Pitt has it’s latest press release trumpeting its place in one of the college football preview magazines.

Reflective of Pitt football’s elevated national reputation, the Panthers are well represented in Lindy’s 2005 college football annual, which recently hit area newsstands.

Junior receiver Greg Lee (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain) was named a Lindy’s All-American (second team) and the nation’s No. 4 wideout overall. Junior quarterback Tyler Palko (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year, while junior linebacker H.B. Blades (Plantation, Fla./Plantation) was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Blades was named the nation’s No. 5 outside linebacker, while Palko was listed as the country’s No. 9 quarterback. Other Panthers who received top 10 national positional rankings included senior Bernard “Josh” Lay (No. 9 cornerback) and junior Adam Graessle (No. 10 punter).

As a team, Pitt was ranked 19th nationally and second in the Big East.

By some luck, I had been in a bookstore late last week and saw some of the preview magazines. Unfortunately, in Ohio, it’s almost all Big 11 preview stuff, so I didn’t know how they ranked the players in the Big East.

The Pitt preview was in there since they were in the top-25. In the section on wide receivers, the feature story was on Greg Lee. He’s going to have a lot of attention this year. It’s worth noting that the Lee story and Pitt’s preview were both written by Paul Zeise the Post-Gazette’s Pitt football beat writer.

Lindy’s has also begun to follow Athlon’s lead in providing a cheesecake section. Several pages devoted to those who do their best to raise our, um, spirit during the game. Lindy’s, though, is lousy about putting anything online.

Unlike Athlon. Athlon’s ranked Pitt #23, and released some tidbits earlier. Again, stuck looking only at the Big 11 Regional issue (I’m guessing the national issue will make it out here in July or August). The issue also had a “Players Forum” of Q&A. One of the players was Tyler Palko.

The issue predicted Pitt for a minimum of 8 wins. They expect 1 loss (Louisville) and 2 games that are toss-ups (ND and Nebraska).

The final preview (again a damn Big 11 regional) was from The Sporting News. They place Pitt at #29. The only things worth noting were under the topics of “Clutch Players” they ranked Palko #1 for “Best QB in a 2 minute Drill” and Lee #1 under “Best deep threat.”

I’ll try to have some thoughts on the CollegeFootballNews.com preview (hat tip Kohberger) later.