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June 3, 2010

Expectations Almost Like 2003

Filed under: Big East,Conference,Football,Prognostications — Chas @ 7:02 am

It’s all very superficial. It has nothing to do with the present coaches or players. It’s just the vibe. It’s the expectations are all there for Pitt to win this year. Maybe it is just a contrarian nature in me. Maybe I just don’t like to keep reading all these expectations as it can make the fall hurt that much more. It is giving me a very 2003 feel.

Remember 2003? I do. Coming off a big bowl win. ACC expansion dominating all spring and summer. Pitt looking like it had the talent to win. Everyone picking and talking up Pitt. Then came Toledo. And then ND. Building, building and a debacle at WVU. No showing against Miami. I still feel scarred from that season.

Well, if the national publications like Athlon, Lindy’s and Sporting News all picking Pitt wasn’t enough…

The UConn beat writer for the Hartford Courant, Desmond Connor, has almost all the Big East beat writers weighing in with their picks for the Big East. Top three picks

Brian Bennett, ESPN.com: Pitt, Cinci, WVU

Paul Zeise, P-G: Pitt, WVU, UConn

Dave Rahme, Syracuse Post-Standard: Pitt, WVU, UConn

Nolan Weidner, Syracuse P-S: Pitt, WVU, Cinci

Greg Auman, St. Petersburg Times: Pitt, Cinci, Rutgers

Bill Koch, Cinci Enquirer: Cinci, Pitt, USF

C.L. Brown, Louisville Courier-Journal: Pitt, Cinci, WVU

Dave Hickman, Charleston Gazette: Pitt, WVU, Cinci

Connor also picks Pitt (followed by Cinci and UConn).

A few other UConn beat writers.

Neil Ostrout, Connecticut Post: Pitt, UConn, Cinci

Chip Malafronte, New Haven Register, Pitt, Cinci, UConn

Ed Daigneault, Waterbury Republican-American: UConn, Pitt, Rutgers

So, yeah, expectations.




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High expectations are a good thing but I agree Chas. High expectations make any failure that much harder to endure. 2003 still hangs over our heads and our Fiesta Bowl beatdown still lingers in the background as well. There really is no reason Pitt shouldnt win the BE this year. They have been slowly building a solid foundation over the last 5 years with an infusion of solid talent and finally have talent at depth at a lot of positions. No other teams in the BE look to be very impressive this year so it seems to be there for the taking. DW seems to be getting more comfortable with the college game and Cig is a gigantic improvement over Cav. Like last year, much of our season will hinge on the how the O line and the QB progress.

Comment by Coach Ditka 06.03.10 @ 7:37 am

If Pitt doesn’t win the BE, it would not be due to lofty expectations but much more likely because the interior OL or Tino does not perform, or that UConn or WVU turns out to be much better than expected (like Cincy last year.)

Whether national or conference rankings, pre-season rankings are a crapshoot. A year ago, Rutgers was picked on more polls as BE pre-season champ (the BE media picked Pitt) … not to mention the pre-season national rankings had Ole Miss in the Top 5 with Oklahoma and USC in the Top 10.

Comment by wbb 06.03.10 @ 7:46 am

actually Coach Ditka, the 03 season ended in a convincing home loss to Miami for the BE title. Pitt was actually pre-season ranked in Top 10 that year but ended up losing to Toledo, at home to underdog ND, and ended the year with an uninspired bowl loss to UVA.

It was the 04 season that ended in the debacle of the Fiesta Bowl … winning a BE tiebreaker as one of 4 teams tied for 1st place in a watered-down 7 team league.

Comment by wbb 06.03.10 @ 7:53 am

well it looks like we should be among the favorites for the foreseeable future at least. if we fail there’s always respite in the bright future.

Comment by johnnyrocket 06.03.10 @ 10:11 am

I cried my 12 year old eyes out after the Toledo game in 03

Comment by Tony Cancilla 06.03.10 @ 10:23 am

The biggest difference to me between this year and 2003 is that this team has a lot of guys who have proven themselves over multiple seasons, a lot more sure things if you will. I can’t see anyone on this years team pulling the no-show that Claude Harriott pulled in 2003.

Comment by Pabs 06.03.10 @ 10:28 am

Oh, that frozen Miami game that year. Sat in the 500s the 1st half, thawed out at Hampton Inn the 2nd.

What misery.

Comment by Steve 06.03.10 @ 11:01 am

as I recall, 2003 was the 1st of 4 straight years of bad Pitt defenses. After holding OSU’s Steve Jackson to 20 yards in 02 bowl game, the 03 team gave up 400 yds passing to Toledo’s Gradkowski, ND ran it right down our throats, Va Tech’s K Jones ran an 80 yd TD right up the gut, etc.

The reason I bring this up is how disappointing the defense was at times last year .. although not a total disaster.

Comment by wbb 06.03.10 @ 12:05 pm

im pretty certain that kevin jones and julius jones are still running at will up and down the field at Heinz. they still haven’t been stopped

Comment by crazylegs 06.03.10 @ 12:24 pm

Pac 10 to offer 6 Big XII schools….

link to collegefootball.rivals.com

and the bidding wars begin!

Comment by Marco 06.03.10 @ 4:14 pm

Real difference between 2003 and now is that there truly is talent and depth throughout the roster. That really wasn’t the case in 2003 despite our delusions at that time. The previous regime at Pitt never had quality depth.

Comment by pitt1972 06.05.10 @ 8:18 am

 
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