The Oakland Zoo has the new design for the Zoo t-shirt this year. It’s a clean look and apparently already on sale.

Pitt also announced the non-con schedule for 2011-12. I’m not saying that the Pitt athletic department was purposefully downplaying this news, but I get suspicious whenever information like this is released on a Friday.

Looking it over. Yeah, it’s not exactly one that screams out “daunting.”

(more…)

Seems that Zach Brown may not be the only thing Wisconsin sends Pitt’s way. How about the possibility of a home-and-home with the Badgers? (Hattip to Brad)

University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said this week that attempts are being made to add Pittsburgh and Kansas State to future non-conference schedules.

Alvarez declined to offer specifics, but confirmed that talks are taking place with those two Bowl Championship Series schools. Kansas State is out of the Big 12 Conference, while Pitt is a member of the Big East Conference.

Alvarez said no contracts have been signed with either school. The same goes for Brigham Young, an independent which has reportedly agreed to a non-conference series in 2014 and ’15.

Alvarez grew up in Pennsylvania and is known to have an affinity for Pitt, which has played the Badgers in football only three times, the last in 1967.

Needless to say, a really quality non-con opponent is always great to see on the schedule.

Not sure how far out this would be. Pitt appears to have openings in 2014-15, but if Wisconsin is slated to play BYU then, I doubt they would do both series. Expect this one to be a good 5 years or so away.

The Big East schedule is sort of known — at least home and away part. The non-con is mostly complete with the Philly challenge the usual City Game, the Big East/SEC game at Tennessee.

Heck, now we even know that one of the exhibition games will be with Kentucky… Wesleyan College.

In addition, Pittsburgh Coach Jamie Dixon (a California Native) and KWC Coach Todd Lee (a former assistant at UC-Irvine) have worked out a deal to have the Pitt Panthers square off against the KWC Panthers.

It will be Panther on Panther action. KWC is a D-2 school and apparently thinking about dropping to D-3.

(more…)

Well, I think we all knew this was going to be the major post topic of the day.

I want to thank Pitt and Penn State for making this announcement now. It was getting down to minimum content time here at PittBlather. I’m talking bottom of the barrel, tangentially related, minimal stuff.

I mean, sure the actual game is some 1914 days away or so, but it is still exciting news. All over the Pennsylvania papers and picked up nationally on the wires.

There are and will be plenty of people to try and minimize this. To say it is not the same as it once was. It no longer has the national significance from the 70s and 80s. Fine. They are right. Both teams are in different conferences. It’s a non-con game that will be played in mid-September. We have no idea what either team will look like in 5 years. All of that is true. But it still matters. It is still a big deal. It still has a lot of people excited.

If Pitt announced season tickets were available for the 2016 season right now, I’d be putting my money down. My parents are both Penn State grads. Shortly after the news broke my dad called to ask whether I’m getting an extra ticket for the game so he can go.

On to the link round-up.

(more…)

Had to work at 4 am today. Then deal with my kids on summer vacation. So, I go and take a nap and wake up to this?

On hiatus since 2000, the Pitt-Penn State series will again resume after the two universities signed a home-and-home agreement for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Pitt will host the initial game at Heinz Field on September 10, 2016. The Panthers will play at Penn State on September 16, 2017.

“This is an exciting day for college football fans,” Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said. “The tremendous history of this rivalry is well documented and the passion that fans have for this game is enormous. We are very pleased that this two-game series is now in place and a new generation of fans can experience the excitement of a Pitt-Penn State football game beginning in 2016.”

“As a young football fan in Texas, I used to love watching Pitt and Penn State play every November,” first-year Pitt head coach Todd Graham said. “The games were intense and featured some of the greatest players in the history of college football. The resumption of this series is great for the two schools and football fans everywhere.”

Just how long was I really asleep?

And from the Penn State side:

One of the nation’s fiercest football rivalries is set to be renewed, as old rivals Penn State and Pittsburgh will meet again on the gridiron in 2016 and 2017.

Tim Curley, Penn State Director of Athletics, and Steve Pederson, Pitt Director of Athletics, made the announcement today that the long-time rivals are scheduled to meet September 10, 2016 in Pittsburgh and September 16, 2017 in Beaver Stadium.

“We are very excited about renewing our rivalry with Pitt,” Curley stated. “We have worked our schedules to play some of our neighboring rivalries like Syracuse, Rutgers and Temple and are glad to have identified dates that worked for our schedules to play Pitt. The Penn State-Pitt game was one that football fans across the Commonwealth have been passionate about. There have been many memorable Penn State-Pitt games, featuring outstanding players and coaches, and we look forward to playing the Panthers again. “

(more…)

Okay, so maybe you are heading to Morgantown on Friday after Thanksgiving this year for the Backyard Brawl.

There is another option. Pitt basketball will be playing in Philly that same weekend. Pitt takes part in the Philly Hoop Group Classic.

On Friday night, Pitt will play Penn at the Palestra. Yep. A football-basketball doubleheader on the day after Thanksgiving.

No, this is not a marquee tournament. Pitt was kind of due, unfortunately, for a less than high-profile early season tournament after the past couple of years. This one fits that description with other participants (of which two will come to the Pete to play) include: James Madison, Rider, LaSalle and Robert Morris.

The only upside is that Philly area Pitt fans get to see Pitt play in the historic Palestra.

In other non-con basketball scheduling news, tomorrow ESPN will announce the pairings (and the four Big East teams excluded) in the all-new, revamped Big East/SEC Challenge — courtesy of ESPN PR guy and Pitt grad Mike Humes.

It’s actually been a few years since Pitt truly asserted any domination in MSG. It sure wasn’t last year losing to Indiana and then ND in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. The way the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer is set, Pitt is one of the two veteran teams facing young/rebuilding teams.

“Pittsburgh is ranked where they are for a reason,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “They have great guards, you can start right there. Great leadership from seasoned guards is a pretty good combination most people don’t have. In college basketball veteran guards make a difference, like we had last year.”

After four years of turning to Vasquez for every big shot, pass or defensive assignment, the Terrapins (3-0) are trying to find an identity. They set a tournament record with 105 points in a 29-point win over Seattle in the opener, then survived a scare when freshman Pe’Shon Howard’s jumper with 4.6 seconds left gave them a 75-74 win over Charleston.

“I’m seeing some good things out of our young players,” Williams said. “We do have some veterans from last year, guys who have been there before. We need to get a rotation and a game like Pittsburgh gets you ready for the season.”

College of Charleston has been one of those good/dangerous mid-majors, so don’t read too much into Maryland needing a near-buzzer-beater to win. Afterall, Maryland has already learned that one of their freshmen guards has the stones to take and make that last shot.

(more…)

If you were somehow hoping to never see Pitt play another 1-AA opponent, well, you were probably delusional in the first place.

Put the Delaware Blue Hens down for two games. One in 2014 and the other in 2019.

“We always have a competitive schedule,” Keeler said. “Philosophically, we’ve come to terms with, in those 11-game seasons, it really makes sense to try and stay away from a I-A game. The margin for error is already brutal in our conference, and nobody in the country is playing our schedule because we’re playing each other [in the CAA]. We’re fortunate that, with the crowds we have, we can try to schedule that way.

“But to get a regional game like this, against an opponent like Pitt, in a 12-game season, just made a lot of sense. We weren’t interested in going to Florida or Auburn, someplace like that. We wanted a game our fans could get to, like Maryland in 2008.”

The only players among those on Delaware’s team now who will still be here for the Aug. 30, 2014, game are freshmen who could be fifth-year seniors then. The 2019 game is Aug. 31.

A visit to Pittsburgh also has a lucrative benefit, as Delaware is certain to receive a financial guarantee. They are typically in the $400,000 to $500,000 range when a Division I-AA team visits a high-caliber I-A foe. UD did not reveal what payoff it will receive for the visits to Pitt.

In 1-AA most seasons are still 11 games. The years they will play Pitt are 12-game seasons.

Odds are strong there might be a mention of some guy named Flacco.

Just trying to finish as many projects around the house and get family visits finished before the end of August. Once the games begin, well, nothing gets done.

The Ireland trip is finished and Pitt didn’t lose a game — including beating the Melbourne team that included the still hateable Eric Devendorf. Cardiac Hill has a nice recap on things with the scoring averages and some thoughts for the upcoming season.

Over at Pitt Script, there’s a look at Pitt recruiting. Steve Adams is getting good reviews from his play in the States. Khem Birch is looking good and Malcolm Gilbert has Pitt near the top of his board.

In more basketball stuff…

(more…)

A couple things of note.

Pitt appears to have only one shot at winning a game in the Big East/SEC Invitational.

The future of the Big East-SEC Invitational is on “life support” and the event is unlikely to continue after this season, a college basketball industry source told FanHouse.

The Big East-SEC Invitational began in 2007. The format has the leagues playing four games each season with a pair of double-headers split between a Big East and SEC venue.

Multiple sources told FanHouse the future of the Big East-SEC Invitational is bleak because the conferences are not committed to making it work and they don’t feel like they gain much by making it a priority.

Well it was a joint effort at stupidity by the Big East and SEC, so I can’t totally blame this on the Big East. Only 4 games on two nights in semi-neutral settings. Guaranteeing little interest and poor turnout. Rather than make it a real series for home and away match-ups, they would rather give-up.

Outside of Kentucky, the rest of the SEC only cares about basketball insofar as their fans have  a sense of entitlement to have good teams because of the money the conference rakes in and something to do between the end of bowl season and spring practices (see also, Longhorns, Texas).

The Big East, though, does deserve a fair amount of blame. The Big East had the ACC challenge going before the Big 10/11/12 got into it. The Big East coaches at the time, though, constantly fought and whined about playing a tough non-con game on the road every other year and worked to end it. That makes it two conference challenges that the Big East will have played and now killed.

It’s not that the ACC-Big Ten challenge is that great, but it is compressed, easily followed and well publicized by both conferences. The Pac-10/Big 12 mess has everyone playing but so spread out that it is more of an agreement for teams to get good non-con games than any sort of challenge.

Over at Rush the Court, they have a (subjective) list of the top-20 Big East players for the upcoming season.  Ashton Gibbs is on the list at #7 and Brad Wanamaker checks in at #13. That’s it for Pitt players.

At first I had the knee-jerk reaction: typical underrating of the individual talent at Pitt even as the squad is expected to compete for the top spot. Except it isn’t. There’s a fair amount of respect for Pitt players.

With 16 teams in the conference, individual talent is spread. The list contains players from 12 of the programs: Georgetown (3), Villanova (3), Syracuse (2), Marquette (2), Seton Hall (2), Pitt (2), ND, UConn, WVU, USF, St. John’s and Cinci.

No Louisville players on the list. Guys like McGhee, Oriakhi (UConn), Siva (Louisville), Jardine (‘Cuse), Famous (USF), and Stokes (‘Nova) couldn’t get there. There may be a bit of guard bias in the list but it gives you an idea of just how deep and tough it is to have a 16-team conference.

Not a lot of stuff out there today. Little things to pass along.

Yes, you know it is a dead period when ESPN.com’s football people are talking about ties. Pitt had a few “notable” ties on this list.

Sporting News football writers, Hayes and Curtis, list their top “game-changing receivers.” Jonathon Baldwin is in the top-5 for both writers.

A casual, early look at the best opening game for college football in the Big East: Pitt-Utah.

The Utes should be strong again in 2010, though they have some work to do in replacing several linebackers and safeties. Leading rusher Eddie Wide returns, along with oft-injured Matt Asiata. Three of the team’s top four receivers are gone, including 1,000-yard man David Reed. Quarterback Jordan Wynn made his college debut eight games into the season and went on to become the Poinsettia Bowl MVP.

Utah also brings back four starters on the offensive line and boasts depth on the defensive front. Whittingham’s team figures to make a lot of preseason Top 25 ballots.

Finally, if you need another list of recruits. Chris Dokish has his list of top-25 Pennsylvania recruits for 2011. Yes, it’s a down year.

7 of the 25 of the players have verballed, with Pitt receiving 3 of them.

Hey, a brief break from expansion babble.

Pitt’s non-con is just about finished. Shame they can’t tell everyone the details.

Pittsburgh needs to add just one more game to its non-conference schedule; then, the waiting game begins.

“For anybody who’s new to our conference, it’s something that’s eye-opening and concerning,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said, “but being here 12 years, it’s just something that you’re used to. Patience is the best quality to have.”

Why does it take so much longer for the Big East to arrange its conference schedule?

Consider that the Big East plays 144 league games each season. None of the other five major conferences play more than 100. The Big East also has the most televised games, which throws even more wrenches into the scheduling process.

But the biggest problem may be that a handful of Big East teams share their home arenas with NBA and/or NHL franchises; some share with American Hockey League teams. The Big East has to work around those pro dates, and Odjakjian noted that the NHL usually doesn’t release its schedule until mid-July and the NBA often waits until the beginning of August.

Well, here are a few games with the dates set.

The SEC/Big East Invitational comes to Pittsburgh this year.

Pitt will play Tennessee in the fourth annual 2010 DIRECTV SEC/Big East Basketball Invitational at Pittsburgh’s brand new CONSOL Energy Center, ESPN announced on Wednesday. The game is scheduled for Saturday, December 11 and will be nationally televised on ESPN. The contest is part of a doubleheader at CONSOL Energy Center as Rutgers will play Auburn in the first game on ESPN2. Tipoff times will be announced at a later date.

So ex-RMU coach Mike Rice gets an early visit to Pittsburgh as well. Not a bad plan — even if the game itself with Rutgers and Auburn will be ugly.

The other half of the SEC/Big East Invitational will be held in Louisville — but hosted by Kentucky. Seton Hall-Arkansas and Notre Dame-Kentucky.

Meanwhile the preliminary rounds of the Coaches Vs. Cancer have Pitt hosting games on November 8 and 10.

First it is Rhode Island on the 8th. The 10th has University of Illinois-Chicago. The URI game will actually be a challenge. The Rams have been pretty good — and very good early in the year at scoring upsets.

Pitt going to Madison Square Garden in November is not much of a surprise any longer. Coach Dixon has stated that he will do almost anything to make sure Pitt plays a non-con game there (or if need be in New Jersey) in the non-con.

Pitt was supposed to play in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic last year, but cooperated with the Gazelle Group to shift to the other CvC in the midwest — with the understanding that in 2010, Pitt would be playing in NYC.

Sure enough…

Coaches vs. Cancer Classic will feature powers Pittsburgh, Texas, Maryland and Illinois.

Those four teams will act as regional hosts for the first two round of the event  from Nov. 8-12.

No matter the results from the regional games, the dynamic foursome will go matchup up at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 18-19 to determine a champion.

Other teams participating in the 2010 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic are Charleston, Illinois-Chicago, Louisiana Tech, Navy, Rhode Island, Seattle, Toledo, and UC-Irvine. Toledo and UC-Irvine will host the subregional rounds.

Why announce it now?

Because the tickets for MSG, go on sale on Tuesday at noon. The tickets are through Ticketmaster, so be willing to pay service fees.

Well, that takes care of 3 games in the non-con and it is only a week into March.

Usually a late-January or February non-con game takes place because ESPN or CBS wants to carry it. Pitt has had a couple of these in recent years. This year it is Robert Morris. Not sure if this is some sort of placeholder or to replace something that fell through. Whatever the reason, RMU Coach Mike Rice says he won’t do it again. Either schedule in November or December to get all the major conference beatings out of the way at once or not at all.

Robert Morris is on top of the NEC with an 11-1 record and boasts a 9 game winning streak. They have non-con wins over Cleveland State and Ohio and an RPI in the 150s. Of course RMU also lost to Penn State, Duquesne and Kent State.

Pitt, though, has yet to lose to Robert Morris in 27 tries. Still, there is familiarity by the players so intimidation is not going to be in the equation.

Freshman guard Karon Abraham said he believes the Colonials have a better chance of beating Pitt than Syracuse.

“Everybody knows their role now,” Abraham said. “We’re together. We don’t break down anymore. And we’ve played under pressure.”

Freshman guard Velton Jones said he and his teammates relish the opportunity to compete against teams from the Big East, which is considered the best conference in Division I this season.

“Playing a Big East team is pretty big,” Jones said. “I think a lot of people are really looking forward to it.”

RMU opened their season at Syracuse, losing by 40.

The Colonials have had season long distractions of sorts with their coach coming up for many NY-area jobs. Fordham — his alma mater — already fired their head coach, and has been the biggest name at this point. Not sure what his ties truly are to Fordham, but that seems like a graveyard job these days.

Just as a sidenote, Pitt commit for next year (grades willing), J.J. Moore looked very impressive at the National Prep School Invitational, dropping 30 points in a game.

Game tonight is 8pm. There will be a liveblog.

Okay, Pitt has given us dates (and probable times) for the non-con.

Sept. 2 —- Thursday — at Utah ——- TBA — CBS Coll. Sports

Sept. 11 — Saturday — New Hampshire — 1 p.m. — n/a

Sept. 23 —- Thursday —– Miami ——- 7:30 p.m. — ESPN

Oct. 2 —- Saturday —– FIU ———– TBA —– doubtful

Oct. 9 —— Saturday —- at Notre Dame —3:30 p.m. — NBC

Yeah, that season opener at Utah is going to be rough. My impulse with Pitt’s team, a new QB. Several new O-lineman starting. New D-linemen and a new secondary. Well, I’m halfway to assuming a loss. Granted I haven’t looked closely at what Utah is returning, so maybe I’m overreacting.

I like the Thrusday night game in September (the wife will hate it), if for no other reason then at least it will be warm. Plus, the nostalgia for that 1997 Thursday night upset of Miami.