Here are some puff pieces and pictures before the liveblog that gets underway at 7pm Eastern.

A good Q&A with Gil Brown as the senior, senior on the team.

Q: At what point during this season did Pittsburgh transition from being a good team to being a great one?

A: “The Tennessee loss [on Dec. 11] is really what set things off for everyone on the team. We let them jump out on us early. They really attacked us. We definitely took that as a learning experience and said that we weren’t going to let that happen again. We have to be ready in the beginning of the game, especially in the Big East and the NCAA tournament. There are a lot of great, competitive teams out there. That’s really what sparked a flame under us. It’s made practice better ever since then.”

Pitt definitely hasn’t let a team jump out on them in the first half since then. Some less than optimal starts, but they’ve kept the opponent from doing much either.

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Not a big surprise that a big recruiting weekend with 12-13 kids visiting would at least yield one or two verbals. Or in this case, three in the fold. Corey Davis on Saturday with Issac Bennett and Darius Patton on Sunday. Two running backs and a wide receiver.

Corey Davis a running back from Texas appears to have been ready to follow coach Graham to the ends of the earth.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior was headed to Tulsa until Graham left to coach the Panthers.

“I was going to Tulsa just because of coach Graham and his coaching crew,” Davis said. “So wherever they were going to go, I was going to go.”

A dozen recruits were at Pitt this weekend for official visits, including several Tulsa recruits. Among them were Isaac Bennett, a running back from Tulsa, Okla., and Keyarris Garrett, a receiver from Daingerfield, Texas.

Bennett said Sunday evening that he planned to call Pitt coaches last night and verbally commit.

“I liked the city,” said Bennett, a 5-11, 190-pound senior who said he chose the Panthers over Tulsa, Arkansas and Louisiana-Monroe. “I was looking for a change of scenery. It’s time to get out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.”

Garrett, a 6-foot-4 receiver, said Sunday he’s still undecided whether to choose Pitt or Tulsa.

As for the rankings on the commits.

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Obviously there will be a liveblog tonight. Big Monday game starting at 7pm. It’s the best crew calling it with Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas.

I honestly vacillate with Notre Dame. The Pitt fan in me has fear with this game. Especially after the way Notre Dame beat Pitt twice last year.  The ex-college basketball writer for a now almost-dead site of the past few years feels that Pitt has nothing to worry about and is almost contemptuous of Notre Dame’s chances in a road Big East game.

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