t get that. I don’t even know what to tell you. I mean, there’s no way you can evaluate the situation. I mean, geez. Here’s a guy (Blair) that had 10-plus double-double games, and he doesn’t get it.”

Pitt is expected to be ranked in the top 10 in virtually every preseason poll. But the accolades clearly won’t be going to their heads — not with the memory of the snubs at Big East preseason media day.

“I’m sure Levance is already motivated by it,” said Young, with Fields sitting one seat away. “Once we get to Pittsburgh and DeJuan finds out about it, I’m sure he’s going to be furious.”

The simple answer is it’s a 16-team conference and even with 14 slots, I’m hard-pressed to see who gets bumped.

2008-09 PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST TEAM

*Luke Harangody, Notre Dame (Player of the Year), F, Jr., 6-8, Schererville, Ind.

Deonta Vaughan, Cincinnati, G, Jr., 6-1, 195, Indianapolis, Ind.

A.J. Price, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6-2, 181, Amityville, N.Y.

Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut, C, Jr., 7-3, 263, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

DaJuan Summers, Georgetown, F, Jr., 6-8, 241, Baltimore, Md.

Terrence Williams, Louisville, F, Sr., 6-6, 210, Seattle, Wash.

Jerel McNeal, Marquette, G, Sr., 6-3, 200, Country Club Hills, Ill.

Kyle McAlarney, Notre Dame, G, Sr., 6-0, 196, Staten Island, N.Y.

*Sam Young, Pittsburgh, F, Sr., 6-6, 215, Clinton, Md.

Jonny Flynn, Syracuse, G, So., 6-0, 185, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Scottie Reynolds, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-2, 195, Herndon, Va.

2008-09 PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION

Jeff Adrien, Connecticut, F, Sr., 6-7, 243, Brookline, Mass.

Earl Clark, Louisville, G/F, Jr., 6-8, 220, Rahway, N.J.

Dominic James, Marquette, G, Sr., 5-11, 185, Richmond,Ind.

There’s a lot of deserving talent. You may not like some of them, but those are great players. Besides if it helps motivate Fields and Blair a little more, I’m all for it.

A few items to get done.

During the game, I never took notice of Elijah Fields in the game. Turns out, it was because he never played a down. Obviously with Navy, there is no real call for packages that have 3 safeties, but to not even spell DeCicco was surprising. I know there had been talk of Fields coming in and essentially playing linebacker, but Greg Williams really had a great game so there was no need there.

Williams, who is the team’s fourth-leading tackler with 24 and has 1 1/2 sacks, finished the Navy game with four tackles, a tackle for loss and the pass breakup. He made a number of plays by forcing the play back into the middle where the Panthers had a host of defenders. The Panthers only gave up one big play to the outside of the field, on Navy’s first drive.

Pitt middle linebacker and defensive captain Scott McKillop, a fifth-year senior, said it has been fun to watch the maturation of Williams.

“I think having two weeks to prepare really helped Greg because I don’t know that he has ever seen this offense or played against it,” McKillop said. “But he is picking things up every week and he is getting so much more comfortable in what he is doing that he is now able to use his physical tools because he is not thinking so much, he’s just playing.

“He made a couple of big plays for us today, he’s so athletic and he just runs around and runs guys down. I’m happy to have him on our side.”

As he has learned to read the play, he can use his speed to get there.

Pitt’s defensive line really looked solid against Navy. It had to help with the linebackers playing closer and McKillop essentially shadowing the Navy fullback, Eric Kettani.

Mustakas said the key was winning the battles at the line of scrimmage and staying disciplined in his assignments. The Panthers made sure there was no confusing his job.

“We were doing periods with no ball-carriers,” Mustakas said. “They were saying the whole week, ‘Just don’t get bored.’ We were doing the same thing. We were just hitting the fullback every down, if he doesn’t have the ball or if he has the ball. Hit the fullback. Just little things that we stayed in our assignments, it showed off in the end.”

Mustakas said the bye week allowed him to rest his knee and last week was the first where it felt fine after practice. He is looking forward to making an impact and the Panthers will need as much from him, with Williams out indefinitely and backup Tommie Duhart sidelined after injuring an ankle against Navy. Redshirt freshman Myles Caragein got his first large dose of playing time and finished with four tackles.

A little worried about the depth now at defensive tackle.

Maybe it’s because there’s a lot of military in the stadium, but apparently it was noticeable how pleasant it was to actually go into the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Is something wrong here? I’ve waited anywhere from 15-25 minutes in “security” lines at Heinz Field at Pitt and Steelers games. I traveled to the US Naval Academy to see Pitt play this past weekend and I wasn’t touched by any security person at all. And guess what? There weren’t any security issues at the game. Please note I’ll be talking to Guest Services at Heinz Field the next game I attend.

Hey, it could be worse. You could have to deal with Ohio Stadium.

Before the season there were plenty talking about how good Pitt could be this year. Then, of course, BGSU happened. Now that Pitt is at 5-1 and ranked, the ones who pushed Pitt early can come back to them.

Stewart Mandel, SI.com (who picked Navy in this game, just for the record).

1. That LeSean McCoy is back. When Pittsburgh struggled early in the season, so, too, did its talented sophomore tailback, who averaged 80.7 yards his first three games, down from 110.7 as a freshman. Over his past three games, however, McCoy has put up 149, 142 and 156 yards, the latter coming in Saturday’s 42-21 win over Navy, which also included three McCoy touchdowns. By no coincidence, the Panthers, which have now won five straight following an opening-week loss to Bowling Green, have upped their scoring average from 21.7 to 34.0.

Pittsburgh appears to be rounding into the Big East title contender that many of us expected. The Panthers’ offensive line was their biggest question mark, and they did indeed struggle early in the season, but they must be improving now that McCoy is finding holes and QB Bill Stull is finding time to throw downfield. (He hit freshman WR Jonathan Baldwin for a 60-yard TD against Navy). Meanwhile, Scott McKillop and the defense held Navy to its lowest rushing total (194 yards) in two years. Pitt is far from a polished product but is now the favorite to win its league.

And Matt Hayes, The Sporting News, with regard to teams not ranked high enough in the AP poll.

No. 17 Pittsburgh: I’ve just got a strange feeling the Panthers could run the table or finish with 11 wins. The running game with LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling is terrific, and the stingy defense gets better with each week.

So now, at this point in the season, Pitt is looking more and more like the favorite in the Big East to go to a BCS bowl.

Odds of winning the league: 3-1

BCS-bound because: The Panthers have planned this team according to a championship formula: run the ball with a solid back, play great defense, especially up the middle, and sack the quarterback. RB LeSean McCoy and LB Scott McKillop might be the best at their positions in the conference.

St. Petersburg Bowl-bound because: Bill Stull still hasn’t shown he can win a big game with plays in the passing game. It’s tough to imagine Pittsburgh excelling with a quarterback who throws more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four).

The silly projections are all going to the Orange Bowl to play an ACC team.

Scott McKillop has his first person “as told to” up on Sporting News Daily.

…we couldn’t adjust. October 18, 2008

It’s very clear McKillop has not forgotten about last year. And he’s told everyone that.

“They brought in those guys for the game [against Navy last season at Heinz Field],” McKillop said this week. “It was a national television game. There was a big audience. It was another chance for us to establish ourselves as a program. We wanted to make Tony proud. But we didn’t show up. We couldn’t stop them. We were terrible.”

That 48-45 Pitt loss in double overtime was the low point of the Dave Wannstedt era, at least until the home debacle against Bowling Green in the opening game this season. Navy had the ball for 84 plays, ran for 331 yards, had 497 yards of offense and punted just one time. That abysmal Pitt performance followed losses in which its defense gave up 44 points to Virginia and 34 to Connecticut. There was a public outcry for defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads to be fired and to take Wannstedt with him.

No. That last bit is an exaggeration. It was mostly just get rid of Paul Rhoads. The get rid of Wannstedt vibe wasn’t really there.

Any ways, there aren’t many people picking Pitt. Most of the Sporting News folk go with Navy. Lee Corso on Collge GameDay went with Navy. Stewart Mandel at SI.com also picked Navy. Suddenly, I feel better about this game.

Interesting contrast between what Coach Wannstedt says he wants to do versus what he is expected to do.

“The hope is that our reaction times, our adjustments and our mental frame are ready to go because I think we are physically ready to go,” Wannstedt said. “I really think we got as good of a look from our scout team as possible, but we know it is not going to be as good as what Navy will show us. It is just hard to simulate exactly what they do.

“But we have to get started fast. That will really be the key. We’ve talked about that. We need to make sure we start fast and make sure we don’t fall behind. Our guys understand this is an opponent that is not going to turn the ball over and commit foolish penalties and beat themselves.”

But, what is expected?

Q: Do you think Wannstedt and his staff can coach aggressively against a physically inferior opponent such as Navy? Or can it only happen in the second half of a close game?

Zeise: No, I don’t think the Panthers will come out blitzing and attacking on defense nor do I think they’ll come out throwing the ball all over the field. I think that Dave Wannstedt is who he is and he will come out with a more conservative game plan than most of you would like and try to establish the run and try not to give up big plays early. That’s just been the pattern — the coaches don’t seem to turn up the heat until it is needed and sometimes that has been too late. I’d like to see them come out throwing, though, because I think you can throw against this defense as they are ranked 104th in pass defense and 107th in pass efficiency defense. There is no reason Pitt shouldn’t come out and for once, try to blow a team out of the building. But as we have seen, that just isn’t the Panthers style so I would expect another nail biter that comes down to the last possession or two???..

Which might also be why so many are picking against Pitt.

I did find this question funny.

Q: With the kickoff run back for a touchdown (Syracuse) and the blocked punt for touchdown (South Florida), and lack of a punt return game for us all year, do you think the special teams is suffering with Charlie Partridge’s departure to Wisconsin?

ZEISE: No, not really at all to be honest. I think the special teams have been fine, there have been a few breakdowns, but not enough to sound the alarms. And did you happen to see Charlie Partridge’s special teams give up a punt return for a touchdown against Penn State last week? Did you see how miserable some of the punts were from the Badgers punter, thus giving Penn State field position for the entire first half? In other words, special teams some times have breakdowns and I actually think Pitt’s have been better in a lot of areas than they have been in the past. Yes, the lack of a punt return game has been frustrating — but really, when was the last time Pitt had a great return game? I guess it would be like Darrelle Revis sophomore year. I just don’t think the special teams have been all that bad.

There are parts of special teams that could be better, but I have had no problem with their performance. And if you look what Partridge is doing with Wisconsin’s it’s definitely not working. Just shore up the blocking on punts and things are okay. Not having Saddler is the main reason, for struggling with punt returns. No one back there but Berry.

As for the Outside Linebacker spot, well… it seems a bit patchwork.

Q: Could this be the game that Pitt’s lack of depth and experience at OLB finally catches up with them? It seems like Navy’s offense is the type that could really exploit teams that don’t contain well.

ZEISE: Well, it could, though like I said yesterday the outside linebacker issue is being addressed some by the fact that the coaches are using Elijah Fields in that role a little bit in certain situations. Plus I think Greg Williams’ speed can help here and the coaches talked about dumbing some things down on defense in order to take advantage of his physical ability (i.e. “on this play, run as fast as you can and hit the quarterback as hard as you can, regardless if he pitches it or not …”). But this game is all about two things – stopping that belly/fullback dive/fullback power (whatever you want to call it) play in early downs and getting off the field on third downs. And I think more of the pressure will be on the defensive line to get off some blocks and make some plays in order to blow up some of Navy’s plays and put the Midshipmen in second or third and long situations. It will be a very long day if Navy is spending the night in second-and-3 or similar down-and-distances.

Using Fields, especially against Navy is an intriguing idea. It’s also a little scary. As many have said this week, to defend against Navy, you have to stay in your assignments. Being swift is vital, and Fields has the latter cold. It’s the discipline of staying in his lane that is a concern. If he drifts and tries to freelance, I can see him being yanked.

Well, hopefully not that bad. Still, you know you are expected to be a major player in the season when the news of a player’s slow recovery from an injury is getting play and the AP story is picked up everywhere.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said Thursday it is uncertain how long Fields will be out. Pitt, which is likely to be a preseason Top 10 team, begins play Nov. 14 against Fairleigh Dickinson.

“I don’t think we can make any predictions on that,” Dixon said. “Who would have thought he’d be playing on it for two months (this summer) and not have one problem with it, and then have the injury re-occur? It’s unexplainable.”

Dixon called the injury a setback.

“There’s nothing positive about him not being able to go (and) losing conditioning,” he said.

Yesterday was Pitt’s media day, so there was no way to keep this relatively quiet. And despite the angst in the story getting reported, Fields is still downplaying things as not that big of a deal.

“It’s good. I’m up to date as far as where I should be with it,” Fields said. “I’m rehabbing it and doing the right things out there but its is frustrating. How could it not be?”

Fields, who participated in the Steve Nash Skills Camp over the summer, said he still feels pain in the foot but he is shooting a basketball and he expects to be ready when Pitt opens its season Nov. 14 with a home game against Fairleigh Dickinson.

“We’re taking our time right now. Taking a few days off here and there,” Fields said. “It’s the best surgery I could have and it’s what the doctors wanted to do when I broke it in the first place. I’ll be fine.”

That means while Fields is recovering, it’s freshman Travon Woodall at the point.

Woodall suffered a mild concussion and had some teeth knocked loose when he collided with another Pitt player during a workout yesterday. But he’s ready to fill in for Fields, who has become his mentor.

Woodall said he’s learning from the best, just as Brandin Knight taught Carl Krauser, who taught Fields.

“I’ve got the best point guard in the country on my team,” Woodall said. “He doesn’t score 30 points, but he makes sure he gets the win. He doesn’t turn the ball over. … What better person to learn from than Levance? I don’t have to watch old film of Isaiah Thomas or anybody like that. I’ve got the best general right here, right now.”

Oh, it was Wednesday night and Sam Young did it.

Woodall, at 195 pounds, is thin, but he already has gained 10 pounds under the tutelage of strength and conditioning coach Tim Beltz.

If there is one aspect where he might struggle as a freshman, it is with his ability to endure the rigors of the Big East.

Woodall has yet to take part in an official Pitt practice, but he already has learned how physical they can be. In a scrimmage Wednesday night, Woodall stepped in front of Sam Young to take a charge. Young’s elbow caught Woodall in the mouth, cut the inside of his gums and gave him a slight concussion.

“I found out real quick that it’s the Big East,” Woodall said. “I woke up real fast and recognized how physical it is. I actually had a mouth guard in. The mouth guard split, so that tells you strong [forward] Sam is.”

I guess the concussion must have been mild. Otherwise, it might not be the best plan to put a freshman with a concussion before the media, not to mention a whole lot of camera flashes going off around him.

Also on the injury list for freshmen, forward Dwight Miller has a heel injury that has held him out for six weeks. There’s nothing saying when he will be able to participate in regular practices that will start tomorrow. If he doesn’t get back soon, he’s almost assured of redshirting and not getting in the rotation when the season gets underway (he can ask Gilbert Brown about that). Hopefully not, because most accounts had him as a very pleasant surprise in the summer league and his practices.

And Gilbert Brown is having some ankle issues to slow him down.

As for those big expectations in the preseason rankings. Naturally Coach Jamie Dixon downplays it a bit — even while acknowledging why.

Coach Jamie Dixon felt his team was underrated going into last season, so how about this year? How about the folks who pick his team as high as No. 2?

“Maybe I don’t agree with it,” Dixon said, “but I understand it.”

Dixon wants to see how some of his inexperienced perimeter players perform before he believes his team belongs in anybody’s top five.

But he knows why people are bullish on Pitt. It’s because of The Big Three — senior forward Sam Young, sophomore center DeJuan Blair and senior point guard Levance Fields.

Here’s Hoopsworld.com, for example putting Pitt #3.

The expectations haven’t been this high for the Panthers since Chris Taft was considered a lottery pick. Unlike back then though, this team is legit and is certainly capable of being the last team standing after all the madness. Levance Fields established himself as one of the best lead guards in the country last night, and more importantly a clutch player who you can give the ball with the game on the line.

Inside the Panthers have two of the nation’s most talented frontcourt players in Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. Young is among the nation’s most versatile players and few freshmen big men have come in and made as big of an impact as Blair did in his first season. Expect the duo to have a big year as they begin to put establish their NBA draft stock. The most important thing for the Panthers is to stay healthy. Last year at times they were decimated by injuries and it definitely contributed to their early exit from the tournament.

Pitt has a press release listing the various preseason rankings and honors/rankings for the various players and coaches. It also has a link to watch Coach Dixon’s opening day press conference, and audio interviews with Sam Young, Levance Fields, DeJuan Blair, Gilbert Brown and Bradley Wannamaker.

With many schools — but not Pitt — doing a Midnight Madness event to kick off the beginning of practice, ESPN-U will kick off its coverage of college basketball tonight from 9pm to 1am. Coach Jamie Dixon will be one of the coaches interviewed in the course of the evening.

No not for the football team. Basketball season is closing within a few weeks. Right around the election, exhibition games begin.

Fields was one of the cover boys of the USA Today preview (everyone does regional covers).

They know the goal.

But it will likely be Fields, Blair and Young who determine how far the Panthers can go. Although Pitt has been one of the Big East’s best teams for years, reaching the conference tournament final in seven of the past eight seasons, deep runs in the NCAA tournament have been missing.

“We want to take it to the next level this year,” says Fields. “We’ve been through the Big East wars and the Big East tournaments, but we haven’t gotten the job done in the NCAA tournament, other than going to the Sweet 16 my sophomore year (2007). But we want to go further. With the core guys returning with a lot of experience and the freshmen we have, we feel this is the year, this is the make-or-break year.”

The three core players feel the same.

Now the Pitt Panthers have their sights set on the Motor City — site of next year’s Final Four.

“I have a picture of Detroit in my room,” sophomore center DeJuan Blair said. “That’s all I think about. We won the Big East last year. Now I want to win a national championship.”

Pitt has plenty of motivation after the way last season ended. The Panthers won the Big East tournament championship with a stunning four-game run but were upset by Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA tournament, an all too familiar ending for a program that has been dominant in the Big East but disappointing in NCAA play.

…

“To be honest, I definitely didn’t think that was going to be the end of the road for us,” Young said of the loss to Michigan State. “I’m sure a lot of people didn’t. For an upset like that to happen to us after we won the Big East championship … I feel like we could have done so much more.

“For us to have basically the same team back for this season, it definitely was an inspiration for me to come back and to show people that we’re one of the teams to beat, that we’re the team we thought we were before we lost to Michigan State.”

We’ll see. Right now, after UNC it’s a jumbled mess from #2-8. You can make a legitimate case for any of the following: Pitt, Louisville, UConn, Notre Dame, UCLA, Gonzaga, and Texas (or Oklahoma). That’s what Andy Katz does as he capsules some things on the top teams.

Update: Levance Fields got hurt again. Fields had surgery over the summer, and that causes concern. Fields has to be healthy for Pitt to be the team projected. The Panthers are solid everywhere else. Sam Young stayed put. DeJuan Blair remained happy and if he’s playing loose then the Panthers have a good vibe about themselves. The Panthers have depth, a nasty home court and the experience to make a run to Detroit.

Concern: Fields. Until Fields is on the court without any pain in his foot then the Panthers will have point guard issues. If he’s good to go, a lot of the concerns fade. Perimeter shooting will always be an issue, but that will change if Fields is in the game because he can help set everyone up.

Nonconference highlights: Well, there isn’t much to get excited about in the nonconference. Maybe a Legends Classic against Washington State or Mississippi State will make for good theatre, or even a home game against upstart Siena or always pesky Florida State in Tallahassee. But none of these games will compare to the top of the Big East.

Practices start this Friday. Whoo-hoo.

1. No one will be fired this week.

2. No one will be fired in the season.

3. AD Steve Pederson will not fire Dave Wannstedt.

The first is no shock. It may not make anyone happy, but it is nothing surprising.

The second might be more annoying. No one expects Coach Wannstedt to get fired in mid-season (or as I like to put it, “getting Zooked”). Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, however, could potentially be relieved of his duties. Except, Wannstedt would never do that. That’s not in the coaching handbook. You just don’t fire assistants in mid-season in football. If it goes against “the book,” it’s not something Wannstedt will do.

The final probably has more doubters — and there are two exceptions. I’ll explain my reasoning first.

There’s too much blind faith in Pederson, that he will be proactive on firing Wannstedt. Frankly I don’t see it.

Yes, Pederson has been a force to get a lot done in modernizing the Pitt Athletic Department in his first go round. And he has come back and been aggressive at trying to build the enthusiasm for the football program again. That has nothing to do with changing coaches.

Pederson, like most athletic directors is loathe to fire “his guy.” Pushing out John Majors and firing Ralph Willard and Frank Solich at Nebraska was hardly being aggressive. Those were necessary. (Even the Solich firing was defensible, even if the manner wasn’t.)

Nebraska fans can point to the Callahan hiring then extension just before last year’s debacle of a season. Stubbornly backing Callahan when all evidence — aside from recruiting well — said Callahan was absolutely the wrong guy. Pederson may not have hired Wannstedt, but he’s tried to hire him a couple times and he was the one who gave him the extension last season.

Wannstedt is his guy. Add in Pederson’s solid relationship with Chancellor Nordenberg — who has a very, very friendly relationship with Wannstedt as well, and the pressure for a change is just lacking if the season is just lackluster.

So what are the exceptions? The first is if the team goes 4-8 or worse. That might be enough to force his hand. Seeing fans boo the coach and by extension the team has an effect — even if the rich donors might still be with Wanny.

5-7 or better and he gets another year. There will be bad excuses, in a year when there weren’t supposed to be anymore excuses, but excuses for it nonetheless.

The other is when it comes time to discuss a change in assistants. Wannstedt is as everyone knows, when it comes to coaches likes to hire cronies he already knows and is very loyal to them. This makes necessary changes very difficult. Another 5-7, 6-6 or even a 7-5 season should force some real changes at the offensive coordinator spot.

Matt Cavanaugh is out of excuses. As much slack as he has been cut, it’s looking bad for his future. But what happens if Wannstedt refuses to fire Cavanaugh? What if Cavanaugh declines to “pursue other opportunities”? That might force the AD’s hand to make a full change.

Otherwise, I’m not seeing things change with the people in charge.

Please, please, please. Don’t make it this easy.

Q: OK, cut through the BS — what is your prediction for this team?

ZEISE: I usually don’t give predictions per se, other than to give a range of where a team should be and so here is what I’ll say. I see a team, who, if it plays well, should be 8-4. In other words, the talent level on this team is, from what I can see and based on experience and knowing what kind of schedule it is going to face, good enough that it is very fair to expect eight wins from it. So eight is the cut-off in my book and less than eight is underachieving while more than eight is overachieving. So if you ask me what I am expecting from this team I’ll say 8-4, though I could make a very strong case for 10-2 or 5-7 if you’d really like me to.

So, that isn’t a prediction. Just an expectation.

Then don’t. Don’t do a write-up for preseason magazine where the “Overview” part has you writing, “It is hard to imagine this team won’t get to at least eight wins.”

I actually like Paul Zeise’s writing. I think Pitt is rather lucky that both dailies have good writers on the Pitt football beat. Zeise, however, can’t pretend that his freelance writing gig is totally unconnected.

Like it or not, the preseason mags aren’t just about providing a synopsis on a team. People buy them to see what the expectations and predictions are. I’m sure Zeise did not have anything to do with the slotting of Pitt at #23 in Lindy’s. But he took the work-for-hire, and associated with them. The language can be parsed, to say there is no prediction. It sure seems that way, though.

Okay, power rankings, polls and such. Stewart Mandel at SI.com starts Pitt out at #23 in his power rankings.

After watching a recent Panthers practice, I’m convinced that this is a bona fide top-25 team, with a superstar tailback (LeSean McCoy), a stud freshman receiver (Jonathan Baldwin) and a dominant D. But the O-line will keep them from rising much higher.

Last year Todd McShay at ESPN/Scouts, Inc. picked Pitt as his sleeper team from the Big East. If at first you don’t succeed…

I’m going back to the well with Pittsburgh. In fact, I like the Panthers so much they’ve become my pick to win the Big East in 2008. Coach Dave Wannstedt and his staff have recruited well the past four seasons, so the talent is in place to make a run.

Junior Bill Stull has been sharp in camp, emerging as an efficient quarterback for the pro-style scheme. As long as Stull protects the ball and makes sound decisions, RB LeSean McCoy will do the rest. McCoy rushed for 1,328 yards and 14 scores as a freshman last season. He should be even more potent with a full season of experience and a full offseason of conditioning under his belt.

MLB Scott McKillop and DE Greg Romeus anchor a defense that should again be one of the Big East’s most dominant units this fall.

The Panthers should be 4-0 heading into their October 2 showdown at South Florida. Playing Rutgers and West Virginia at home should also help them navigate through a difficult schedule down the stretch.

Not a shock that McShay is high on Pitt. He’s a player evaluator. In those terms, Pitt makes sense as his pick.

ESPN.com’s Big East writer, Brian Bennett has burning questions (there’s ointment for that) for Pitt. Three questions to be exact.

The first question is about the overall depth of the team. The final question concerns the coaching. Gee, what could the middle question concern?

2. How will the offensive line hold up?

Pitt replaces three starters from last year’s line, including NFL first-rounder Jeff Otah and fourth-round pick Mike McGlynn. Head coach Dave Wannstedt hasn’t expressed much confidence in new starting right tackle Joe Thomas so far. New offensive line coach Tony Wise, who spent the last 18 years in the NFL, needs to get this group in shape so it can block for LeSean McCoy and keep Stull upright.

Thoughts of the state of the O-line are now bordering on obsession for me. I need this season to start, just so I can see how they look for myself.

Q: When is homerism good?

A: When it’s your guy who is being the homer.

Give the WWLS some credit for finally grasping that they should let the video clips be embeddable. Now if only they would cut a deal with RedLasso.

A couple previews. Lindy’s has their preview of Pitt online. They placed Pitt #23 and the preview was written by Paul Zeise.

This should be the season in which Wannstedt’s recruiting prowess finally pays off. It is hard to imagine this team won’t get to at least eight wins and a bowl game. And given how strong the defense should be, if the offense comes together quickly, the Panthers could challenge for the Big East title.

As for which ones on the schedule will be the wins and which the losses, well, he’ll never say.

Q: I think that this years Pitt schedule is filled with some tough and tricky games and below I list some very possible losses. I mean, as many as five — how do you feel about games against Navy, Notre Dame, West Virginia, UConn and South Florida?

ZEISE: Pitt could lose any of those five games, as well as games against Iowa, Louisville, Rutgers and Cincinnati. The only three games Pitt should definitely win are Bowling Green, Buffalo and Syracuse. The other nine games will come down to how well Pitt plays, executes, and minimizes mistakes. But on the flip side, I don’t see a game on the schedule that Pitt can’t win, either. Sure WVU and South Florida will be tough but neither of those teams are so much better than Pitt that the Panthers can’t beat them. This is one of those years where you really don’t know how good this team is until it starts playing games.

I think that the Pitt team motto this season of “prove it,” which was suggested by Coach Wannstedt, is as much a daily reminder for him. More than the players, there’s a lot on him to prove as the head coach.

Well, Mark May has faith.

“I think it is very clear this program is on the rise and Dave has it headed in the right direction,” May said. “I am very happy the administration stuck by him and has shown some patience because more often than not, that isn’t the case. Coaches who come in usually have a mess to clean up and by the time they are done straightening it out, they’ve had a few losing seasons and they are fired.

“But if you look at this situation, Dave has recruited extremely well, he’s built a great base of talent, that talent is starting to mature and, more importantly, he is bringing in the right kinds of players. Kids that work hard, are good students and don’t embarrass the university. This thing is being built for the long haul.”

The AP top-25 has Pitt at #25, so long-time Pittsburgh AP writer Alan Robinson has the AP preview. The story starts with the end of last season (of course) and again the issue of proving it wasn’t a fluke. The theme, though is on the players McKillop and McCoy.

The underpinnings of an excellent offense, defense and special teams are there. So are the Big Macs, McCoy and defensive star Scott McKillop.

This can’t be stressed enough it seems. This is the year for Wannstedt to prove things.

Wannstedt, in his fourth year, has posted an underwhelming 13-19 record against I-A competition (16-19 overall) and has yet to take Pitt to a bowl game (The Panthers had been to five bowl games in a row before his arrival). He has recruited well and has been a great ambassador for the program. He now has most of his talent in place and that means finding a way to consistently win games.

That as much as anything else is what we keep coming back to with Pitt. It’s now on Coach Wannstedt to do something. The administration is behind him. The fans are still with him. The talent is there. Expectations are not outsized, but there is lots of optimism.

8-4 is the level of “meets expectations” in this season. He can’t underachieve this year. Not by a game. That would be unacceptable at this point.

Too many times in the first 3 seasons there were games right there for Pitt that the team just couldn’t get it done. Ohio and even Nebraska in ’05. Rutgers and UConn in ’06. Michigan State, Louisville and Navy last year (I won’t count Rutgers since that was as much bad officiating as anything else). 7 games going the wrong way in those three years. Only one offset, and however big that WVU win is and was, it was still just 1 game.

It’s time to start meeting those expectations.

There are days when balancing family and obsession actually tilts away from obsession. Lots of stuff I had to do over the weekend. Plus, I was putting the finishing touches on the FanHouse Big East preview postings with fellow Hauser John Radcliff. Putting the objective hat on is not a lot of fun, but it is helpful in forcing some perspective even with Pitt.

So there’s a lot to catch-up. The first bit of good news is that there weren’t any injuries in the practices and scrimmages over the weekend. After last year and the number of injuries across the country, that’s something that can’t be taken for granted.

Nice news that Pitt got ranked #25 in the AP poll. The only team in the poll to have a losing record last year. USF and WVU were also ranked. For an 8 team conference, that’s decent to have 3 teams ranked. Rutgers, Cinci and UConn also received votes.

Next bit of good news, a new verbal.

Pitt received its 11th football commitment from the Class of 2009 when Elizabeth (N.J.) running back Raymond Graham picked the Panthers after visiting for their scrimmage today in the South Side.

Graham chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan State and North Carolina State. Penn State also was showing interest. Raymond Graham picked the Panthers after visiting for their scrimmage today in the South Side.

Graham is 5-9, 187 pounds. He’s Pitt’s 3d verbal from New Jersey. Oddly, all three are primarily running backs in high school. Can’t help but think at least one will look at a position change down the road.

Graham, though, is the highest starred recruit among the RB verbals. He’s a 3-star according to Scout.com and Rivals.com has him as a 4-star and the 5th best recruit out of NJ and #8 in all-purpose backs.

Given Pitt’s depth at running back, it has to be expected that most backs coming into the program are looking at redshirts. Something that comes through with Graham in this ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. evaluation (Insider subs.).

Graham is a gifted runner who possesses workhorse-type qualities in a small package. He is small in height not body composition. Thick, compactly-built and strong throughout his upper- and lower-body. … Durability with his current style is a bit of a concern as well. We would like to see him continue building up his sturdy frame with lean bulk and strength. Overall Graham is a natural well-rounded runner with skills to hurt a defense both in-line and on the perimeter. Potential sleeper in this running back class.

Best news, this story on Bob Junko and surviving his heart attack.

I always enjoy a good puff piece, but I found it odd that the AP essentially re-ran the Dorsett-McCoy story that dates back to April. It looks like some new quotes added from Dorsett, but it’s the same story.

Tony DeFazio of Pittsburgh Sports Report had a longish piece about Pitt and rising to meet expectations this year.

Does he feel any pressure to win in his fourth season at Pitt?

“There’s a sense of urgency, yeah, but I wouldn’t say pressure,” he says. “Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the heck you’re doing. We know what we’ve got to do in order to win. There’s a sense of urgency, though, to get it done.”

Cavanaugh is more direct.

“There better be,” he said. “We’ve been a .500 football team for three years and that’s not anywhere near acceptable. Every player, every coach, everybody in the equipment room, training room and weight room better feel a hunger to win, and an urgency to win.”

“We had five wins last year. We weren’t good enough,” said Wannstedt. “I think we’ve got enough talent to win, but we have to go out and get it done. We’ve got to prove it.”

That’s the issue. No one is doubting the talent on the team almost anywhere. The doubts are about the guy who gathered them.

I was surprised that someone would go back to the well on punter Dave Brytus’ involvement with MMA. Even with it getting mainstreamed in 2008. Even more surprised that Gene Collier at the P-G would be the guy to do it.

“UFC is like the NFL of MMA,” Brytus said acronymically. “The top guys in UFC are getting six-figure salaries, but, obviously, you could do better in the NFL.”

In the NFL, you can casually wander the sidelines most of the week, learning stupid punter tricks such as throwing the ball to the grass and making it bounce back into your throwing hand (no known application), then actually kicking a few times on Sundays and occasionally being called on to make a tackle, which Brytus would love.

In UCF, you train exhaustively and more or less constantly for the opportunity to enter a caged octagon against a single opponent carrying payloads of excess testosterone and who knows what else.

“Football’s better for a career, I guess,” Brytus said. “It’d certainly be better as far as my parents are concerned. My mom’s not a big fan of MMA, but you know, if I have to take a couple of punches to the head to make some money, so be it.”

The only problem with that plan is if you take too many blows to the head, you forget whether you got paid or not.

SI.com has their photo gallery countdown of the top-10 players in the Big East. Scott McKillop is #7 and LeSean McCoy #2.

I have to do a little more on this for FanHouse at some point soon, but I am amused by the new replay rule with the Big East.

There is a new “clause” in the officiating manuals about the types of plays that are reviewable through instant replay. It states that while only certain plays are reviewable, the replay official has the discretion to “correct egregious errors,” including plays involving fouls that are not specifically reviewable.

I’m taking that to mean, like when they really screw it up on the field and ESPN commentators are hammering them for it (like the fair catch signal the refs missed in the UConn-Louisville game).

Please don’t turn this into gratuitous Walt Harris bashing, but it looks like he is doing some work with Ohio State.

The rumor mill has former Pittsburgh and Stanford coach Walt Harris, a former Ohio State quarterbacks coach, hanging around Buckeyes practices, presumably as a precursor to him joining the coaching staff or serving as a consultant.

An OSU spokeswoman said Harris was in town in July for an alumni golf tournament, but she said she regularly attends practice and hasn’t seen Harris since.

It’s been rumored for some time that Harris was looking to get back into coaching.

I’m a little tied up with some things. Working on some Big East preview posts at FanHouse for the week.

Meanwhile, the Rocky Top (Tennessee) blog went with a series of lists to kill time related to mascots and logos. Clearly you have to question his judgment when his color scheme uses creamsickle. So, I guess it shouldn’t be too stunning that he actually chose the dino-cat as the 10th coolest college logo.

I once saw a house cat with its ears pinned back like that topple, tie, gut, and quarter a black angus bull in under 45 seconds. Add 100 pounds and call it a panther, and you have Pittsburgh.

The secondary logo that is not exactly revered by Pitt fans themselves somehow makes the list. I’m stunned.

I was somewhat bemused that Trib columnist Joe Starkey — who spent such effort into defending ex-DC Paul Rhoads by saying wait until 2008 to judge him, Wannstedt and PItt — is now seeking to limit expectations for the goal year.

Eight is enough.

Check that. An 8-4 regular-season record won’t be nearly enough to satisfy those who expect the Pitt football team to double its win total from a year ago and go 10-2 or better.

But it should be enough to satisfy the realists among us.

Seriously, how could anyone have a problem with Pitt going 4-1 in non-conference games, 4-3 in the Big East and maybe winning a bowl game to pump that total to nine?

Now, I’m not saying that 8 wins is a bad season. I am a little amused to see a fake argument — that realists should be satisfied with 8 wins and only those who are out of touch with things would expect more.

At this rate, I assume Starkey thinks Pitt should challenge for a BCS bid in maybe 2012.

Bruce Feldman lists his 10 most indispensable players to a team (Insider subs), and LeSean McCoy is on the list.

With all due respect to little LaRod Stephens-Howling, McCoy turned a dismal offense into a force late last season and the shifty 210-pound sophomore looks good enough to make Pitt into a Big East title threat. McCoy’s showed his worth in the Panthers’ huge upset at WVU when he ran for 148 yards against a defense keyed on containing him. McCoy also is a very underrated receiver, and as Dave Wannstedt likes to remind people, he’s a believer in hitching his wagon to a team’s star as was the case when he was with the Miami Dolphins and Ricky Williams led the NFL in touches and when he worked with the Cowboys and Emmitt Smith led the league in touches as well. Look for Wannstedt to try and let McCoy led this program back into the top 25. Without him, though, it could be another sad season.

Pat White (WVU), Jake Locker (Washington), Brian Hoyer (MSU), Jevan Snead (Ole Miss), Chase Daniel (Mizzou) and Tim Tebow were on the list as QBs naturally dominated. The only other running back was Chris Wells (OSU). Macho Harris (VT) and Alex Mack (Cal) were also on the list.

I’m not going to disagree with the inclusion of McCoy on the list. Given expectations and how bad Washington will likely be, I’d sooner put Matt Grothe of USF on there. I mean, what happens to the Bulls if Grothe goes down?

Finally, this article cites a need for the Big East to have a coach to step up and be the face of the football conference. I find it kind of silly.

Who is the face of Big East football?

It’s probably outgoing commissioner Mike Tranghese. The league is taking applications for Kingpin Coach.

I imagine the first interview goes to Bill Stewart, the former assistant who took over for Rodriguez at West Virginia before the Fiesta Bowl, then beat Stoops and Oklahoma.

Jim Leavitt of South Florida is poised to cut the line. He’s the only coach to direct the Bulls’ program, giving him gallons of sweat equity.

Bozich notes that there is no Big East coach that has even won the conference (technically UConn was co-Big East champ last year so Edsall could count).  Here’s the short answer why the league lacks one. Money.

The Big East as a conference spends the least on coaches — especially assistants. That means, coaches are moving on, more often than not.

As usual with media days, plenty of articles and stories. So getting to them all takes a little time.

The day of Media Day, Paul Zeise had a solid article. It notes the expectations are there for this team, and of course Coach Wannstedt spoke well of the off-season preparations.

“We’ve had an unbelievable offseason, these guys have worked their tails off and have gotten into shape,” Wannstedt said. “[Second-year strength coach] Buddy Morris and his program have really kicked into high gear.

“Our guys are slimmer, in better shape than since we’ve been here and have gotten so much stronger. Some guys have added 30 or 40 pounds to their bench press and whatnot. It has been impressive.

“I don’t know what is going to happen during the season but I’ll say this — these guys have taken the offseason seriously, they have put in the work and they’ve put themselves in position to be successful and that’s all you can ask.”

And as you can expect with any article talking about Pitt’s chances, the question is still: What about that O-line?

The offensive line, however, is the key to the season and Wannstedt said even though it lacks experience, it is talented and, more importantly, healthy. And like the rest of the team, the players are in great shape and that bodes well for the future.

“We don’t have a guy more than 300 pounds, they are slim and trim,” Wannstedt said, “[Right tackle] Joe Thomas is like 285, [left tackle] Jason Pinkston, same thing. And the injured guys, like Chris Jacobson, are healthy and looking in great shape as well. Our line will hold the key to our season, but it is going to be better than some people think.”

It has to be. Otherwise it will be back to multiple QBs — mainly because they will be carted off the field.

Back to the expectation thing.

Questions need answered in camp. Position battles haven’t been won. Heck, a down needs to be played.

But the expectation season has begun. The numbers have grown since before last season, or two seasons ago.

And they’re heavier.

That’s the sign of a growing program. The Panthers merely need to add more victories to equal those expectations.

Of course, that’s the toughest part of this equation.

The players feel that this is the time to meet the expectations.

Time for something good to happen to the Pitt football team under Dave Wannstedt.

Three straight Top 25 recruiting classes – it’s just time.

“It’s finally time,” wide receiver Derek Kinder said Tuesday at the annual Big East Media Day. “We’ve gotta put it together.”

Of course another conventional portion of talking about Pitt this year is how the team ended the season with WVU. Something that WVU people can’t quite forget.

We have gone over this game in great detail in the past, but always from the West Virginia angle.

Pat White was injured. Play selection was terrible. The team choked. The coach choked.

But here at Big East Media Day, it was finally time to get the other side.

What in the name of LeSean McCoy got into Pitt?

How could the pathetic Panthers pull this off and, in some ways, had the upset altered the direction of the Pitt program as much as it did the West Virginia program, although in the opposite direction.

That’s all great, but I’m with Scott McKillop on this one.

“That victory was very, very important for our team,” said linebacker Scott McKillop. “It was a great stepping stone, but we’re aware that we have a long ways to go. We can’t really stay focused on it though. We can’t keep saying, ‘We beat West Virginia, we beat West Virginia.’ If we do that, they pretty soon we’ll be playing West Virginia again and we’ll be 4-7 again.”

Perhaps it’s the blunt honesty with which McKillop speaks about last season’s watershed victory. Having not made a bowl game for the last three seasons, Pittsburgh could have hung its hat on that win and called it a day. But it didn’t and the more one looks at Pitt, the more one realizes why they’ve been picked to finish so high.

So, as much as there are lots of expectations, Coach Wannstedt wants to keep things in check.

“There is with our fans. There is with our alumni. There is with the media. And there is with our team,” Wannstedt said Tuesday at Big East media day, after Pitt was predicted to finish third in the conference in a media poll. “It’s my job as head coach to make sure we keep our feet on the ground and understand that we’ve got to start working on Tuesday (at) training camp, and it’s going to be tough. We’ve got to go out there and put together a good football team during training camp and not worry about those other things.

“If we do that, good things will happen.”

AD Steve Pederson, as the story points out, has to sell the expectations to get butts in the seat.

“What you want is a program that has expectations. You don’t want unrealistic expectations, but you do want expectations in your program,” Pederson said. “What we want is to continue to see progress in the program. It’s kind of funny. No matter what expectations I have, the coaches and players always have higher expectations. They set their own bar high.”

I’d say fans are expecting at least a +3 increase in the win total.