Bradley Wanamaker got press time this past week (if you take a look at the press release for the Buffalo game, you will see a link to a media appearance video for Wanamaker). That of course leads to an article on him.

“The transition from shooting guard to point guard is pretty good so far,” Wanamaker said. “Fifteen assists ain’t bad. I’ll just try to keep it up.”

Despite averaging only 12.8 minutes per game, Wanamaker is second on the team in assists (15). His eight assists against Houston Baptist in the opener were the most in a freshman debut at Pitt since Sean Miller two decades ago. Wanamaker has six turnovers for a respectable 2.5-to-1 ratio.

With freshman center DeJuan Blair’s memorable debut, Wanamaker’s strong November has been a bit overshadowed. Coach Jamie Dixon is taking notice.

“He is doing a great job,” Dixon said. “He really makes good decisions. He’s a great passer and has a great feel and he gets to the basket.”

Of course, Coach Dixon does know how to tweak him a bit.

“He thinks he’s a really good defender,” Dixon said. “As with all freshmen, they think a steal counts for 12 points, and the one (basket) they gave up doesn’t count for any.”

Wanamaker is going to be very versatile as he learns — at a minimum — back-up point guard duties. Even if Jordan Gibbs or Travon Woodall eventually succeed Fields as the starting PG.

Speaking of the new recruiting class, Pitt has all four letter of intents in hand, so the press release announcing the class is out. Jordan Ashton Gibbs, Travon Woodall, Nasir Robinson and Dwight Miller.

Don’t forget about the Buffalo game tomorrow (PDF). That one will be on All-Access web broadcast.

Well, for those of you thinking Pitt is always underrated, this preview of a top-25 will make you feel good. For those feeling that this is just asking for bad things to happen, well I understand.

10. Pittsburgh Panthers (29-8)

The Ben Howland/Jamie Dixon era has made Pittsburgh perhaps the most consistent team in college basketball. And they’re only improving. Freshmen DeJuan Blair and Bradley Wanamaker headline the best recruiting class of the era, and the returnees have a lot of potential. Blair, a center, and forward Sam Young will take on starring roles. Young is explosive, Blair is steady and strong. Senior guard Levance Fields is the chemistry guy and gutsy defender. Together, they give the Panthers the type of leadership and skill that could push the team beyond the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1974 (when there were only 25 teams invited to the Big Dance).

…

OVERRATED: Louisville | UNDERRATED: Pittsburgh

Admittedly, I have a bit of an advantage over a number of publications’ preview specials in that I have seen a little bit of the season already. Still, Louisville is not a top 10 team, yet some are claiming they are a top five team. I’m not sold that Derrick Caracter has the fitness or mentality to play big minutes consistently. And without David Padgett, Caracter will need to. Juan Palacios would help, but he can’t stay healthy either and is out till at least December. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh makes the Sweet Sixteen seemingly every year these days. So why is it that no one expects anything big from them? Jamie Dixon is a really great coach, the system works, and Sam Young and Dejuan Blair are two of the best players ever to come to Pitt.

Everyone wants their team to play in the non-con tournaments in November and December. Afterall, national media exposure is a good thing. Pitt fans are no exception. the disadvantage for Pitt is that the marquee teams and coaches in the Big East still carry a lot of weight. That limits Pitt’s opportunities.

The recruiting classes in 2008 does not have the talent as 2007 offered. Pitt finds itself ranked somewhere in the middle of the Big East, yet not highly ranked nationally. Yet, last season Pitt was somewhere in the middle of the pack in the Big East, but ranked nationally.

Point guard Travon Woodall (5-11, 185), shooting guard Ashton Gibbs (6-2, 190) and forward Dwight Miller (6-8, 220) are unranked at this time. Rivals ranked Pitt’s class as No. 8 in the Big East behind the likes of Rutgers and Cincinnati.

“I would term it solid,” said Jerry Meyer, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals. “There is no star power in this class. There are no difference-makers. This is not a great class. But I think this is a good class.”

The recruiting class from a year ago was No. 6 in the Big East and ranked No. 26 in the country by Rivals. That lofty ranking was due in large part to Dixon getting DeJuan Blair and Brad Wanamaker, both top-100 players, to come on board.

This whole 2008 recruiting class seems like a “nuts-and-bolts” type class. And I mean this for both Pitt and on a national level. There just aren’t that many difference maker players for next year. A lot of potential sleepers and surprises, but mainly players that will contribute a little in their first year and develop down the road.

First the good, talking about the top freshmen (Insider subs.).

3. LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh
McCoy gets the nod as the highest-rated true freshman on this list. He also is the leading freshman rusher in the country right now, gaining 118.3 yards per game on the ground. The 19-year-old McCoy spent a post-grad year at Milford Academy, where he rescinded his initial commitment to Miami and turned down offers to Florida and Virginia Tech in favor of Pittsburgh. Quite a catch for coach Dave Wannstedt and his staff. The trick now is to surround McCoy with a better supporting cast.

It doesn’t take much time watching McCoy on film to realize he’s the real deal. He’s an instinctive runner with the burst to turn the corner and the power to push the pile. He also has shown great versatility with 23 catches on the season. Before his days in Pittsburgh are done, McCoy’s name should be mentioned among the school’s other great runners such as Tony Dorsett, Craig Heyward and Curtis Martin.

Then there is this piece from his hometown paper. Talking a bit about the adversity after the Louisville game.

It was a new experience for McCoy. Never in his football life ­— not in high school, not in any game he could think of ­— had he fumbled at such a crucial moment. He had faced adversity before — his McDevitt career ended with an ankle injury in the waning minutes of a game with archrival Harrisburg High — but this fumble was on a national stage.

“I was sick,’’ he said. “I couldn’t move. Couldn’t look at anybody in the face. Couldn’t leave the room.’’ Worse, the game had been televised. “That was the biggest thing — to do that in college, on national TV,’’ he said.

After the game, McCoy didn’t remove his uniform for some time. His despondency lasted for days. “Let’s learn from it. Let’s react the right way,’’ Wannstedt told him.

Others tried to cheer him up. “The best always have bumps in the road,’’ Bostick said. “It’s how you deal with it.’’

Six days later, McCoy showed up at Pitt’s practice facility, a new complex along the Monongahela River built on the site of a demolished steel mill, and his coaches told him, “Don’t worry about it.’’ His mood changed. “Nobody was really worried about it except me,’’ McCoy said. “I just let it go.’’

A common theme for both McCoy and Bostick seems to be how hard they are on themselves and their expectations.

That said, just like there seems to be a bit of open competition for the QB spot,  there seems to be a bit of a threat to McCoy starting and playing time depending on how he takes care of the ball.

Running backs coach David Walker said yesterday that talented freshman LeSean McCoy has to do a better job of securing the football when he runs or he’ll lose playing time. McCoy has fumbled five times in the past six games and the Panthers have lost three of them. Two of the lost fumbles have come at crucial times in close losses over the past three weeks.

…

Walker, who was a standout running back at Syracuse, also doesn’t buy the rationalization that McCoy has fumbled in situations when he was trying to make extra yards. He said the most important thing for any running back is to hold on to the football.

“Maybe it is a little bit of him trying to do too much, but he’ll learn that holding the ball is more important than the extra inch you are trying to get at that particular juncture of the play,” Walker said.

“If we’re trying to make a play and the ball is on the goal line and you are trying to extend the ball, that’s another issue, but if you have the first down and the ball is inside the 25 you just have to know when to say when.”

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt attempted to soften Walker’s stance a little bit when he was asked about McCoy’s fumbles but agreed that it could become a problem.

I admit, it seems like a stretch considering how offensively challenged Pitt this season, but the message makes sense. Also promising is that the coaches seem to be of the opinion that a little public chastisement is something McCoy can handle and respond well to reading.

I’m leaving to visit family for Thanksgiving today, so there’s a good chance of not checking back in until late or tomorrow. Posting will still be happening, but I’m hoping the conversations here are a lot mellower than last year.

Sam Young was named Big East Player of the Week. He’s the first Pitt player to get the nod in over two years.

Seth Davis at SI.com had a bunch of national nuggets/observations in this article.

If you’re a Pitt fan, you’ve got to love this start by junior forward Sam Young (team-leading 19.3 ppg, 9.0 rebounds in the first three games). My buddy Pete Gillen is looking pretty smart right now for picking Pittsburgh as his darkhorse team to make it to San Antonio.

Gillen could arguably be considered biased since his former top assistant — Tom Herrion — is now a Pitt assistant. Just saying.

Dwight Miller, originally was going to wait until the spring to make a decision on where to attend. He changed his mind and signed with Pitt to complete the 4-man signing class.

A native of the Bahamas, Miller has been playing organized basketball for only three years. He played his first two seasons at Westbury Christian in Houston and transferred this fall to St. Pius X, a perennial power in Texas.

Miller, who has worked with former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon, became a prospect with a strong summer season and got on the radar of some other major programs.

Dixon is not able to speak about recruits until Pitt has received their letters of intent. All four letters should be in Pitt’s possession today, at which time Dixon will discuss his class in depth. Tomorrow marks the end of the week-long fall signing period.

Here’s the obligatory recruiting quote about getting a good find.

The high-upside Miller, who visited Pitt on Nov. 4, picked the Panthers over Rutgers and St. John’s.

“I think that’s a great get,” said Hoopscoop.com editor Clark Francis, who has Miller ranked No. 65 in the Class of 2008.

I’m a little torn on this. Not sure Pitt needs another project, but he did seem the best player available. Of course, banking the scholarship makes little sense this year, since Pitt will have 4 to offer for the 2009 class. So I’ll shut up.
While Pitt has been off for a while and will continue until Friday, of course they have continued practicing hard.

Personally, I found myself reading and re-reading this today.

Pitt’s 20-16 loss Saturday to Rutgers was very much like the Panthers’ entire season — they played hard, but in the end they just didn’t make enough plays to come out ahead.

But close losses have become the norm for the Panthers (4-6, 2-3 Big East) under coach Dave Wannstedt as the team easily could be 7-3 had they just made a few plays.

As the story notes, that is the story each season under Wannstedt. Falling just short in a game here and a game there.

McGlynn is correct, the Panthers have had some tough-luck losses, including three games in which they had the ball inside the opponents’ 5 with less than a minute to play and a chance to either tie or win. But the bottom line is good teams find ways to make enough plays to win games, and Pitt has not done that.

That, however, isn’t much different than the previous two seasons under Wannstedt. Pitt needs to find a way to make plays in crucial situations.

I don’t buy into “luck” good or bad as the reason for this. Players, coaches and teams make their own luck. Relying on the other team to make the mistakes is a passive and losing approach. It also leaves no margin for error.

Now, with only a couple games left, the season is now about next year, so maybe, possibly there will be line-up changes. Call me cynical, but Coach Wannstedt has said such things all season but has been very unwilling to do much.

Failing to “get the job done” is a point Wannstedt emphasized Saturday.

That’s the main reason he benched two key players — quarterback Pat Bostick and cornerback Kennard Cox — in the Rutgers game and likely will shake up the lineup for the final two weeks. He also will spend an offseason making some moves with his coaching staff as well as changing some personnel as the pressure to replace “what-ifs” with “wins” next year will be enormous.

Frankly, the only “pressure” on him will be from the ticket office with renewal and sales of season tickets. If the idea of this year was to build to 2008, then it will be a hard sell to all but the die-hards (who likely already have tickets if they live close enough), that there was actually progress. The record — and the scores of the game — sure won’t convince many.

I haven’t given up on Wannstedt as coach of Pitt yet. At the same time, he hasn’t done much to make me believe in what he does with the team. Yes he is recruiting well, but so little has been done with it.

2008 looms larger and larger. 7-5 won’t be acceptable. I’m not saying Big East title, but there has to be more than rhetoric and a bunch of stars next to the recruits. There needs to be tangible evidence that the team is approaching this alleged next level.

Really not sure what I feel like saying about the Rutgers game. I’m more of the opinion of McKillop.

“You can’t put the game in the referee’s hands,” middle linebacker Scott McKillop said. “You’ve got to take care of the game yourself. It can’t come down to the last second.”

and McGlynn and Wannstedt.

Pitt offensive tackle Mike McGlynn added, “It’s a disappointing call, but, like coach Wannstedt said, we had so many opportunities to win that game. It doesn’t come down to just one play.”

As Pitt is assured of another losing season versus 1-A opponents one of Pitt’s recruiting targets — Tight End Hubie Graham has chosen to verbal to Illinois. He had made his official visit to Illinois on a night they lost to Michigan, but he got the LeSean McCoy treatment.

His warm reception from the sellout crowd of 57,078 and the fact that the Fighting Illini played without a tight end because of injuries helped Graham make his decision.

“I’m thrilled,” Graham said. “When I was in the airport the fans knew who I was. The student section chanted my name at the game. All that stuff felt great. They have a great fan base and great support.”

Actually building to a winning record and bowl game helps along with seeing the possibility of early playing time (and having the ball thrown his way).

Real world intrusions killed all hope of posting yesterday. Settling in for a game that I can’t help but have some hope for an upset.

12:02: Oh, no. Pitt is wearing their Georgia Tech tops. Why? Who? Someone is to blame for them. I need a name. Give me the name!

12:03: Meaningless stat. Pitt has lost the last two to Rutgers. Those were both night games. I’m thinking that the last time Pitt lost to Rutgers in a day game was back in ’98.

12:14: Guess Teel’s thumb is feeling better. Still, I can’t complain that Pitt is selling out to stop the run. I’d rather take a chance with Teel and the receivers than Rice.

Field goal is good.

3-0 Rutgers, 11:29 in the 1stQ.

12:20: Bostick hits Turner who fights for extra yards. Nice. Get’s Turner’s head in the game immediately as well as opening things up.

Turner should want this game. He is a Jersey boy.

12:21: Poor footwork by Bostick. on that 3d and 5 pass attempt.

Pooch punt fails miserably.

12:25: Wow. Gift interception to Kennard Cox. Britt had position, but let it go past him. Good return.

Pitt at the RU 23.

12:26: No shock that Rutgers will also sell out on the run.

12:28: FG for Pitt now. 33-yarder is good.

3-3, 6:39 in the 1st quarter.

12:33: Wow. A fumble! McKillop caused it. On a blitz? Ah, Jabu was back.

Under review? For what? To see if his arm was coming forward?

12:34: Howling takes it to the 9 yard line for 3 yards.

Munoz (OLB) for Rutgers is down after the tackle.

12:36: Smart dump-off to Howling. Damn. Just stopped short of the goal line.

1st and goal. Have to make this a 4 down attempt.

12:39: Offsides by RU on two straight plays as Pitt QB sneaks have been pitiful.

Oh, crap. what the hell was that? Lucky to be sacked rather than the turnover. Not sure how that can be reviewed.

Vangas stepped on Bostick’s foot as he pulled out.

12:41: Refs say McCoy was short. 3d and inches from the goal line.

Wow. Great stop by Rutgers. Hat right on McCoy to deny him. I’m impressed by that one.

12:44: Going for it after a TO.

Jump ball to Strong. Hey. It worked this time!! Grife. Now we will have to read in the post game by Wannstedt saying, “See, told you it works.”

10-3 Pitt, 2:14 in the 1st Q.

(more…)

The early signing period is underway. Nasir Robinson and Travon Woodall have both signed their letter of intents. Ashton Gibbs is expected to sign his very soon.

Both Robinson and Woodall are tough, defensive minded players.

Gilbert Brown was the subject of a couple stories. He is battling to stay healthy.

Brown is playing with a partially torn right labrum in his right shoulder sustained in the final exhibition game against Indiana (Pa.). Brown said he will play through the injury; Carl Krauser once played for a season with partially torn labrums in both shoulders.”My shoulder is fine,” Brown said. “I have no discomfort at all.”

Yeah. Of course. He also has to improve areas in his game to keep getting minutes. Things like rebounding, shooting and attacking the basket.

Dixon would like to see Brown drive to the basket more. His shooting percentage — 30.7 percent on 4-for-13 shooting — is down because nine of those attempts have come from behind the 3-point arc.”We talk to him about [driving to the basket] more because about 70 percent of his shots are 3s,” Dixon said. “You never want to have that. That’s not a good percentage, especially for a kid who is as athletic as he is. He needs to be getting offensive rebounds and putbacks and drives to the basket.”

USA Today had a Q&A with Coach Jamie Dixon.

On Sunday, you had eight guys play more than 15 minutes against Saint Louis. Is that something you’re planning for all season or were you just feeling the rotations out?We’ve always played about 10 guys and probably those other guys will play some more minutes. We’ve got a lot of good players and our depth has been a reason for our success and it will continue to be.

…

I came across a stat today that shows you are atop the list of winningest coaches (by winning percentage) in Big East history, ahead of guys named John Thompson, Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim. What’s it like to be mentioned with names like that?

It means that you had good players and you better keep getting good players. It’s pretty simple. I don’t try to make it any more complicated than it is. Those guys have good players and we’ve had good players and, you know, I’m fortunate to be at a great university and also fortunate to be coaching good players. We don’t want to change that formula.

…

When you’re talking to a recruit, what’s your main selling point?

You know, you’re talking about one of the best universities in the country and the No. 1 most-livable city in the country as it was voted again. So starting with that, we’ve got a pretty good sell. We’ve had a good basketball program here and we’ve been as good as anyone in the country. So we really put those out there first.

We’ve also had a history of guys developing and improving and that seems to be something that helps and keeps consistency in our program and is something that is talked about often. So I think that’s another good thing.

And then the other thing is we have a very high graduation rate. All our kids have been graduating at a very high level, as far as percentage-wise. It’s about getting guys to improve and getting guys to graduate. That’s really our two goals.

Interesting point from Ray Fittipaldo in a Q&A about playing in the middle undersized. Apparently Ontario Lett was 6’6″. Maybe memory makes him seem bigger. Or perhaps I am thinking of his overall bulk. He sure never seemed to be that undersized.

Dick Weiss of the NY Daily News and one of the better college basketball writers likes what he saw of Pitt so far.

…I’m already starting to wonder whether I have the Panthers ranked too low at 20 in our preseason poll.Pitt blistered Houston Baptist, 103-63, in the second half of a Hispanic Classic doubleheader at Fitzgerald Field House and DeJuan Blair, the energetic 6-7, 275-pound freshman who grew up just 200 yards away from campus and attended fabled Schenley High, had the Oakland Zoo — one of the best student sections in college basketball — rockin’, going off for 20 points and 14 rebounds. Blair shot 9 for 11 and reminded me an awful lot of Sam Clancy, the one-time Fifth Avenue star who was the last great true low post player to play at Pitt in the late 70’s.

Before the end of the season, we predict Blair and junior power forward Sam Young, who had 22 points, will have better numbers than Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall did on last year’s Sweet 16 team. They are perfect fits for Jamie Dixon’s up-tempo offense. Pitt did not shoot it that well from the outside, but if New York City guards Ronald Ramon and a slimmed-down Levance Fields heat up, this team can play with anyone in this league.

He corrected the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse mention in a later post.

Of course, lest we forget, there is an actual game tonight against Mississippi Valley State.

Stanford Speech, an all-conference senior guard, will lead Mississippi Valley State against the No. 19 Panthers at 7:30 p.m. at Petersen Events Center in the final game of the Hispanic College Fund Challenge.Speech is the top scorer for the Delta Devils (0-1) and a preseason first-team all-Southwestern Athletic Conference selection. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder also earned first-team honors last season for the SWAC’s regular-season champion.

…

Speech is Mississippi Valley’s main option. He took 120 more shots than anyone on the team last season. He is a 28.9 percent shooter from 3-point range, but he scored 23 points against Wright State – Pitt’s first-round NCAA opponent – and 28 against Grambling State.

Mississippi Valley State, a 3,100-student school best known for producing NFL Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, opened the season with a 97-63 loss to Ole Miss, third-year coach James Green’s alma mater. Speech scored eight points, shooting 4 for 12 from the field.

Ole Miss, picked to finish last in the SEC West, shot 60 percent from the field and went 13 of 26 from 3-point range.

Pitt will have a big size advantage underneath, as Mississippi Valley’s 6-10 senior center Larry Cox (foot) remains sidelined. The Delta Devils’ tallest starter is Eric Petty, a 6-6, 220-pound junior.

The game is an internet video feed via Pitt’s All-Access.

If Pitt is playing Rutgers, it must be time for the mentor-pupil stories.

Greg Schiano was a still-green, barely 30-year-old when Dave Wannstedt took a shot on him.

Wannstedt put a whole NFL position group under his charge a year later, and today, if the perpetually time-crunched Schiano happens upon some bonus chat time to call a buddy, “Dave,” the Rutgers coach said, “is one of them.”

Not that any of that means Schiano is going to tell Wannstedt who his starting quarterback will be Saturday.

“Nope,” Schiano affirmed with a wry smile and a promise that friendship won’t trump gamesmanship. Not this week.

Isn’t it interesting that Coach Wannstedt can also recognize young, ambitious coaching talent? Pitt position Coaches that are meeting with general approval include Brian Angelichio (TE) and Aubrey Hill (WR). Think maybe he should consider that approach a little more with the present staff?

As for the starting QB. It is expected that both Mike Teel and Jabu Lovelace will be playing. Teel will likely start, but expect plenty of Lovelace.

While Scarlet Knights starter Mike Teel is a pocket passer who ranks second in the Big East, backup Jabu Lovelace is a rushing threat who has gained more yards this season than any Pitt running back not named LeSean McCoy.

Teel has started every game this season, but pulled himself after the second series against Army last Friday because of a thumb injury. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was non-committal as to which quarterback will start when Pitt (4-5, 2-2) visits Rutgers (6-4, 2-3) at noon Saturday.

…

Lovelace, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior, could pose a more dangerous threat between the two. Consider: The only player to rush for 100 or more yards against the Panthers this season is Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, who had 122 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

When Lovelace is playing, Pitt has to fight through blocks to close the extra gap. But, without Teel, Rutgers loses a dimension of its offense in passes to game-breaking receivers Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt.

“When a quarterback is carrying the ball in that position, there’s not enough bodies,” Rhoads said. “You can’t put enough people in there, so somebody’s got to get off a block. You’ve got to disrupt something to make a play. When he’s in there, that’s what you’re concerned with. When Teel’s in there, you’re concerned with everything.”

Not enough bodies? When did Pitt start spotting the other team an extra player? That may explain some things.

Schiano, like Wannstedt is a big proponent of speed on defense. Unlike Wannstedt, however, Schiano likes aggressive blitzing schemes. Facing a freshman QB, expect plenty.

The Scarlet Knights under Greg Schiano play a defense that thrives on blitzing and a lot of movement by the linemen. So Bostick will be under fire.

But, in a sense, so will the Panthers as a whole. Pitt (4-5, 2-2) finds itself in a must-win situation if the Panthers want to go to a bowl game.

The Scarlet Knights rank No. 1 in NCAA Division I-A in pass defense (153.2 yards per game) and 13th in pass-efficiency defense (103.9 passer rating against) and average 2.5 sacks per game.

How well Bostick and the offensive line handles the Scarlet Knights’ pressure likely will determine the outcome. Pitt failed that test the past two years with Rutgers amassing 10 sacks and forcing four turnovers against Pitt in those games.

Pitt is of course planning to run the ball a lot. Shocking. Not exactly revealing a secret wrinkle in the offense.

“They are an attacking defense,” Bostick said. “And they do it out of a lot of different looks. It really jumps out how aggressive they are and their willingness to play that aggressively and to do certain things that many other teams aren’t very comfortable with doing.

“Some of the things they do are identifiable, but they give so many different looks and they will blitz from many different looks. We have to be able to get them blocked and then beat their man coverage. That’s not an easy thing to do.”

Bostick said the thing that has impressed him the most about the Scarlet Knights is they seem to play defense without fear and trust their blitz packages.

Rutgers is willing to risk the big play. They are also willing to gamble with blitzes versus runs. Counting on the speed up front to recover in such cases.

Don’t worry, the blog hasn’t abandoned football. We are still aware that there are a few games left in the season. You’ll excuse me if I don’t fantasize that Pitt will get to a bowl or even reach bowl eligibility. Rutgers, of course, is bowl eligible but wants to get beyond that point.

How successful this season ends will essentially revolve around Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh, and to a lesser extent the results of remaining Big East games. With the conference guaranteed five bowl bids, Rutgers remains in good shape to be playing in a warm climate in December.

A win over Pitt should put a lock on a happy ending. A loss would put all the pressure on the final game at Louisville, where the home team could also be playing for a bowl bid.

It’s unlikely the Big East will be sending anyone to the Gator Bowl this season.

If you thought one-win Notre Dame would have no effect on the bowl selections this year, think again. The lure of a recovering Fighting Irish team in 2008 or 2009 might convince the Gator Bowl to take 7-5 Texas Tech this season. Here’s how the Gator Bowl’s trick box works:

The Gator Bowl is in the second year of a four-year contract with the Big East and the Big 12. The Gator will take a team from the Big East in two seasons and a team from the Big 12 in two seasons (an ACC team will be on the other side of the bowl). Keep in mind that when Notre Dame does not make the BCS, it participates in the Big East’s bowls.

…

The Gator could return to the Big East, where the second pick could be Cincinnati or UConn, both of which are 8-2 and must play Syracuse and No. 6 West Virginia in the next two weeks. But if the Gator takes, say, a 9-3 Cincinnati, the bowl is committing itself to the Big 12 for the next two seasons and precluding itself from access to Notre Dame and the Big East.

If you think Notre Dame is in too deep a hole to get back to eight or nine wins in the next two years, then you take the Bearcats this season. If you want to keep your options open, you take the Red Raiders. Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett said he would consult with CBS, which televises the game, and make his decision.

WVU went last year, so the scenario makes sense. It is also better for Pitt. Even if Pitt were to run the table and go 7-5, there’s no way Pitt would be headed to the Gator this season.
Pitt doesn’t even know for sure which QB they will be facing from the Scarlet Knights.

Anyone who saw Mike Teel zipping the ball around at practice yesterday at Rutgers Stadium would have had a hard time knowing the Scarlet Knights’ starting quarterback was still bothered by a thumb injury to his throwing hand.

The tipoff, though, was obvious: Backup Jabu Lovelace took the majority of the repetitions, with Teel limited in his work.

But after pulling himself from last Friday’s game at Army after seven snaps because he couldn’t feel his thumb, Teel got off to an encouraging start for a week that leads into Saturday’s home finale against Pittsburgh.

Asked to put a percentage on his chances of starting against the Panthers, Teel listed it as “99.9.”

“I’d say it felt pretty good — the best it has felt in a while throwing-wise,” he said. “I was able to really throw the ball like I wanted to for the first time in a while.

“It’s just a matter of being smart with it and giving it rest when you can.”

Head coach Greg Schiano wasn’t ready to declare Teel healthy and ready to go just yet, however.

“He can’t do too much. It gets sore quickly,” he said. “He did a little bit. We’ll just play it by ear.”

So, it is likely that Pitt will get plenty of Jabu — a very mobile QB. The Rhoadsian kryptonite. The other kryptonite for Pitt’s defense — Ray Rice.

Rice eclipsed the century mark in the second half alone against Pitt last season, gaining 85 yards in one backbreaking drive while rushing for a career-high 225 yards in a 20-10 victory at Heinz Field.

And he’s only gotten better.

…

“He just torched us in the fourth quarter last year,” Pitt fifth-year senior defensive end Chris McKillop said. “He was just running people over. He’s tough to bring down. He runs the ball really hard. He comes at you just as hard in the fourth quarter as he does in the first quarter. He was running like someone stole something from his mother.”This season, Rice is running that way early. He is averaging 53.6 yards and 5.6 yards per carry in the first quarter, proving he can start just as strong as he can finish.

In the past two games between Rutgers and Pitt, Rice has 339 rushing yards (Insider subs.).

Of course, Pitt has had a bye week to prepare for Rutgers. To get healthy. Something that has, um, not been great for Pitt.

And extra time off hasn’t translated into better results in recent years. The Panthers are 2-4 in games when they have had more than a week to prepare for a game under Wannstedt. They had 10 days to prepare for Navy’s triple-option offense and ended up with a 48-45 double-overtime loss.

Last year, the Panthers had one true off week — after the Rutgers game — and came out and played one of their most lackluster games of the season in a 22-12 loss at South Florida. Wannstedt is obviously hoping that is not the case this week.

“I think you need to do enough full-speed work during the course of the week to stay sharp,” Wannstedt said about using the extra time wisely. “If you are working just against the scout team where the pace isn’t what it will be on Saturday, you might have a tendency to come out and start slow. We have it structured so that we have enough first-team vs. first-team [offense vs. defense] full-speed work to try and keep our edge that way.

“I do know we can’t afford to come out and start slow, we can’t afford to be flat and our players need to understand that. Coaches, players, everybody needs to understand the urgency of this game and come out and play as good as we can play.”

And for good measure, Coach Wannstedt feels that he will be ready to return to the sideline for this game.

Pittsburgh’s favorite pro hoops team, the one and only Pittsburgh Xplosion, have signed former Pitt star Carl Krauser. Krauser played over in Germany last year but will now experience “The X”, of which I wrote about at Mondesi’s House back in January.

Much of the story on the team’s website talks about Krauser’s accomplishments and how excited they are to have him.

“We are very happy and excited to have a guy of his caliber on our team,” head coach Carlos Knox said. “We are very excited to have him contribute both in the community and on the court.”

Krauser became the first Panther in school history to surpass 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists. For his career, Krauser finished ninth on the school’s all-time scoring list (1,642 points), fourth in assists (568), and eighth in steals (190). He averaged 13 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 126 games.

The Xplosion picked Krauser in the sixth round of the 2006 CBA College Draft. Teams own the CBA rights of their draft choices for two seasons.

Other former Panthers on the roster include Antonio Graves and John DeGroat. The season opener is Friday night at the Petersen Events Center. Be ready for Krauser mania — or maybe not.

Many of you know I’m a big fan of the more advanced numbers and statistics that are starting to permeate basketball. Especially those involving tempo and efficiency. Ken Pomeroy has been a guy I regularly cite and his stuff is often used by me during the season. He and John Gasaway formerly of Big Ten Wonk blog have gone to work for the people who do Baseball Prospectus to produce work stat-driven work in college basketball this season. The geek in me is very excited about this for this year and going forward.
Of course, just two of them trying to cover 340 teams means the previews ran right into the season. They only got to the Big East this week. Interesting to see that Pitt is 10th in the Big East in % of returning minutes — something that speaks to the experience of a team. Marquette, Louisville and G-town are 1, 3 and 5 in that.

As for the look at Pitt. There’s plenty, but here’s a snippet.

As mentioned above, 6’1″ senior Ronald Ramon has functioned as a highly efficient supporting player up to this point. While he turns the ball over a hair more often than you’d like from your spot-up shooter, uncanny accuracy from the floor has more than made up for that. With Gray gone, more possessions will now come Ramon’s way. The test will be how well he can sustain his efficiency while playing a more prominent role in the offense. Also available is Keith Benjamin, a 6’2″ senior.

There’s been talk this year about how a new-look no-Gray Panther team is going to run the floor and increase the tempo. It could happen, sure, but don’t bet the farm just yet. Dixon may let his foot off the brake enough for the pace to creep up a little from last year’s mark of 62 possessions per 40 minutes in-conference. (The were the slowest non-Georgetown team in the Big East.) Even so, this team isn’t going to look like North Carolina or Kansas any time soon.

Pitt this year could have the makings of an interesting test for its coach. The Howland/Dixon preference, doubtless, would be to continue life as an old-school pound-it-down-low kind of team. The makeup of this year’s personnel, however, would seem to suggest that a more perimeter-oriented approach may be in order. Coaches often talk about modifying their styles year-to-year, depending on the players on hand. Dixon will have to decide if this is one of those years.

I think Ramon’s numbers are going to suffer a bit as teams are less likely to play off of him this season.

Pitt, of course, is feeling a bit confident about its ability to play different styles in response to what defenses give them after the weekend.

The Panthers showed off their new transition game against Houston Baptist, which employs full-court pressure defense and a fastbreak offense. The Panthers won, 103-62, the most points scored by a Pitt team since a December 1995 game against Long Island.

The following day against North Carolina A&T, Pitt had to win the game with outside shooting. Aggies coach Jerry Eaves, noticing Pitt shot only 29 percent from 3-point range against Houston Baptist, packed it down against the Panthers’ post players and forced their 3-point shooters to win the game.

The Panthers responded by making 12 of 27 shots from behind the arc and won easily, 88-61.

Then came Saint Louis, which played at a completely different pace. The Billikens gave the Panthers all they could handle for 30 minutes before Pitt finally pulled away. Not only did Dixon get to see his team excel in a low-possession game with a defensive posture, he got to see how they performed in a close game under pressure.

“That’s why the coaches scheduled like this,” point guard Levance Fields said. “[Saint Louis] was a great opponent for this game. We weren’t able to get up and down like we would like, but it was something we knew we’d have to deal with throughout the season. We think we did very well doing it. We didn’t lose our heads or get mad. We knew we wouldn’t be able to get as many points as we did the first two games, so we had to settle down, execute plays better and step it up on defense. And that’s what we did.”

There’s still a lot of work to go on this, but it’s a good start. That could also apply to DeJuan Blair who keeps getting positive pub.

There are those who feel Blair’s combination of skill and toughness are reminiscent of forward Brian Shorter, one of the most ferocious scorers and rebounders in Pitt history. Others believe Blair compares favorably to Charles Smith, the Panthers’ all-time leading scorer and shot blocker.

…

“He’s gotten better each game and he’s continued to improve in every area,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “On defense, he’s has a way to go but he can score in the paint, he’s bright and he understands things.”

Memphis coach, John Calipari, was on Mike&Mike on ESPN radio this morning. He was being asked about the impact and effect on the game with freshmen players. Specifically his own in Derrick Rose. He made an interesting — and it is was as much about plugging the rest of his players as anything else I know — point about how it is as much about the media fascination. That all the stories after Memphis’ opening week were about Rose despite the outstanding play of players like Douglas-Roberts and Taggart.

There’s a bit of that going on right now with Blair. Young is getting a decent share as well, but there’s a lot going on with the team right now that should be noted. Wanamaker has come in and created 11 assists in only 3 games (and he only played a couple minutes on Sunday) to spelll and compliment Fields. Not to mention 4 steals. Mike Cook is quietly doing a lot of things early with some scoring, a 3-1 A/TO ratio and rebounding.

It will be curious to see how Benjamin actually fits into the rotation as the season progresses. In the faster tempo, attacking style I could actually see him getting minutes at the expense of Ramon.

Definite bemusement by a Duquesne fan looking for optimism.

I love it. A Duquesne fan looking a few games ahead to Pitt. In seasons past this would have been bad form because the Dukes would go out and lose at home to Lafayette or some team like that before Pitt. But now that Ron Everhart actually has some talented players, it’s kind of fun to take a peek ahead to this game.

Haven’t really thought much about it since it doesn’t happen until early December. The Dukes will be better, but not even better than St. Louis at this point.

LeSean McCoy got a little attention out in Philly in the Daily News’ “Spotlight.”

He’s the nation’s most productive first-year running back, having gained 1,065 yards on 198 carries. He’s the Panthers’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Kevan Barlow (1,167) in 2000. And the first Pitt freshman to do it since Curvin Richards (1,228) in 1988. The only other was some guy named Tony Dorsett (1,686) in 1973.

Of course, part of what makes what McCoy is doing so special is that he is doing it with everyone fully aware of what’s coming.

All of which has led to opposing defense lining up with eight and sometimes nine men near the line of scrimmage in an effort to stop the run. Still, McCoy has rushed for more than 100 yards in four consecutive games and has surpassed 1,000 yards for the season.

…

He’s doing it without the benefit of a threat of a passing game, behind an offensive that is generously described by some as inconsistent and against defenses that are designed to shut him down.

Of course, a couple days later there was a softening towards the description of the O-line.

Despite facing defenses stacked to stop the run, the Panthers are running the ball even better this season. That’s a credit to a change in the players’ mind-set, an improved offensive line and, most important, the arrival of freshman tailback LeSean McCoy, the Panthers’ first 1,000-yard rusher since 2000.

“We are definitely making strides in that area,” Wannstedt said. “And what I like is that we are starting to zero in on a half dozen plays that our players are starting to believe in. If you ask our offensive line, they would say ‘run this play’ or ‘run that play,’ because they are starting to enjoy the mentality of a tough, run-orientated offense. And as we start throwing the ball better we’ll start reaping some of the benefits of running the ball well.

“As you run the ball well, all of a sudden you start hitting those play-action passes, but we really haven’t gotten to that point yet. But I think to a man in here, they understand what we are doing, why we are doing it and they believe in it.”

I’m going with the former description rather than the latter. The inability to get any push against a horrible D-line like Syracuse’s was the final embarrassment. It can’t always be that the opposing team just happened to have a good game.

Thanks, Dennis for the draft. Here’s what it looks like at the moment after I hacked at it.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	—
2	Oregon	—
3	West Virginia	1
4	Kansas	1
5	Oklahoma	1
6	Missouri	1
7	Southern Cal	1
8	Ohio State	5
9	Georgia	3
10	Arizona State	—
11	Virginia Tech	7
12	Texas	4
13	Florida	2
14	Hawaii	—
15	Virginia	5
16	Tennessee	5
17	Boston College	8
18	Clemson	4
19	Auburn	6
20	Cincinnati	4
21	Illinois	5
22	Connecticut	11
23	Boise State	—
24	Wisconsin	2
25	Brigham Young	1

Honestly, I really like Oregon and want to put them #1, but I don’t trust them. They’ve proven me wrong too many times in prior years. Besides. Being #1 seems to be an invite to disaster. Well, just being in the top-5 seems to fit that bill this year.

The bottom half of the poll is getting ridiculous.  I keep looking at teams (Texas, VT, Virginia…) and muttering, “that’s too high,” but there’s no one to put ahead of them. I pulled the plug on Michigan, and if someone can really make a case on booting Auburn (4 losses and in the top-20, that’s a problem) I’m ready to listen.