The AP Writers Poll is out, and no surprise Pitt is #1.
“I think it means a lot to our fans and our city and it means a lot to our university, much more so than to me and our players,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said Monday. “But it is part of the reason why we play and work so hard so I am glad for them.”
The Panthers have a lot of familiar names in the Top 25 with them as they are one of a record nine Big East teams in the poll.
The 16-team league had a record eight schools ranked for three weeks earlier in the season, but the return of Marquette and the first appearance of West Virginia made it nine Big East teams.
“I know I said a couple of times when people mentioned that we didn’t play any ranked teams on our nonconference schedule that it’s hard to schedule any when a third and now more than a third are in our conference,” Dixon said, laughing. “I think it’s a good thing. People talk about how hard it is but we knew it was that way when we were signing up for it. You want to play against the best and we’ll have that opportunity a lot.”
The Panthers opened Big East play this week with road wins over Rutgers and Georgetown. They won’t play again until hosting St. John’s on Sunday and Dixon doesn’t think all that time with a No. 1 ranking will affect his players.
“We’ve talked about different things from the beginning of the year and how you can either use things as motivation or let them become a distraction and this is one of those situations that’s come up,” Dixon said. “We need to use this to make us better and it starts today at practice.”
That’s a solid talking point on scheduling teams. Jeff Goodman is sold on it.
The awesome Pollspeak has the rundown on AP Voters. The two voters who put Pitt at #2 and UNC at #1 are from Peoria and Dallas. Disturbingly, where they put Pitt, could be considered their more defensible decision. How about not only keeping Louisville in the poll but a spot ahead of Minnesota who beat the Cards. Keeping Memphis ranked. Both had Georgetown below UConn. Heck, how about putting Illinois a couple spots ahead of Michigan right after Michigan beat the Illini? I’m certain both voters put in their ballots before the Arizona State-Cal game last night, which I is borderline since the game started 9pm central for them.
Here’s the Pitt press release with handy charts suitable for framing.
Went to HS w. Mickey Martin and followed Pitt BB since 1968. Remember when David Thompson and NC State beat us in the NCAA’s. Cannot tell you how many long nights at the field house I spent before we got good. I am so damn proud of this team and of coach Dixon.
I know we will probably not go undefeated and end up at #1, but this is a huge deal to me and many Pitt fans.
Having said that, I cannot share with all of you how much Coach Dixon has grown and learned in his job. He has always been calm and pushed many of the right buttons but he seems to now have a sense of destiny when he coaches. The senior experience on this team is something no one else has this year. Sam Young is that NBA prospect that other teams kill us with in the NCAA’s.
This is a GREAT TEAM….enjoy what this year brings….HTP!!!
But in the meantime, get the articles, rankings, pictures and frame it all. It’s great to be a Pitt fan right now.
If I’m Dixon, I put up a sign in the locker room that says “Expect to be #1 and play like it” Hopefully they don’t come out against St. John’s and lay an egg. Alert Erotica and Blush that they’re coming.
IMO the only way we get a new QB coach is to get a new OC as on most college teams they are one and the same.
What I find interesting about the Press Conference are two things.
1) That DW made a point to not only say that Stull is QB 1 going into the Spring Game , but – for the first time in memory – is specific about saying that the other two QBs will get a lot of work at that spot. In the past he’s just thrown out a generic “it’ll be wide open”, but this time I’ve a feeling he’s really going to take a hard look at a change.
2) McCoy’s Mother bucked the recent trend and has said that there is no definite decision on her son’s future until the formal NFL draft evaluation report is issued. Basically I think she’s concerned that everyone know that that door hasn’t completely closed yet. Her son and everyone else concerned have been rather adamant about McCoy’s return – but Moms pull weight as we all know, so stay tuned. (Personally I’ve though he’d return all year and still do).
“Freshman tackle Lucas Nix didn’t play in the Sun Bowl, but Wannstedt said Nix would have started at left tackle and played the “whole game” if coaches had known prior to pre-game warm-ups that Pinkston would not be available. Instead, fifth-year senior Chase Clowser got his first career start.”
WHAT??? So if he knew prior to pre-game warmups, Nix would’ve played the whole game, but since he found out after pregame warmups, he didn’t play a single snap? And thus the jailbreak begun… UGH. Who knows if Nix would’ve played better, but there is no way he could’ve been worse. Call me crazy, but I don’t think the pregame warmups should’ve been a factor in the decision. AAAAARRRRRG!!! It is so dang frustrating being a Pitt fan
Jaron Brown who played for Pitt from 2001 to 2004 was an incredibly tough and productive player who flew beneath the radar most of his career.
Who is this year’s version of Jaron?
Vote here:
There were a lot of interesting tidbits in that article.
On Cavanaugh: “Are you kidding me? We’re not going to base anything off of just one game,” Wannstedt said. “Matt has forgotten more about coaching quarterbacks than most of the other guys out there will ever know. And you can quote me on that one.”
“The two other scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, junior Greg Cross and redshirt sophomore Kevan Smith, have asked to move to different positions. Wannstedt said the staff is considering the possibilities of Cross at safety and Smith at H-back/tight end. He said the staff’s inability to find a role for Cross this year was one of his biggest regrets.”
Also, Adam Gunn is unlikely to get a 6th year of eligibility.
LET’S GO PITT!!
But guess what? We haven’t been here before, so it IS a big deal and I personally am going to be excited about it all week!
The best damn team in the land (at least for this week haha).