You know, we can pretend that the biggest concern is replacing two starting cornerbacks, the depth at safety, the change at MLB, who the hell is going to be the center.

No. We all know the big question as far as position question is the QB spot. Specifically Tino Sunseri or Pat Bostick. Let’s get it done now. So the fact that ESPN.com’s Big East writer Brian Bennett teased his interview with Coach Dave Wannstedt to end last week has been awaited.

Wannstedt said it will be a competition this spring between Pat Bostick and Tino Sunseri. Bostick redshirted a year ago, and Wannstedt said he really learned a lot and showed great improvement in practice. Wannstedt also had high praise for Sunseri, the redshirt sophomore who was Bill Stull’s backup a year ago.

“He’s ready to play now,” Wannstedt said. “It’s his time. He understands the offense, and we’ve got a good feel for his abilities and what he can do.”

This spring, Wannstedt said, Bostick and Sunseri will split the reps evenly early on in practice, with Andrew Janocko serving as the third-stringer.

Barring multiple, horrific injuries there will be no way incoming freshmen QBs Anthony Gonzalez or Mark Myers are even going to sniff the field this fall. So, by all means, pine for their tantalizing untapped potential. Drool over grainy and choppy YouTube snippets of their performances in high school. Dream of what they might one day do in the Blue and Gold. Just please, do me this small favor. Don’t even suggest that either will have a shot at starting come August. We all know it won’t happen.

So let’s go directly to the questions and quoted answers on the matter:

Let’s talk about the quarterback situation, which is always a big deal. Where does that stand going into the spring?

DW: We’re better off than we’ve been in the past for a couple reasons. From a depth standpoint, we have Pat Bostick coming back, and I think the redshirt year has done wonders for him knowledge-wise, from a physical and mental standpoint. And the interesting thing with Tino Sunseri is, if you go back to last spring we opened up the competition between Billy Stull, Pat Bostick and Tino. So all three quarterbacks got equal reps throughout the spring. Then we got to training camp and made the decision to redshirt Pat. And Tino was alternating between first group/second group all through camp with Billy.

So, really we came out of camp where Billy was a little bit ahead of him, but Tino had gotten so much work with the first group on offense, as I look back on it, it was one of the better things we did to help his development. So he’s ready to play now. He’s a redshirt sophomore. He understands the offense and we’ve got a good feel for his abilities and what he can do. So we’ll see what he can do. It’s going to be a competition.

Then we have two really good freshmen coming in, and obviously you’re not counting on them. But we like Anthony Gonzalez from Liberty (Penn.) and Mark Myers from (Cleveland) St. Ignatius. Here’s kind of an interesting tidbit: They were both picked to play in the Big 33 game; one will be playing for Ohio and one for Pennsylvania. So at some point in the game, both quarterbacks in the Big 33 game could both be going to Pitt. That’s probably never happened before.

Will you keep Gonzalez at quarterback? He’s a versatile all-around athlete.

DW: We’ll see. That’s the plan right now and we’ll just have to see how it unfolds.

So going into spring, is Sunseri No. 1 on the depth chart, or is it officially even between him and Bostick?

DW: We have a walk-on kid, Andrew Janocko, who’s been here three years. All three of them will get work. We’ll split the work early with Tino and Bostick, but I think they’ll both have to go and show what they can do, and we’ll give them each a chance to go out and prove themselves.

Do you anticipate the competition going into fall camp like last year?

DW: I don’t think so. I think it will be cleared up pretty good this spring. But you never know. I’m anticipating that it will.

How do you want to read it? Bennett seems to think that Sunseri goes in designated as the guy at least technically the #1 or 1A on the depth chart. If for no other reason being Sunseri was the #2 last year behind Stull.

I have no clue. Nothing in the answer seems to make it clear to me who is favored. Clearly Wannstedt thinks Sunseri has the opportunity. Does that mean it is his to lose? Does it just mean that he will gets to go out with the first team on the first day of practice?

There is the reality that Bostick had a redshirt available while Sunseri didn’t so there was a logic in that for last year.

We just haven’t seen Bostick in almost a year throw the ball in even a scrimmage situation. Wannstedt was careful to praise both.

Coach Wannstedt wants this settled by the end of spring practices. I’m guessing that fans won’t see it settled until late-August — at the earliest

Figure this argument will just heat up further over the next week.

Forget on the national level, the Big East is tough enough. The debate seems to be between Jamie Dixon and Jim Boeheim, with some darkhorse momentum for Buzz Williams. All three have their teams significantly overachieving from expectations. All three saw talent departing for the NBA, NBDL or Europe.

Syracuse was picked to finish 6th and will finish with the Big East regular season title outright and untied unless they blow their final 2 and Nova recovers.

Pitt was picked for 9th and could finish tied for 3d or take it outright (it’s possible Pitt could end up in 2d, but that would take a Villanova collapse and Pitt sweeping).

For those who want to make it a simple math problem based on projections to finish and Pitt finishing 6 spots higher trumps finishing 5 spots higher by Syracuse. Don’t. Then you have to acknowledge that Marquette if they finish 5th beat their 12th place projection by 7.

Is it talent? I know we are used to presuming that Syracuse has the talent. If you look in their rotation, though, they don’t have a true blue-chipper. No 5-star players.

Player  — Rivals.com — Scout.com

Syracuse

Jackson —-4 ————— 4

Jardine —- 4 ————— 4

Onuaku —-3 ————— 3

Joseph —- 3 ————— 4

Triche —– 3 ————– 3

Rautins —- NR ———– 1

Johnson — 2 ————– 2

Pitt

Brown ——- 4 ———– 4

Wanamaker — 4 ———- 4

McGhee —— 3 ———- 3

Gibbs ——— 3 ———- 3

Robinson —- 3 ———- 3

Woodall —— 3 ———- 3

Dixon ——— NR ——- 2

Taylor ——– 5 ———- 5

Obviously Rautins has developed and may have been overlooked in Canada. Wesley Johnson was another clear miss from being missed in Texas and transferring out of Iowa State. But it is still 3- and 4-star guys that make up their team. Just like Pitt. Heck if you just look at the “stars” without context, it looks like Pitt has the better overall squad.

Syracuse plays 2 seniors, 2 juniors 2 sophomores and 1 freshman.

Pitt plays 1 senior, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores and 2 freshman.

Pitt had to play early without senior Jermaine Dixon and even had him out for a game later in the Big East season. Plus, Pitt played the non-con without junior Gilbert Brown. Naturally Pitt had more struggles. Pitt had a spell of losing 4 of 5.

Syracuse hasn’t had significant injuries, but they have been excellent all season. Only 2 losses. They have big wins out of conference — to further buttress the argument of how good they have been from the start (LeMoyne may still be funny, but it was exhibition and doesn’t count).

Sean at Nunes has no answer to the issue, because he doesn’t know how to define the question.

Does Coach Dixon get the nod because he took a team that was going to be a bubble team and have them in contention for a #4 or #3 seed? Is it Boeheim with a squad expected to make the tournament, but maybe in the 6-8 seed range and instead has them locked for a #1 seed?

A tie almost seems like the right call, but I have to say the more I look at this, the more I won’t get too worked up if Boeheim or Dixon gets it.

It seems to me that either one has a legitimate claim to the honor. I really can’t that bent out of shape if Coach Dixon doesn’t get it this time.

If you feel strongly one way or another make the case. Just spare me the issue of whether Boeheim has underachieved with more talent in the past. That has nothing to do with a Coach of the Year award.  It is a single season snapshot. Not rewards or penalties for the past.

It will be a somewhat quiet start to the week with Pitt getting several needed days to rest before the Thursday night game with Providence.  Just a couple items to note this morning.

Seth Davis at SI.com added a Pitt scouting report from an unnamed Big East coach.

PITTSBURGH: Probably their biggest concern is their lack of depth in the backcourt. Travon Woodall comes off the bench, but beyond that it’s kind of questionable, which could hurt them as they go deeper into the tournament. I wouldn’t say percentage-wise they’re great shooters, but they do hit big shots. I would have said their inside game would be a problem, but Gary McGhee has turned out to be pretty good for them. They also don’t have a true point guard. Ashton Gibbs finds a way to get it done, though I think his quickness as a defender is a question mark. If they go against a team with quick guards that can make plays off the bounce, they can struggle with that. Marquette gave them trouble, though they ended up beating Marquette because of their size. Gilbert Brown is a really good, long, athletic wing. He has been around a long time, and the guys who left from last year passed down some of their toughness. They really share the ball on offense, they do all the right things defensively, they’re methodical. They want to grind you out in the half court more than get into an up and down game. If they had to get into a running game, that might expose their lack of a point guard and lack of depth on the perimeter.

The issue with quick guards is nothing surprising. We saw it with Seton Hall and even Indiana (when they were healthy and Pitt was not at full strength) really got under the skin of the perimeter players.

Pitt’s experience with the double-bye after one year was not great. Can any conclusions be drawn from it this quickly? I doubt it.

“You would think on paper it would be a good thing,” Dixon said. “Last year, though, it didn’t turn out to be as good a thing for teams in the tournament and it is something that is being talked about, as far as possibly changing the tournament. It’s still a long ways away from that. I know what things look like on paper, but there are some emotions and some other things that come into play.”

There is something to be said for the fatigue factor of having to play extra games. But there is also the school of thought that playing a game under the lights of Madison Square Garden in New York and getting acclimated to the pressure of the event is a positive for the teams that have to play early.

Of the four teams that had double byes last season, two lost. In addition to Pitt, Connecticut lost its first game to Syracuse in a six-overtime thriller. No. 1 seed Louisville won the tournament and No. 4 seed Villanova lost to the Cardinals in the semifinal round.

I lean towards wanting the rest. Not just for the Big East Tournament, but for the NCAA Tournament. If you are a top-4 double-bye team, then you are also very likely in-line for a top-4 seed and higher expectations in the NCAA Tournament. That’s part of the reason for the “bye” format that has been in the Big East Tournament over the years. Protect the top teams so they don’t wear down before the big dance.