Sorry about the quiet today. Moving out of the hotels into an apartment for a few months until everything is taken care of at the house. (Not the way I expected to spend Rosh Hashana, but what can you do — at least Pitt’s tradition of scheduling a home game during at least one High Holy Day continues.) So, no chance to listen to the audio of a satisfying rout.

Look, I wish Pitt wasn’t playing 1-AA teams. I don’t think there is a fan of any legit 1-A team that likes to see a 1-AA opponent on the schedule. I’m not about to stop railing against them and ripping on them when I see them on the schedule. That said, Pitt did what it was supposed to. Destroyed them. Took them apart, made sure the game was fully salted away, and got the starters out by the end of the 3d quarter.

There’s not much to really discuss about this game, given the quality of the opponent. I’m more of the opinion expressed by H.B. Blades.

“My mind is on Toledo now.”

“We can’t underestimate a MAC (conference) school (like Toledo). They have talent and we need to be focused on details.”

Was it really 3 whole years ago since Pitt lost to Toledo 35-31? It wasn’t even televised, but that loss still haunts me — that and the fact that Lee’s wedding was that night and it was bone dry.

Coach Wannstedt is saying the right thing about the attendance issue.

When Pitt played host to Michigan State on Saturday, the game drew a disappointing crowd of 47,956 at Heinz Field. Despite being a Big Ten Conference opponent for the Panthers, the early noon start likely was a factor in the smaller-than-expected turnout. But Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt speculated that hearty fan-support boils down to winning.

“You always want as many fans as you can get,” he said, “but we understand the circumstances. We don’t have 50,000 students, but we have a good group of loyal fans. … It’s a process. We’ve got to keep working, we’ve got keep recruiting and we’ve got to keep winning.”

The early start definitely had an effect on turnout. It always does. The bigger concern is the rest of the season. By not even looking competitive for most of the game, Pitt gave fans the excuse not to bother showing up to the next two games. Games against 1-AA and MAC opponents. Not exactly a tempting game to start. The rest of the games should get good attendance.

After that, there are only 3 home games left: Homecoming against Rutgers (Oct 21), the Backyard Brawl on Thursday night (Nov. 16) and Louisville (Nov. 25). All three should be well attended games. Especially if Pitt actually performs well in all the upcoming road games.

HS Junior Averin Collier (Pitt Freshman Kevin Collier’s younger brother) already had a standing offer from Pitt while they were recruiting Kevin. Averin is believed to be more talented and athletic, and has already received plenty of offers.

The Collier brothers talk every day, and Kevin makes sure he checks on his younger brother’s progress. Kevin also made sure to share the experience of being a Division I recruit with Averin. Pitt offered a scholarship to Averin after landing Kevin.

“He’s not saying ‘Oh, you should come to Pitt,'” Collier said. “He’s helping me through the process, telling me what I should look for in a college.

“Different letters come in and it’s not as exciting because I’ve been through the process with Kevin, meeting with coaches and everything.”

Syracuse, Louisville, Boston College, Virginia, Temple and Buffalo also have offered Collier scholarships.

More offers are sure to come, so Collier says he’s not close to making a decision.

“From what I understand, he’s definitely going to be one of the top 10 recruits in the region,” said Jamie DeMoney, publisher of PrepNation.com, one of many college football recruiting Web sites.

“He’s probably going to be one of the top 50 juniors in the nation.”

He plays QB, WR and Tailback.  Very much the versatile athlete/playmaker who teams just look for ways to get the ball in his hands.

Stay with me here for those of you not going to the MSU-Pitt game. The broadcast map is a little bizarre.

If you live in certain markets in Michigan or Pennsylvania, you might be able to see the game. It will be shown on ABC there. The rest of you will likely get the Ohio State-Cinci thriller on ABC or other regional action. The game is actually on ESPN2 in other markets — split with the BYU-BC game. If you look at that map, you will see that the entire East Coast and Southeast will be showing the BYU-BC game, not the MSU-Pitt match-up. That means in NY, NJ, Maryland, DC and even markets like Philly, the only way to see the game is to pay for ESPN Gameplan. For the Midwest and West Coast, MSU-Pitt will be shown.

No, brackets aren’t available yet – although I am sure Joe Lunardi is on his fourth edition of his braketology by now – but yesterday, Pitt released the 2006-2007 basketball schedule. Much of this had already been reported, but this put a bit of a final stamp on it.

The University of Pittsburgh released its entire 31-game 2006-07 men’s basketball schedule on Thursday. Pitt will play a school record 15 national television games and host 18 contests at the Petersen Events Center.

Overall, Pitt will play 12 games against opponents who advanced to NCAA Tournament play in 2005-06, 18 contests against teams advancing to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT last year, 14 games against teams that won 20-plus games in 2005-06 and 17 games against opponents that won at least 18-plus games last year.

The 15 national games are awesome for me – since I’m in Maine – and enough to make me stop thinking about buying a CBB package from my cable company. Thanks again for coming back Aaron Gray. The national exposure can’t hurt recruiting either.

As we already knew, Pitt’s schedule is much tougher this season, thus creating a nightmare for guys like Doug Gottlieb who will need to find something new to write about the Panthers.

Pitt opens the season at West Point Nov. 12 against Western Michigan, which is sure to be both amazing and heart wrenching at the same time. I am going to look into buying tickets to that game, but I am sure they will be next to impossible to get.

Here’s my little schedule breakdown, highlighting some of the big games (this is not an entire schedule):

Dec. 3 @ Auburn – First semi-tough road game (way earlier than the last few years)

Dec. 16 @ Wisconsin (ESPN) – First big test (comes a bit earlier this year).

Dec. 21 @ Okalahoma St. (ESPN2) – This is Pitt first huge test. State will have already been tested earlier in December in the Jimmy V. classic, where they open play against Syracuse, plus it’s on the road. Note: I had this as home at first. My mistake.

Jan 4 @ Syracuse (ESPN) – A little revenge perhaps.

Then there are three HUGE home games in eight days:

Jan 13 vs. Georgetown (ESPN College Gameday) – Big East regular season game of the year.

Jan 16 vs. UConn (ESPN2) – A down year for UConn? I’ll believe it when I see it.

Jan 21 vs. Marquette (CBS) – A budding rivalry continues.

After playing Louisville (ESPN), which I am not labeling as a big game because it is at home, making it a game Pitt really should win, Pitt has a bit of an anomaly:

Feb. 16 vs. Washington (ESPN) – I love this game. It boosts the non-con a bit later in the season, and get some the team some exposure to non-Big East basketball before heading into the NCAA Tournament. Pitt always gets caught off guard by officials and style of play once the Big East season ends and NCAA Tournament play begins, this game will help prevent that.

The end of the schedule is road heavy – three of the last four are on the road with the lone home game coming against Div. IAA West Virginia. I like having the road heavy bit come late, better then early in my eyes. I also like that Pitt faces tough teams like Georgetown and Marquette at home before having to face them on the road. Here are the final three road games:

Feb. 19 @ Seton Hall – Down year for the Pirates, but a possible trap game on the road. New coach Bobby Gonzalez will have them playing tough by this point in the season, and Seton Hall may be fighting for a post season spot, giving them a lot to play for.

Feb. 24 @ Georgetown (CBS) – Could decide the Big East regular season title and who gets the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament.

March 3 @ Marquette (ESPN) – A possible trap game to finish the regular season.

Oh, and the Final Four is scheduled for March 31-April 2. Mark your calendar.

We’ll get back to football soon, but there was other stuff in basketball worth mentioning. Thankfully, it isn’t like I’m posting this just to try and forget about football.

Nothing like the advantage of hosting recruits for a 1-A football game. It helped finish the job and get a commit out of Indiana.

Don’t talk to Gary McGhee about basketball-crazed Indiana, his home state. The 6-foot-10, 238-pound senior center from Anderson Highland High School has turned his thoughts elsewhere after giving Pitt a verbal commitment Sunday.

In doing so, the preseason all-state big man spurned offers from Indiana’s beloved Hoosiers, as well as Big Ten Conference rival Wisconsin.

…

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and assistant Orlando Antigua in recent weeks kept a close eye on McGhee, who attended the Pitt football team’s 38-13 victory over Virginia on Saturday night at Heinz Field.

“I was just impressed over how everybody is a family there,” McGhee said. “The players are close, the coaches are real cool. I just liked the whole day.”

McGhee said he’ll fit in at Pitt and he pointed to current star center Aaron Gray and his predecessor, Chris Taft, as examples of how big men with the Panthers can succeed.

Taft was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2006, and Gray, who turned down a chance to enter the NBA draft after his junior year, is expected to be a high first-round pick next year.

“I’ve seen how they turned Aarron and Chris into pros,” McGhee said. “I play with intensity and aggressiveness and I love to play defense and rebound.”

Gary McGee is listed as a 3-star recruit by both Scout.com and Rivals.com. Rivals has already slotted him as a top 150 player in the country (#123). They also consider him the 11th best Center prospect and 9th best prospect out of Indiana.

Pitt is now free to focus on DeJuan Blair at Schenley.

There was also a Q&A with Levance Fields.

Q: Was your performance at the end of last season a sign of things to come?

Fields: I definitely think it is. I’m not trying to be a big-time scorer. With all of the returning guys we have, my job is to get everyone involved. If my shot is falling I’ll look to score, but my main job is to get everyone involved.

…

Q: Will this year’s team make it to the Final Four?

Fields: I would love to say yes, but I’m going to stay humble. But I will say we have all the tools to get there. If everything goes right, we definitely can get to the Final Four.

Q: Which team from the Big East do you dislike the most?

Fields: I dislike all of them. But I would have to say St. John’s. They recruited me and it was between them and Pitt. I know a lot of people will say West Virginia, Syracuse or UConn. But St. John’s beat us last year and I’m mad about that.

St. John’s has always been a big thorn in the side for Pitt. He hedges a bit on what the team can do, but there are a lot that definitely think Pitt has the chance to pull it off.

Another reason why Pittsburgh will be favored to win the Big East Conference: the addition of swingman Mike Cook to Coach Jamie Dixon’s roster.

The 6-4 Cook averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists over 55 games during the 2003-05 seasons at East Carolina.

Tack on underrated (nationally) freshmen Gilbert Brown and Austin Wallace to a roster that includes the likes of Aaron Gray and Sam Young and it’s reasonable to believe that this will be the best Pitt team ever.

Pitt has another non-con game set up, it’s on the road and something of a head scratcher.

With sources confirming that Pittsburgh will play at Buffalo on Dec. 9, three Big East schools have now scheduled games in Western New York this season.

Big 4 fans may have to make a tough choice that night, as Niagara also plays host to St. John’s at the Gallagher Center. Syracuse, and Niagara Falls native Paul Harris, will meet Canisius on Nov. 25 at HSBC Arena.

UB, which hasn’t released a schedule yet, declined comment Saturday on whether Pittsburgh will be on it. But, according to multiple sources, the schools will announce as early as Monday that they have signed a contract to play a home-and-home series over the next two seasons.

The Panthers were 25-8 and advanced to the Big East title game last season. They return four starters, including Aaron Gray, a 7-foot, 275-pound center who was the Big East’s most improved player and is being touted by Pittsburgh as an all-America candidate.

Securing a home-and-home series with a Big East member is a coup for the Bulls. Pittsburgh initially wanted to play one game at either a neutral site or a larger venue such as HSBC Arena but UB insisted on playing its home game at Alumni Arena, sources said. The teams will meet next season at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh.

I’m going to chalk this up to Pitt trying to make this something of a recruiting swing in up-state NY or something.

The Citadel is getting $350,000 to come to Pittsburgh for the D1-AA patsy game that is now an annual event for Pitt.

“Why are we playing 12 games? Let’s not kid ourselves,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s not for the excitement of college football. It’s to make more money.”

For West Virginia and Pitt, one home game generates between $1.5 million and $2 million for the athletic department.

With eight members, the Big East is the smallest of the BCS leagues. Some years, Pitt has just three Big East home games. That means Long must set up five nonconference games every season — and at least three of them had better be at Heinz Field, to maximize the cash flow.

But to make money, Long must spend money.

“The bidding is more intense now,” Long said. “Price-gouging is out there. I would say that $300,000 is not exorbitant. In fact, for a lot of those I-AA schools, that’s the low end. Some schools with huge stadiums are really driving the market upward. For those with 50,000- and 60,000-seat stadiums, like ourselves, it’s hard to compete just because we can’t generate the same revenue.”

This isn’t anything new, but that is definitely sour grapes from AD Jeff Long. It’s not price gouging. It’s the marketplace.

Add a 12th game to make more money, the demand for the money-maker (i.e., easy home game, without a return trip) among BCS schools goes up. Ergo the price for such opponents go up. If schools are willing to pay the asking price, and they still make money then they aren’t paying an “unfair” price. What Long is complaining about is that the amount of money the Pitt Athletic Department is making from the game isn’t as high as it used to be when there wasn’t as much demand for the games and the prices were lower.

I doubt he’d accept claims from Pitt season ticket holders that they are being price gouged for having to pay the same face value price for a game against the Citadel as they do for the Backyard Brawl.

This season, Troy State will get $750,000 to play at Nebraska. Buffalo broke its contract to play West Virginia to accept a bigger payday from Auburn. To fill the open date, WVU gave a $450,000 deal to Eastern Washington.

Last year, Youngstown State got $250,000 to play Pitt at Heinz Field. YSU squeezed every dollar it could out of the game, busing to and from Pittsburgh on the day of the game to hold the line on travel expenses.

Next month, Youngstown State will face Penn State, its first Big Ten opponent. Curley lined up YSU — the Lions’ first I-AA foe since 1984 — after Louisiana Tech backed out of its contract with Penn State due to scheduling conflicts in the realigned Western Athletic Conference.

Youngstown State will receive $350,000 for the overnight trip to Happy Valley. YSU also announced it will open its 2007 and ’08 seasons against Ohio State in Columbus, and collect $650,000 for each game.

“The 12th game for Division I, obviously, has helped us,” Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo said. “We going to be smart about it. We’ve got to be able to make a dollar on it. It’s got to help our recruiting. And we try to keep it close, so our fans can get there.”

In a twist, Youngstown State, a I-AA program, also pays a smaller, local school for a game. In 11 days, the Penguins will open their season against Division II Slippery Rock.

Interesting in the story how Penn State won’t be taking advantage of the scheduling relationship with the MAC that the Big 11 has established because the MAC is insisting on getting a home game out of any arrangement. Good for them.

Then there’s this almost wonkish piece on the digitial video taping of practice and breaking down film for the players.

Palko is a game-film addict who runs down a checklist of things he reviews on film, from his footwork on five-step drops to whether he opens his stance at a 45-degree angle on throws or if his shoulders and hips are aligned to his intended target and if his eyes can fool a safety.

Pitt’s DVSport digital equipment allows video coordinator Chad Bogard to load the video onto its computer system and send it to coaches’ laptops the moment practice ends. The coaches break down the video and make their assessments before each position and team meeting.

“Whatever you see on the field happens in a split-second sometimes,” Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. “As coaches, we’re quick to always have an answer. I may scream at somebody for doing something wrong and I look at the tape and they did it right or vice versa.

“It’s made us a lot more efficient. We’re able now as coaches to go in and, within five minutes, take a 100-play game and make cutups so we know what we want. In the old days, we literally had to splice the film, where you had canister after canister after canister of cutups.”

The All-22 shots are especially helpful to the offensive and defensive linemen, who can see how they handled their assignments and whether they are working cohesively. They can zoom in on body parts to study their foot work or hand placement, essential parts of their technique.

It’s almost buried behind the fascination of the cameras being up on 60-feet and 40-feet cranes. The stuff that can be done with digital video is just tremendous. I know I only scratch the surface when I play with it at home. The stuff Pitt is using, from the cameras to the software is so advanced.

Crap. Looks like those of us not living in the Pittsburgh area will be on the road really early for the Michigan State game.

University of Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long announced today that Pitt’s Sept. 16 football game with Michigan State at Heinz Field, originally scheduled for 3:30 p.m., has been switched to noon.

“In our previous five seasons at Heinz Field, we had dealt with two scheduling conflicts,” Long said. “In each case, cooperation between all of the parties involved created a resolution that ensured an enjoyable experience for the fans attending games at both Heinz Field and PNC Park.

“Since May 31, when we learned that ABC had selected the Pitt-Michigan State game for a 3:30 p.m. broadcast, we have been working quietly and constructively with the network and the Big East Conference to find a resolution to the conflict this created with the Pirates’ scheduled game against the New York Mets that evening.

…

The Michigan State-Pitt game will be seen exclusively on select ABC affiliates in Michigan and Pennsylvania and in other parts of the nation on ESPN2 at noon as part of a regional telecast with the previously scheduled game between Boston College and BYU.

The good news for Pitt is that there will be no penalties that the athletic department needs to pay.

Long said the Big East Conference and its television partner, ABC/ESPN, will not penalize Pitt financially for moving the Michigan State game time. Long doesn’t expect the earlier kickoff time to hurt the Panthers at the gate.

In fact, he expressed confidence that Pitt could draw a wider television audience by playing opposite the Boston College-Brigham Young game on ESPN2 regional than going against Oklahoma-Oregon or Louisville-Miami at 3:30 p.m. on ABC regional.

“This was not a decision that was made to enhance our television,” Long said, “but, actually, as things worked out, this will result in a wider exposure for us.”

If there is any silver lining in this — and believe me, the prospect of rolling out of the house around 6 am on Saturday has me having a hard time seeing it — is that the multitude of top-flight college football games that you can now catch on TV.  Consider the possibilities of 3:30 — Miami-Louisville, Michigan-Notre Dame, and Auburn-LSU — and in the evening — Nebraska-USC and Florida-Tennessee — and see the good news.

Make no mistake, though, the Pitt Athletic Department screwed up and was lucky to not eat a big penalty. No one is buying AD Long’s claim that Pitt has been working quietly behind the scenes since the end of May. Long continued with the hind-quarter covering.

“This serves as good notice for us to put our heads together with the Pirates, with the Steelers, with the (Sports and Exhibition Authority), to make sure going forward our plans are more firm should we get to this point,” Long said. “The partnerships, from my point of view, have been strong, have been good. I think there’s a spirit that we’re going to work together. We have a sprit of cooperation and I’m thankful for that.”

Uh-huh.

Here’s a multiple shocker story. Did you know:

• BCS schools pay big money to very bad teams to come to the BCS school’s home stadium for a beating.
• That the patsy schools make a ton of money that funds the football program and a lot of the rest of their athletic department.
• That the price/demand keeps going up.
• That the addition of the 12th game in college football is all about making more money for schools.

Expect some variation of this story to appear multiple times each year. The first time I read a variation of this story was in the Wall Street Journal in 1998. The only thing new is the 12th game stuff.

For Pitt in the new century (Insider Subs.), at least.

The easy choice for Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was to take Florida International — a likely win — as a replacement opponent in the Aeropostale Classic New York and call the schedule official.

But Dixon is well aware that he has a Final Four-caliber team capable of playing anyone, anytime, so when South Carolina abruptly pulled out of the Dec. 21 event, leaving the Panthers scrambling for a nonconference game, Dixon didn’t waste time.

He waited about two days as Alabama, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State attempted to move games around to play the Panthers in New York as the undercard to Duke-Gonzaga in Madison Square Garden. Dixon was given a 6 p.m. deadline by the promoter on Friday. Florida International was a possible replacement — and with the Blue Devils-Zags main attraction, no one was too concerned over Pitt’s opponent. The money for the undercard was minimal (a contentious point for the Gamecocks), with the gate expected to be dominated by the Blue Devils and Bulldogs.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury actually worked it so he could move a game against the University of New Orleans in Jackson, Miss., but just when Stansbury had the deal worked out, he got word that the Panthers were out of the event.

Where will Pitt go instead? Oklahoma City.

Barring some sort of contractual hangup, Pitt, according to Dixon, will play against Oklahoma State in the All-College Tournament, an event Dixon was once the MVP of when he played at TCU, on Dec. 21. Oklahoma is scheduled to play Tulsa as part of the doubleheader at the Ford Center.

Ostensibly a “neutral court,” this is clearly a road game challenge for Pitt. That means Pitt will play on the road in Oklahoma City, at Auburn and at Wisconsin. In addition there are home games against Washington, FSU, Dayton, UMass, and a neutral court game against Western Michigan. Then there will be home games against Duquesne, Robert Morris and only a couple patsies. Season ticket holders will get their money’s worth this year.

And in Andy Katz’s preview of the top-50 Pitt comes in at #4.

What we like: We’ve heard from quite a few that this is too high for the Panthers. Well, they did get back a monster in the middle in Aaron Gray. He should be immovable at times in the post. The big secret, though, is in the rest of this squad. Big East coaches love Levon Kendall and Sam Young, two players that don’t get a ton of rep.

What concerns us: The heat will be on the perimeter to replace Carl Krauser‘s toughness and moxie. That means Ronald Ramon must be more verbal to ensure the Panthers meet these expectations.

Power-rating push: Coach Jamie Dixon didn’t shy away from big-time games this season, with a trip to Wisconsin, a game with Washington and potential pests UMass and Florida State on the slate.

As for the rest of the Big East and Pitt opponents:

Georgetown, #7

Wisconsin, #8

UConn, #14

Washington, #19

Marquette, #20

Syracuse, #21

Villanova, #23

Oklahoma St., #26

Louisville, #30

DePaul, #37

Florida St., #40

I don’t know off the top of my head if Pitt has played this challenging a non-con in the 20+ years it has been in the Big East.

Several little things to pass on and clear off the browser tabs.

Brian Walsh a Moon Junior and player on the AAU Pittsburgh J.O.T.S.  had a very good AAU summer tournament season. Before, it was expected that he might be a MAC/A-10 level recruit. It has led to more offers than initially expected. This now includes Pitt.

Walsh, a 6-4 1/2 guard, met with Pitt coach Jamie Dixon Wednesday and was offered a scholarship. In the past month-and-a-half, he also received scholarship offers from Duquesne, Memphis, Xavier, Penn State and Maryland is very interested.

Walsh opened college coaches’ eyes with his performance at the Reebok ABCD camp this summer in New Jersey.

“When I came back from a few camps, I just started getting calls,” Walsh said. “I was kind of blown away by the Pitt offer. They’re going to be one of the top five teams in the country this year. For coach Dixon to think I can play at that level, is really something.”

South Carolina is out as Pitt’s opponent at MSG on December 21. Alabama might be in if they can move another game (Insider subs.).

South Carolina abruptly pulled out of a Dec. 21 game against Pittsburgh in the Aeropostale Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Pitt-South Carolina game was supposed to be the undercard of the headline game of Gonzaga-Duke. Well, according to multiple sources, South Carolina withdrew from the game because the Gamecocks weren’t getting any kind of financial guarantee. South Carolina picked up a home game against Baylor in place of Pitt. Now MSG is scrambling to find a replacement for the Panthers. Alabama is trying to get NC State to move a date so the Tide can take South Carolina’s place. Virginia Tech was interested, but couldn’t move a game. MSG is sending out feelers to loads of teams. Pitt is still committed to the game, but is getting nervous about an open date. The Duke-Gonzaga game is on ESPN, while the Pitt game would be on ESPNU. Alabama needs another home game, but is willing to go to New York.

You get to play at MSG. You get national exposure. You get to play a pre-season top-10 (and in some cases -5) team on a neutral court. And the concern is over a financial guarantee? Riiiiggghhhtt.

Andy Katz also has the news on a nasty bit of legislation that is pissing off the membership of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Beginning Aug. 1, a school’s director of basketball operations (99 percent of the time a man, but there have been cases of a woman or two people holding the spot) will no longer be allowed to recruit. That means the person can’t write letters, make a call, pick up a player, nada, nothing, zilch.

“We were very opposed to this in the Big 12,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said Wednesday. “In the past, we’ve utilized the DOB with letter writing and that’s how you worked your way up. Usually, the DOB takes a second or third list and recruits off of that list.” The membership’s complaint is that if there were preexisting relationships with high school or AAU coaches, then how will the compliance staff be able to police whether the DOB is actually recruiting or just having a conversation with someone he knows?

Pitt will be in an interesting position since its new DOB, David Cox, has a lot of preexisting relationships with many players Pitt is now recruiting. Pitt is going to be very careful not to get tripped up by something like this.

While on the subject of dumb NCAA rulemaking, how about the re-institution of some dumb practice rules.

A lot of schools operating on the semester system begin classes in the next week or two, which means basketball players will be returning to campus. They’ll be allowed to head for the gym to work with their coaches. But heaven help them if the entire starting five winds up on the floor at once.

That would be a violation of NCAA bylaw 17.1.5.2.2.

This new rule declares Division I players starting school before September 15 can take part in their customary two hours per week of supervised skill work but says only four of them can be in the gym at any one time. After September 15, programs operate full-squad workouts.

A year ago there were no such restrictions. Skill workouts started when classes started, they ended when classes ended, and coaches could have as many players as they wanted in a session. That was the first year for this approach, which pleased college coaches, who had been stuck with the four-at-once limit since offseason workouts had been approved a decade earlier. Most hope one day to have year-round access to train their players, a scenario that would bring the United States in line with what young players around the world are allowed.

Why go back? Because schools that operate on the Quarter system — especially those in the PAC 10 — whined long and loud how unfair this was to them since they started later than September 15.

“The problem is, we had it right,” says Dayton coach Brian Gregory. “And we had an opportunity over the next year or two to show the NCAA we wouldn’t abuse that. And then you could go back in a year or two and say, ‘This really should be extended to year-round.’ ”

It’s only a few weeks we’re talking about here. It’s not a life-changing inconvenience. The NCAA was moving forward — slowly forward — on the issue of allowing coaches to make their players better. This should be among the foremost issues for college basketball coaches because it’s an essential part of improving the game in this country. It certainly should be of greater importance than petty, baseless, selfish concerns.

You expect coaches to risk any perceived disadvantage in the short-term? No matter how questionable?

Pitt’s screw-up with the schedule is starting to be noticed outside of Pittsburgh. What do you expect? It’s mid-August and training camp stories get repetitive after a while.

Someone in the Pitt athletic department needs a calendar.

The school scheduled its Sept. 16 game with Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. and the game was scheduled for ABC regional telecast. Heinz Field, though, shares parking spaces with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ home field. The contract calls for any football traffic to clear out two hours prior to a home game.

Yep, you guessed it. The Pirates have a game scheduled at 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 16. Pitt will probably have to reschedule the game for noon. Both conferences (Big East and Big Ten) plus Michigan State will expect someone — yep, you guessed it, Pitt — to make up the difference in television money lost because of the switch.

I’m guessing this is not the kind of story on Pitt the Athletic Department is hoping to see making news.

It really seems Pitt would be more interested in changing the time of the game rather than do anything about parking.

Further complicating the scenario is a new partnership between Pitt and the Pirates. PNC Park hosts the Panther Zone, site of pregame activities for Pitt students, for all home games. It also is the starting point for Pitt’s March to Victory and the Panther Prowl to Heinz Field.

…

Molin said he talked to Michigan State athletic officials yesterday to inform them of the conflict. He said Pitt would continue to look into changing the game time “until someone tells me for the record that it can’t happen.”

While alternative parking and using shuttle buses is mentioned, it doesn’t seem to be the desired option by the Pitt Athletic Department.

Now, the pressure is on the Pitt Athletic Department to solve this problem. They, essentially, are responsible for the mess. If I’m in the Pirates organization, though, I see a big opportunity here.

Let’s face it, the crowds haven’t really been there this season, despite the boost in season ticket sales tied to possibly getting tickets to attend the All-Star Game. More importantly, the other revenue streams — parking and concessions can not have been that good with all the no-shows. Plus, anyone with half a brain knows the team will draw really poorly next year after this season.

So, if I’m in the Pirates organization, I want Pitt to keep the 3:30 start time. I then want to let the Pirate ticketholders to be very aware of that. Highly recommend they come early to the ballpark to avoid the traffic congestion when the Pitt game would be expected to end around 6:30 or 7 pm. Do whatever it takes to get people coming to PNC Park early. A big boost for the concessions as people get to the park early and eat dinner, snack and drink there.

So, the Pirates should work with Pitt on some of the parking. Maybe let them have part of a lot. It wouldn’t hurt the Pirates in the PR area — which they always are in need of help — and it would make them appear altruistic while really serving their own finances quite handsomely.

Just a couple things that kind of blend lines.

Since it’s completely anti-climactic at this point, it’s not worth its own post. Still, something worth noting. The Big East does not permit transfers of football players from one school to another within the Big East — ever. Incredibly harsh. Once they practice with the BE team, that player is forever off-limits to other BE schools.
Over the weekend was the Big East sponsored honoring of Basketball HoF inductee Dave Gavitt, the force and first commish of the Big East. Coach Dixon was on hand for Pitt, along with AD Jeff Long. Also attending was former BC and disgraced OSU head coach Jim O’Brien — can’t even imagine how awkward any conversation with him was. Even more stunning than O’Brien being on hand was BC AD Gene DeFilippo.

Actually, maybe DeFilippo feels good about making an appearance as the stories appear to be that Syracuse and BC will start playing annually maybe in 2010, ’11, or ’12. Matt at Orange 44 is right that the rest of the BE teams (and their fans) probably won’t be too thrilled with that. The bright side, if Tom O’Brien is still on the sidelines for BC, neither will he.

If BC coach Tom O’Brien has anything to do with it, however, when BC moves on to the Atlantic Coast Conference, never shall the twain meet again. Even as nonconference opponents.

“No, I’m not going to play anybody in the Big East, for what we went through,” O’Brien said, when asked if he’d ever consider playing Syracuse in the future. “Absolutely not.”

If, when this goes down, someone needs to make sure to tape the press conference when O’Brien swallows hard and talks about looking forward to it. Then they need to send me a copy. Really, it’s an underrated joy to see a red-ass being forced to eat his words.

Now for the annoyance factor of a BE school playing BC in football in basketball. I would be more pissed if it was basketball. BC is going to run up huge travel costs because there are no local games other than patsies without the Big East schools. This is more of an issue in basketball than football. Still, I’m bothered.
While I understand the logic for Syracuse as Matt gives perfectly reasonable explanation. I don’t have to like it. I also think it’s just too soon. Inevitably there would be a thaw, but this is just too soon in my view.

The faux belt buckle logo is the symbol and shows the name of the new/old bowl that will be taking the place of the Houston Bowl. The bowl website, is very much under construction. According to the site, the Texas Bowl will be “A celebration of the culture, heritage and football tradition of the Lone Star State.” Lone Star Sports & Entertainment President Jamey Rootes had this to say about the bowl:

“We believe we will look back at today’s event as the launching pad for the next cherished Houston sports tradition.”

What were the previous ones?

A dumb screw-up by the Pitt Athletic Department.

Pitt may have to move the kickoff for its Sept. 16 home football game against Michigan State from 3:30 p.m. to noon because of poor planning by the athletic department. If that happens, and at this point it is a definite possibility, it likely would cost the school thousands of dollars in television revenue and penalties as well as from the dropoff in ticket sales generally associated with earlier kickoffs at Heinz Field.

The sticking point is a lack of available parking spots because the Pirates play host to the New York Mets at 7:05 that night and, by contract, are guaranteed to have a large number of the parking spaces in the lots between the two stadiums available to their customers at least two hours before the first pitch. That means many of the parking lots that Pitt sells pre-paid parking passes for will be locked when Pitt fans arrive for the football game earlier that day.

The MSU game is supposed to be a regional ABC game. If Pitt has to move the time, they’ll have to pay penalties to ABC and to Michigan State (and likely the Big 11). Not to mention losing a big telecast opportunity.

I’m not sure how many parking lots/spaces would be lost. I would guess there is actually enough parking in the area to accomodate, but Pitt would have to shift some people — and the lots in question are definitely some of the pricier lots — meaning better paying fans and a decent amount of anger from them for being moved somewhere much further away.

Part of the major problem was that Pitt never communicated with the Pirates over the time. The Pirates claim they only found out about the game time problem recently by reading the paper. Still, why do the Pirates need that much parking for a mid-September game when they are on pace for what, 100 losses? Normally, they’d have what? Maybe 15,000 actual people in attendance? Answer: it’s a giveaway night.

In the past, the Pirates have moved their games in order to accommodate scheduling conflicts with the Panthers. But the Pirates aren’t budging this time because 1. It is Jack Wilson Bobblehead Doll Night. 2. They expect a crowd in excess of 30,000 fans that night. 3. The conflict is Pitt’s fault.

Please note, it’s Jack Wilson. Not Craig Wilson who they gave away to the Yankees. Jack is still with the team. Really, hasn’t the whole bobblehead thing played itself out? People really crave these things? And if it’s such a primo item, why would they have planned it for a Saturday night game when they should expect to draw somewhat decently. Isn’t that the sort of giveaway you use for a weeknight game?

Right now, everyone is claiming that it is an impasse that doesn’t seem to be resolvable. My thought is that Pitt cut a deal with the Pirates for use of the parking lots. It’s going to cost Pitt, but it is very clear at the moment, that anything done is going to cost Pitt money.

It would appear the MAC is the biggest beneficiary/victim of ESPN no longer having the Mountain West to plug in during the fall on just about any day they need to fill program space. Miami (Ohio) has found itself playing on Sunday evening — it’s homecoming game this year. This is a Dayton/Cinci area story so the high school coaches aren’t worried. In fact it isn’t their problem.

To many, though, Sundays aren’t the main concern. The idea of playing on Friday night — the customary bastion of high school football — is the big worry.

And that concern continues, as 10 Friday-night college football games will appear on ESPN channels this season. The American Football Coaches Association has gone as far as taking an official stand against college football on Friday nights, said Grant Teaff, the AFCA executive director.

If his membership had its way, he said, college football would be restricted to Saturdays.

“I’ve not talked to one coach who really likes it,” Teaff said of non-Saturday games.

Steve Specht, who coached Cincinnati St. Xavier to the Division I state championship last season, isn’t bothered much by the University of Cincinnati hosting Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 8 for an ESPN2 audience. His team plays on Saturday, Sept. 9, against Lakewood St. Edward at Paul Brown Stadium.

For the teams playing on Friday night, though, Specht said there shouldn’t be concern in Cincinnati about falling attendance. “I honestly believe in this area people care a hell of a lot more about high school football than they do about college football,” Specht said. “I think it hurts the college game playing on Friday nights around here.”

You know, Cinci better do its best to make sure the Friday game is a sellout. You would hate to be outdrawn by a high school game.

While inching closer and closer to full-fledged Friday night football, some athletic directors are still drawing lines, they say. Pitt’s Jeff Long has given the Big East Conference his position on putting a Friday-night game at Heinz Field.

“My commitment has been we would not play a home game on a Friday night, and our conference has respected that,” said Long, a Kettering native. “The conference does have the ability to say, ‘You’re going to play on Friday night, and you’re going to play at home.’ But they haven’t done that.”

…Yet.

Sooner or later it will happen. The other BE football programs are not going to say, that Pitt should be given special treatment to never have to host a Friday night game. This year Cinci, UConn and USF will all host Friday night games. Last year Rutgers, Louisville and UConn hosted them. Sooner or later the Big East will go to Syracuse, WVU and Pitt and tell them it’s their turn.

As AD Long pointed out, the conference can compel them. So he can say that the school won’t but if ESPN and the Big East say otherwise, Pitt will find itself hosting a home game. Whether it’s “under protest” or not.

Friday games don’t just “compete” with the high schools, it hurts the hosting team with local recruits. They won’t be at the games or seeing the team play because they have their own games to play that night. It’s one less opportunity to get them to see a game.

While Pitt won’t release it’s non-con b-ball schedule until all the contracts are signed and the dates are assured, other schools keep doing so. Dayton released its non-con schedule and confirms they play at the Pete on Saturday, December 23.

Pitt’s decision to play a much more challenging non-con continues to be noticed and praised — even as the past cupcake schedules are reviled.

The non-league schedules assembled by many BCS programs tend to include more creampuffs than carnivores.

Among the more egregious offenders in this department over the past several seasons has been Pittsburgh. Since ascending to national prominence under Ben Howland during the early 2000s, the Panthers have played a vast majority of their non-conference contests within the friendly confines of the Petersen Events Center, where they have enjoyed a considerable home-court advantage against largely inferior competition. (Before a memorable upset at the hands of Bucknell in Jan. 2005, the Panthers had won 48 consecutive OOC games on their home court.)

Last year’s team was no exception. The Panthers didn’t lose a game until Jan. 21, starting the season with 15 consecutive wins. But an out-of-conference strength of schedule that ranked No. 227 out of 334 elicited questions from a number of pundits — and not until the Panthers started recording scalps against Big East competition were the naysayers silenced.

If early reports are any indicaton, this kind of scheduling could be history in Pittsburgh. Though the non-league slate has yet to be finalized, it appears Jamie Dixon will test his club with one of the tougher OOC schedules in Division I.

The Panthers have a signed an agreement to play a home-and-home with Washington. The Huskies will travel to the Steel City on Feb. 17 and Dixon’s side will return the trip during the 2007-08 season.

Pitt will not confirm its non-conference opponents until all of the individual contracts are signed, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported a number of the other opponents the Panthers appear to have secured. The list includes perennial dancer Wisconsin and back-to-back NIT champion South Carolina, along with NCAA hopefuls Dayton, Florida State and Massachusetts.

Is it the same kind of uncompromising baptism-by-fire undergone by schools like Gonzaga or Temple? Maybe not. But it’s a welcome change in philosophy for a program whose confection-laced schedules had become the target of perennial criticism.

It will probably take Pitt a few years before they live down the sheer badness of their recent non-cons.