So, yes, Lindy’s came out yesterday. Pitt’s Athletic Department was ready. Not surprising. They receive advanced copies of these preview guides for a reason.
That helps in getting out the press release the same day as the newstand sales begin.
The Pitt football team will feature two of the nation’s finest players this season according to Lindy’s 2008 College Football Preview.
Senior linebacker Scott McKillop has been named a first team All-American by Lindy’s, while sophomore tailback LeSean McCoy was named a second team All-American. McCoy additionally was named the Big East’s Offensive Player of the Year, while incoming freshman receiver and Aliquippa High product Jonathan Baldwin was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year by the magazine.
In its preseason Top 25, Lindy’s rated Pitt No. 23 and wrote, “Given how strong the defense should be, if the offense comes together quickly, the Panthers could challenge for the Big East title.”
What they don’t mention in the press release was the overall theme on Pitt. It is pretty much summed up in their capsule take in listing the top 25. For Pitt:
OUR CALL: No excuses. No excuses for anything less than a 4-0 start. No excuses for not going to a bowl. No excuses for nothing less than a full-hearted effort at the Big East title. The pressure is on Wannstedt.
As much as there is a lot of national, positive press for Pitt. A lot of “darkhorse” tags being put on this team. There is still the question of whether there will be a payoff.
To me, that is not at all unfair. I think we can expect to see a lot of that theme in the previews as the counter-balance to the expectations being put on this team.
The recruiting has been almost everything that could be hoped to see. The adjustments to the college game from the pros is long past. The development of depth and a team has progressed. All the injuries from last year are over. There was even a significant shake-up to the coaching staff with the DC and 3 assistants taking new jobs. It is time to start actually winning the games.
I agree that these pre-season assessments–as described (at least in overall scope–perhaps not re: unit specifics)– are probably fair. Had Pitt actually won the number of games they should/would have last season W/O the QB issues following Stull’s injury then we would have a right to complain that Pitt was being underrated in the pre-season mags by generally being rated in the #21-#25 range.
On the other hand, there certainly is room for much optimism since this team should/could be better even than what last year’s team could/would have been w/o the QB issues and the other injury problems. Will that happen? We will have to wait and see? But, I am personally hopeful that Pitt will take the first big step this year towards eventually becoming in the BE what Miami once was–the leagues perennial most dominant team and a frequent legit contender for the MNC.
If you have a Barnes & Nobles bookstore near you, you should be able to stop in there in a few weeks and take your pick of whatever season preview magazines you want. They usually carry at least the four bigger ones – Phil Steele, Athlon, Lindy’s and Street & Smith’s.
And obviously with S&S being bought out, that may now become the Sporting News’s one (I always liked S&S because they get a little more in depth with the lower-level schools and the high school stuff…hopefully that doesn’t change much).
I love college football season preview magazine season.
I’m a little surprised at how highly rated they had the Mountaineers, but I suppose they have as many questions about their defense as we have about our O-line.