We got some interesting arguing going in the comments, regarding the recruitment of Morelli, and other such that has gotten kind of long, and oat times a little varied so I'm going to post them and offer my thoughts. I would have done this sooner, but I've been a little busy.

It starts with a reader actually identifying himself. John from Fox Chapel (or who I will just call JFC):

Who is writing this column??? I could do a much better job. For starters,who cares about Anthoney Morelli. Harris should just let him walk. Morelli's only claim to fame will be to add to a long list of high school prospects from Western Pa. that are overhyped. ie: Jawon Walker, Josh Lay, Tutu Fergusen. Harris should try looking over on the other side of the state if he really wants to get some players. Either that or stick to that fertile breading ground in Florida.

To which Lee responded,

I won't argue that Morelli and his Dad haven't been acting like spoiled brats. However, I won't call him untalented either. He's a legitimate five star prospect on every recruiting service that I've seen.

And although I agree that Western PA is generally overrated as far as recruiting grounds go, plenty of legitimate blue chippers have come out of our region recently. Michigan's Steve Breaston and Marlin Jackson come to mind, although LaVarr Arrington wasn't too far back either. Pat, a little help here?

JFC countered:

David Abdul was also rated as a 5 star prospect out of the tri state area. He has turned into a goat and is going to be beaten out by Gressel for the kicker spot. How about the other highly touted QB prospect from western Pa Tyler Palko. I have been to Pitt practices and it painfully obvious that he will be beaten out by Luke Getsy for the quarterback spot. What I am trying to say is that the recruiting services like the idea of spotting the next great Western Pa. quarterback. They find the kid who is hyped by the local media and throw five stars on him simply because thats where he is from. Watch the kid that starts for Ohio State this year, Justin Zwick, and tell me he is not better than Palko despite being rated LOWER.

As far as Breaston and the others are concerned, your always going to find a few acorns. It is Western Pa. after all. The fact is in Pa. we run the ball ALOT. Which skews the acurracy of a QB evaluation. Breasten was a great athlete at woddy high. Otherwise the guys PA. produces are along the lines or on the defensive side of the ball.

Pat joined the fun.

I'd love to help, Lee, but John from Fox Chapel makes a good point.

There are plenty of Division 1-AA and II schools who ended up with former Pitt recruits who were the second coming of either Marino or Dorsett (remember Zimmermann from Penn Trafford?).

Pitt has wisely broadened its recruiting base, particularly in Ohio. That being said, we HAVE to keep the local top tier talent - if for no other reason than to keep the fans and HS coaches happy. If and when a genuine 2nd Dorsett or Marino does spring fourth, we'll need all the help we can get to land them.

Lee, again:

All I'm saying is that I haven't seen anything yet that would lead me to believe that Morelli, in particular, is overrated. That being said, he may have some maturity issues and (as we all agree) Western PA quarterbacks are often overrated.

And incidentally, John from Fox Chapel is right about Ohio State's Justin Zwick.

JFC replied,

Since you both conceded to some of my arguments I will concede to one of yours. Athletically Morelli is a top notch prospect. 6-4 200 lbs, a cannon and 4.7 in the 40 is probably the frame people dream about on a QB. That being said, does anybody wonder why his completion percentage was so low??? Coaches at the elite 11 said Morelli needed to work on reading defenses. In other words Morelli is not that smart!!! Hes got the tools but not the squash!!!Morelli is going to remind people of Chris Rix. A guy that should be good but contstantly finds a way to selfdestruct. They dumb the offense down to Rix's level at FSU but Harris would not do that here. So do we really want Morelli??? No because I do not want to suffer through three bad seasons in order for him to have one good season.

Lee:

Good point about Morelli's mellon.

On the way up to State College tonight, I heard Phil Grosz, the Editor of Blue White Illustrated (and G&W Recruiting), practically guarantee on WRSC that Morelli would be a Nittany Lion come Wednesday. It looks more and more like -- for better or worse -- we won't have to suffer the idiot after all.

But even if it turns out to be for the better, I still can't stand losing anything to Penn State... even spoiled brats.

That being said, I still can't believe that any quarterback would rather be developed by the likes of Jay Paterno (PSU's quarterback coach) rather than Walt Harris. But oh well.

Finally, JFC:

How does Penn State do it??? I mean with the UPMC complex on the south side Pitt has comperable facilities. They have a coach that will probably see you through all four years which PSU does not. Pitt has a dynamic offense while PSU's looks worse every year. How does one get sold on playing for PSU besides the fact of Beaver Stadium.

Also I found another intertesing Pitt site. I will leave the link. http://www.livelogcity.com/users/pittsburgh/

Starting with the final item. I checked out the blog that opened today. Looks good. Adding it to the blogroll. JFC, though, didn't just "find" it. He is apparently John Beard on the blog -- or else the guy is stealing his comments -- nothing to be embarrassed about trying to pimp your blog.

Now going back to the first item. Why bother with Morelli? Pat made his point about keeping the WPa. coaches happy. I'll suggest a couple other reasons.

1) In recruiting, perception is reality; and perceived recruiting success helps build the schools name recognition and desirability (though not as much as being a winning, good program). You never know if the recruit is going to pan out as expected. Is he going to be a stud from the moment he gets on the field (Fitzgerald)? Is he going to be a complete bust after high school? Is he going to take a few years and/or the right system before he flourishes (Carson Palmer or Jeff Smoker)? Who knows at this point. It is all projection. A huge industry and obsessiveness from fans has sprung from it.

2) You always protect your turf first, then spread outward. You cannot be seen to lose the good players in your own backyard to be a good program. Ohio St., Michigan, Texas, and the like very rarely lose out to other schools for players that are within 50-100 miles of the school. And then you keep expanding from there.

Morelli is perceived to be a blue chipper in Pitt's backyard. Add in his early commitment to Pitt, plus the bad season Pitt had with the blows to the Big East; and losing Morelli is a big trumpet to a lot of potential recruits that Pitt is not the good choice. I'm trying to remember the column from the fall about how Rutherford committing to Pitt was a huge moment for signifying Pitt's resurgence to other recruits. I thought it a little ridiculous, but there was a small truth there. I remember early in John Majors, the sequel. Pitt was the finalist for a top blue chip, can't miss WPa. QB (for some reason I am drawing a complete blank on his name). Instead, he chose ND to win 2-3 Heismans. Pitt never contended for another blue chipper until after Majors was gone.

As to the issue of David Abdul going from blue chipper to goat as a kicker as an example. That is completely ignoring the job he did last year as a freshman. Now, I'm not going to defend or excuse Abdul's performance this past year. Let's just concede, though, that there were extenuating circumstances, and he could very well rebound next year.

So Palko was rated ahead of Zwick coming out of high school. It wasn't by much. Both were considered top blue chippers. Everyone wants lists, though, so one has to be placed in front of the other. Your criticisms of Palko's ability, though, is unnerving. It reminds me of some comments that I read about him following the Big 33 game. They said he would be better off as a safety, and reminded a scout of that drunk QB from Ohio St. at the end of the Cooper era (whose name is also escaping me). Trust me, that was not a comparison that could make you feel good.

Regarding Morelli's smarts. I don't know. Maybe when the colleges are allowed to make the kids take the Wonderlic tests like the NFL does, we can get a better idea. I'd say the Morelli family tantrum (if it is true and not a pretext) suggests that he won't be happy unless he starts as a freshman and in a system to his liking (are they related to Eric Lindros' family?). I could see him transferring from a school at least once if his family doesn't get their way. As it stands, I'll take your word that he does not have the mental part.

As for the final thing on UPMC and why would anyone play for PSU on offense. First, can we stop this ridiculous self-congratulations on the practice facility? It only counts for so much. No matter how much we may not like PSU, they have history, tradition that can be evoked and a very widespread and active alumni base. If football players went to college based on geography, then Oklahoma and Nebraska would never have been powers; and Fordham and Columbia would be fighting off the recruits.

Krauser's late game heroics against BC, dovetailed nicely with some puff pieces. The local one from the Tribune-Review matches him with Isaiah Thomas -- apparently an idol of Krauser's. Talks of Krauser wanting the ball in crunch time. The big moment when the game is on the line, etc.

More importantly is the short piece in this week's Sport's Illustrated (subs. only). It stressed Krauser and his NYC roots.

Pittsburgh sophomore point guard Carl Krauser will never be accused of forgetting his roots. Before every game Krauser writes only the strong survive in nyc on his sneakers, and whenever he makes a good play, he forms an X with his arms, which, he'll readily tell one and all, represents the final letter of the Bronx. After Pitt's 66-45 drubbing of Syracuse at the Carrier Dome last Saturday, in which Krauser scored just five points but had 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals, he mentioned either the Bronx or New York City seven times in one conversation.

Krauser is also all business, as evidenced by his photo in the Panthers' media guide, in which he's scowling at the camera as if he's just smelled expired milk. It's a look that Krauser no doubt used to good advantage when he was an amateur boxer, his other love until he decided to focus on basketball at age 15.

Krauser's New York City game and combativeness is a major reason why Pitt was 19-1 through Sunday and ranked seventh. He had big shoes to fill this season, taking over at point guard for honorable mention All-America Brandin Knight, whose eligibility expired after leading the Panthers to a 28-5 record and their second straight Sweet 16 appearance last season. Krauser went from an 18.6-minute-a-game backup to a starter, and if there were any doubts about his leadership abilities, they were erased early as he helped Pitt win its first 18 games. Quick, aggressive and flashy, Krauser was averaging 15.1 points, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals a game at week's end. Says junior forward Chevon Troutman, "We're more of a running team with him [than with Knight], and he's definitely more of a scoring option. Even if he has two defenders in front of him, he's going to push the ball and get somebody open if he doesn't have a shot."

Hey, my favorite team is in the Bronx.

Let's face it. This was the classic let down game for Pitt. Two huge nationally televised road games against the best teams in the conference over the last ten years and going 1-1 last week. Being ranked in the top 10 for two straight weeks (and now heading to 3), a 37-game home winning streak (longest in the country). Everyone noticing Pitt. An opponent that couldn't beat West Virginia. This is the kind of game that was ripe for the upset.

But Pitt pulled it out 68-58. The story after the game was Karl Krauser taking charge of the game late in the second half.

Since I couldn't see the game in Cleveland, the news accounts and box score are my only guides. Read the news accounts to get the idea of how close the game actually was. I'm just going to look at the box score for my thoughts. Pat, if you got to see the game, please share your thoughts.

Coach Dixon seems to be making an effort to work McCarroll and Graves into the game more. Yes I know Graves saw a lot of minutes last night because Krauser had early foul trouble, but Graves has been getting more minutes over the past couple weeks. Toree Morris is holding steady at his 6-8 minutes per game. That seems plenty at this point. Demetrius is also steady with 4 minutes and 1 or 2 missed shots per game.

Taft seems to be shooting well at the charity stripe. Jaron Brown, though, eww. Yes, he made those two crucial FTs in the final minutes last night, but that only raised him to .500 for the game. There is no doubt that late in a close game, the other team will always look to send Brown to the line when trailing (hell, I'd consider it even with a lead).

The box score just reads like Pitt's typical team game. It isn't flashy. No one player's line stands out, but everyone does a little of everything.

Back in football season, I noted how little attention BC got from the local media. That doesn't change come basketball season. The Boston Globe's lone article on the game was really just part of a notes article listed under women's basketball.

Eagles are pitted against a tough foe: Skinner is wary of seventh-ranked Panthers

The Boston Herald isn't any better.

Skinner wary of Panthers

Apparently the word of the day is "wary." How about the word of yesterday?

BC wary of a Pitt fall: Eagles face revitalized opponent

Oh. Well, wary on then.

Over to the Pittsburgh papers. Two columns on Pitt. One repeats the meme: Dixon was the right choice. Look, I'm not trying to hate on Dixon. The guy is doing more than you could hope in his first season. The team is obviously playing hard and well under him. I'm just saying that there needs to be a little perspective before you just declare that this was the right choice. What if the team flames out in a first round upset in the NCAA Tournament (I can't believe I get to type that -- the presumption, the arrogance)? Or what happens if they don't make it past the first or second round of the Big East Tournament? It really will take a year or two to get to the point where you can better evaluate this.

The other is from radio guy Madden. Madden talking Pitt hoops? Madden talking hoops at all? I guess that is what happens when the NFL draft is still 2 1/2 months away, the Penguins are trying to hang on until the lock out/strike and the Pirates just suck. Well it's a piece about how this team is better than last year's team. I think a compelling case could be made, but his reasoning isn't particular compelling.

Cook has a lazy columnist crutch -- the one liner grab bag with a few things to say about Pitt. And one cheap shot for all the Penn State haters

What has it been? A month since a Penn State football player has been arrested? I'm not sure, but I think that's a record.

A couple nice articles on Jaron Brown and his realistic expectations for life after Pitt (hint, not the NBA).

Both beat reporters for the Pittsburgh papers lead with the story of Craig Smith of BC and the fact that he came from California because USC and UCLA weren't interested. I think everyone is just about sick of the winter weather.

This may be nitpicking, but I'd say 2004 has been a bad start for the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. There was, of course, the BCS mess. Now, I'm looking at the Coaches and AP Writers polls for this week.

Last week Pitt moved up significantly in both polls. Six spots in the coaches from #15 to #9; and five spots in the writers -- #13 to #8. I thought that was a little high. In the past week Pitt played 2 big road games on national TV. A close loss to UConn, and a blowout win against Syracuse.

I figured Pitt would likely rise 1 maybe 2 spots in the ranks. The writers moved Pitt up a spot to #7, with UConn falling to #6. The Coaches, though, moved Pitt up 3 spots to #6.

I don't quite get it. Pitt went 1-1 this past week. I'm all for Pitt getting props and the attention, but it's hard to understand how going .500 for the week justifies the big bump.

What it points out, in my view, is how little attention the coaches actually pay to other teams unless they are on TV. The first 6 weeks or so of the schedule, Pitt had a hard time moving in the coaches poll. Pitt gets on TV, and in 2 weeks they suddenly jump 9 spots. By some coincidence, Pitt has 3 of its 4 games on ESPN and ESPN2.

Sad that I find the writers more accurate than the coaches.

Just a couple articles to point out. Another recap of the game in the Tribune-Review. One of those inside the numbers type pieces. It's pretty good. Some interesting points regarding the power forward play of Troutman and McCarroll.

Up in Syracuse, they are still feeling the after effects of losing two straight -- and taking a physical beating in the process.

But they have not responded to the strength, toughness and aggression of the recent Big East Conference opponents, said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.

"I just think mentally we weren't tough out there tonight," he said after watching his team score 45 points, the fewest in his 28 seasons and 895 games. "Craig Forth is 7-foot, 260 pounds and he got pushed all around the court. Billy (Edelin) is 210 pounds.

"I don't think it's anything to do with the weight room (strength). I think our guys are strong enough. Missouri's as physical as anybody. We just didn't play physical today. We didn't accept the physical challenge and that was it. Bottom line."

Pittsburgh, a team known for its physical play, out-muscled Syracuse 50-36 on the boards. The Panthers outscored Syracuse 40-18 in the paint. They limited SU to a season-worst

27.3-percent shooting (15-for-55) from the field.

"We didn't go out there and hit anybody," said forward Hakim Warrick. "We let them come hit us and they just took it to us from the start."

Syracuse gets a week off -- well, a week of practices with those losses lingering in the background -- then they get perennial bottom feeder Virginia Tech to take out a lot of aggression. Take Syracuse and give the points no matter how ridiculous the spread. Syracuse should be downright surly.

Pitt's next opponent is Boston College, January 28. The Boston Herald's college basketball writer noticed.

As if things weren't dreary enough for Boston College after it lost to a very beatable West Virginia team Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va., the Eagles' coaches had to sit in front of the television and watch their next opponent, No. 8 Pittsburgh, dismantle No. 13 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome that same night.

On Wednesday, BC will visit the Panthers, who have won 37 straight home games, the last 31 at their new Petersen Center. The streak is the best in the nation.

I'm guessing that the crowd might be a little juiced after Pitt's play in the last week.

Finally, the new polls will come out this evening. I expect Pitt will either rise a notch or two or stay in the same position.

A late Saturday night game means no opinion columns made the papers for Sunday. Just game recaps. Pittsubrhg Tribune-Review and Post-Gazette point to Pitt's strength and complete dominance.

In the Syracuse papers, they too talk of Pitt's muscle, and being too overpowering.

One of the themes is that Syracuse was held to its lowest point total ever in the Carrier Dome, and the lowest since 1968.

The best write-up came from Orangenation.net. I have to say that the guys running this site seem to be total class and are not just fanboys but honest in their assessments and breakdowns. They paid respect to Pitt, and this stood out to me.

That’s the toughest thing about this loss- we got beat up and mauled by a team that plays, (and I say this with admiration), like the school-yard bully. Boeheim said after the game "We have to get tougher." If we don’t we will go down to Pittsburgh a month from now, (February 29th), wondering if they are going to steal our lunch money.

Imagine, Pitt as the bully against 'Cuse. I feel warm inside, and not just because of the bourbon.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Pitt is a tough team. Once again, game notes. Apologies for not posting this sooner, but I had a lot to do today around the house and with the family. Better late than never, game notes.

The Pitt game was set to tip at 8:08. 8 pm, plop into a chair, grab a beer, then the remote and flick to ESPN2. Howard Dean-esque scream/yell as the Tennessee-Duke women's basketball game is still taking place. They give the programming note saying that they will be going to the Carrier Dome after the game. Unfortunately, despite being in the last couple minutes the country is subjected to the worst thing in basketball. The game is almost-but-not-quite out of reach resulting in excessive fouls, timeouts and stoppage of play, The end result is an excrutiating extension of a game.

This is not to rant on the WNBA or women's basketball. I don't care. I would have been bent if it had been a regular game with 'Nova and St. John's at the wire. I wanted to go to the game that I had been waiting all day to watch. The game I had been practically counting down the minutes until.

Finally the game ends, but they don't immediately switch over. Instead, I am subjected to a meaningless postgame -on-the-flooor interviews before the switch. Under normal circumstances, my inner-Beevis and Butthead would have been happy to watch interviews of women's coaches by Heather Cox. Especially, getting to Duke's Tasha Butts; but not now.

Finally, they go to Syracuse, NY. Missed the first 4:24 (and roughly 10 minutes real time). Dave Strader and Len Elmore are calling the game. Good. Strader and Elmore aren't that annoying, and are easily tuned out. What does it say, when every time you tune in a game that Dick Vitale isn't attending is considered a good thing?

Gerry McNamara is playing (apparently started) for 'Cuse. Looks good right now, but let's see how that groin feels after a few TV timeouts.

The score is low. Pitt is 3-12 in shooting in the first 5-6 minutes. Thankfully, Syracuse is shooting almost as bad, so Pitt has the lead by one. Syracuse is running its 2-3 zone, but Pitt is blowing right through it. Problem is Pitt can't buy a basket. An ugly game, though, favors Pitt.

Chris Taft is having a great first half. He's getting rebounds and points, not to mention blocking or redirecting shots.

By Halftime, Pitt has a 29-23 lead.

There wasn't much to say about the first half. It was plain ugly. Both sides struggled to make shots. Neither team made runs, so much as the other side missed and turned the ball over more than the other for stretches. Pitt was dominating on the boards. Especially offensive boards -- major contribution factor, of course, being the number of missed shots provided many, many second chance opportunities. The refs were Big East refs. They let them bang a lot, which favored Pitt.

Pitt went 3-12 from 3-point land, after starting 3-5. Pitt needs to take the ball inside more. The 2-3 zone is not working with Pitt's bigger and stronger interior guys who can pass inside and out.

I don't think McNamara will be a big factor in the second half. He started out decently with a couple 3s, and played a lot more than I thought, but his shots aren't falling and that groin is only going to get worse.

The second half starts with Pitt scoring first on a fast break score. Krauser to Taft. Man that was ugly. Pitt just should avoid running the floor for purely aethestic reasons.

The second half continues with 'Cuse still sticking to the 2-3 zone, and it's costing them. McNamara is still in the game. I have to believe they are sticking with the zone to keep McNamara from having to chase any one too far.

Taft is getting a lot of props, and deservedly so for his game. He has an already strong defensive presence, but the accoclades are because of his skills on the offense with the soft passes and his touch off the glass. Chevy Troutman, though, is finally playing like he did last year, but without the attention. He is getting after the boards and doing all the dirty work inside on defense tonight. He isn't getting drawn too far out on defense.

Mark McCarroll is getting a lot more minutes tonight. The problem is he is no match for Hakim Warrick. McCarroll is very soft on defense. He has some good moves on offense, but until he improves his D; his minutes will not be going up.

With 12:09 left, Pitt has now reached a 46-32 lead. Pitt has been slowly wearing down Syracuse since the last 5 minutes in the first half. It isn't a big run at any time. It's a slow, grinding, punishing, millstone approach. The kind of game that slowly saps the will of an opponent, because without that big burst to give hope to answering, you just want to finish and go ice yourself down.

Of course, the refs are starting to call a much tighter game in the second half. By 12:02, Syracuse is in the bonus against Pitt shooting one-and-one. UConn, Pitt and Syracuse -- the entire elite of the Big East appears to be incapable of making free throws, so this is probably working against Syracuse.

With less than 11 minutes to go, and Pitt still extending the lead, Strader and Elmore talk about the job by Dixon in taking over from Howland. It's kind of obligatory, I guess. Pitt now has a 50-32 lead.

With 10 minutes to go in the game, McNamara is sitting more, and Syracuse goes to man-to-man defense. Too little, too late.

Pitt is using more of its bench as Syracuse just looks whupped. Morris, Graves, (and even) Demetrius are getting some minutes with McCarroll in the second half.

With 4:37 left, Pitt takes a 60-40 lead. A couple minutes later it is 64-43 and a wide shot of the Carrier Dome shows a very empty place (understandably).

Final Score. Pitt 66-45.

Post game on ESPN News. Strader says that it was all Pitt. Especially on the Defense.

Len Elmore interviews Coach Dixon and Chris Taft. Dixon spouts pure cliched coachspeak. Nothing interesting.

Taft, who had 15 points (6-10) and 8 rebounds was happy and confident. He said he expected to play well and was just playing his game.

Box Score review.

Troutman had the kind of game that makes him my favorite. 12 points (5-8 shooting), 11 boards (with a whopping 7 on the offensive end), a blocked shot and 4 personal fouls. Doing all the hard work and banging inside.

This was a powerful statement game for Pitt. They completely rebounded from the tough loss to UConn, to just beat up on Syracuse. Syracuse is stuck wondering how they can beat Pitt.

Okay, I'll take credit for it. In one post, I seemed to have covered the local media themes for the week. Moral victory for Pitt against UConn. Check. No more moral victories for Pitt. Check. Praising Dixon as clearly the right hire. Check.

The game is on ESPN2 at 8 tonight. The teams are ready to have at it.

Depressing note of Pitt's basketball history while looking over the game notes (warning big PDF). This season was only the 6th time Pitt was ranked in the preseason top-25 polls.

I suppose for alumni of big schools like Michigan, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, North Carolina and such it is no big deal when ESPN Classic airs a college football or basketball game their team played. As a Pitt fan, though, it is a special treat to come across it.

So this afternoon at 3pm, I was pleasantly surprised to catch Pitt vs. Syracuse from January 4, 1989. Syracuse was the #2 team in the country with Sherman Douglas, Billy Owens and Derrick Coleman. They were hosting the underachieving Pitt Panthers. This would have been in my freshman year. Prior to the last few years, this was the one of the final Pitt teams to be competitive and massively underachieve under coach Paul Evans. This group ran until about 1991. Names from the past that only a Pitt fan can recall:

Brian Shorter, Darrelle Porter, Jason Matthews, Bobby Martin, and Sean Miller.

(Though, Miller is now considered a hot young coaching prospect, presently as an assistant at Xavier.)

Pitt upset 'Cuse 81-76, in what was only the 6th time Pitt won at Syracuse (and the last time until 1997).

Very strange to hear Dick Vitale (with Tim Brando) seem almost muted. He was a relatively normal color guy then. It's almost distracting.

I get the feeling no one really knows what is going to happen on Saturday in the game. The Post-Gazette's only Pitt article focuses on the fact that Coach Dixon has cut the minutes for the bench players in favor of playing the starters more, now that the Big East portion of the schedule has begun. Shocking. The competition gets better and Pitt opts to play the guys who are the best players more.

The Tribune-Review looks back at the thriller in the Carrier Dome from last year -- especially the bizarre events in the last second of the game. Pitt lost that game 67-65, and many 'Cuse faithful saw that game as the turning point in the season.

It seems Syracuse point guard, Gerry McNamara, who injured his groin earlier in the week is feeling better (via Orange Juice). Whether he plays, plays limited or sits is still unknown.

When McNamara struggles offensively, so has Syracuse. In SU's seven losses since the start of last season, the 6-foot-2 guard is averaging 13 points on 34.5 percent shooting from the field and 30.2-percent shooting from the 3-point line.

In SU's 43 wins, he's scoring 14.7 points on 41.8 percent shooting from the field and 38.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

Though McNamara has had no serious injuries in his first 50 games in Syracuse, he is a guard who is typically fighting through nagging injuries, many as a result from his hustle and dives to the floor.

I expect he will play.

Orangenation has an absolutely stellar analysis of the match-up. I'm not sure what I can add to this look at the 88th meeting between Pitt and Syracuse.

Judging by what I'm reading, though, if McNamara has a bad game, the fans don't feel good about their chances. Given that McNamara, at best, will still be feeling a little tender Pitt should probably look to keep a body on him at all time, and maybe see about running him through a few screens at the other end. I'm feeling a little wishy-washy, though, and can't help but think that Syracuse might have started preparing for the game with the assumption that McNamara wouldn't play (or would be very limited). It's not like he's their only weapon. I have no clue how this game will turn out.

From Mel Kiper, Jr.'s observations on the Senior Bowl practices so far

Pittsburgh TE Kris Wilson catches the ball and is athletic, but he's not very tall. Somebody will find a place for him on a roster. He will probably get drafted, but not until sometime during the second day.

I find this kind of surprising considering how good a player Wilson is. While wondering how much I overvalue Wilson because I saw him for the last few years, and I prefer for TE's to have a big roll in the offense (especially for the underneath passes). Still, I suppose it makes some sense. Teams don't exactly stockpile TE's or place a huge value on them, unless they are totally dominant like Winslow, Heap or Shockey. So, even the 3rd or 4th best TE might not go until the 4th round.

The "moral victory" theme was used in the Smizik column in the Post-Gazette today. Whatever

Bendel in the Tribune-Review goes with the idea that UConn-Pitt is now the Big East rivalry. Umm. No. Let's hold off on making this the thing that Georgetown-Syracuse was for so many years until Pitt shows they can maintain the level of achievement. Right now, it is merely the hot game in the Big East.

The three NYC dailies all had stories on the game. The Post; Daily News and Times. All spoke well of Pitt. The Daily News had also run a story on the NYC pipeline running to Pitt -- essentially attributing it to the problems at St. John's.

The Hartford Courant didn't do a lot of crowing about the home team. Just a sense of relief that they won.

I wonder how much people must have been undervaluing Pitt, prior to the UConn game. It seems in a Pitt loss, the team has gotten more respect and recognition.

Losing to Connecticut 68-65 in the final possession shouldn't mar any of the accomplishments. This team, this program and this coach are as tough as they've ever been in the Steel City, maybe even tougher.

How do we know?

Listen to the respect that the Huskies heap on the Panthers. And this isn't coachspeak or a few courtesy comments from a team that will play them again in the regular season. The Huskies genuinely respect Pittsburgh and call them easily their toughest rival in the Big East. Playing them in back-to-back Big East tournament title games (they've split the last two) earned the Panthers the right to move ahead of Syracuse as Connecticut's latest nemesis.

"Tonight's game wasn't for everyone," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said of the demands the game would make on his players. "Their system is tough. They screen you so much and hit you so much. I'm sure there is an awful lot of contact at their practices. ... Jamie is demanding nothing but the best from them. They're the best I've seen at getting you out of position before the ball comes to you. You catch the ball and all of a sudden you're not where you're supposed to be."

ESPN moved Pitt into the #7 position in their "Power 16." Now maybe I'm just not used to the positive vibes going to Pitt. Or maybe the Pitt football team has scarred me even deeper than I realized, but this is getting a little silly. Yes, Pitt is a very good team. Very likely will be battling for the Big East title and another Sweet 16 run. Beyond that, I just don't know yet. This all seems a little excessive, and a little too predicated on a couple games on ESPN in the last week plus (Self-question: doesn't that just reflect the importance and value of getting into the national rotation for games on ESPN? Doesn't that help make it self perpetuating? Yes and it can but plenty have fallen off the perch -- UMass, Seton Hall, NC St., LSU, Utah, the list can go on. The point was that the whole thing now is skewed the other direction in how the media feels about Pitt.) A little perspective, please.

As Shawn said to me the other night, if Pitt can split the games this week then we know how legitimate they are. Pitt has another big road game Saturday night against Syracuse -- the defending National Champs. Pitt needs a win on the road against a ranked opponent to prove they are near as good as people are now saying they are. As good as Pitt played Monday night, it was still a loss. That was their one "moral" victory for the year. There are no more of those. The game looks even tougher following the 'Cuse's loss to Seton Hall this past night -- even if Syracuse sophomore guard Gerry McNamara is questionable with a groin injury.

Finally, can people stop declaring that Jamie Dixon was clearly the right choice as if there is nothing to debate. That won't be known for sure for a couple years. Anyone remember the job by Bruiser Flint in following John Calipari at UMass? Looked good for the first year, but then things fell apart. I like the job Dixon has done so far, and the team is definitely listening (free throw shooting, excepted); but it is time to tone things down.

Doing Game Notes for a basketball game is a lot more difficult than football. Football allows plenty of time to write and note what is and is not working. Basketball is in continual motion, and you can't look away for long stretches to make a note. Still, I find that I want to take them. It seems I've crossed into something of geeky territory, because I have found that I actually like taking the notes. I pay more attention to the game and I am actually seeing the offense and defense running their plays or zones.

Going into this game I was a bit worried because of UConn's tough loss on Saturday at North Carolina. Ideally, I wanted UConn to have won that game with very physical play by both sides and still be number 1. They lost and slipped to #4, and would obviously be looking to bounce back. Their coach, Jim Calhoun, is too good to let them lose 2 in a row with the talent they have.

Before the game, I saw that Pitt got a huge bump in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll to #9 (from #15) and in the AP Writers poll to #8 (from #13). I was very surprised by the level of the bump and it struck me as a little much. Pitt may have been underrated in the polls by a couple notches, but seeing them jump Kansas and Georgia Tech (both of whom didn't lose last week) was a bit much. I'm guessing Pitt's first national game (last Monday against Notre Dame) was viewed by more of the voters.

The first 10 minutes do not go well for Pitt. They play completely off their style. Krauser, especially, tries to match UConn's uptempo style to push the ball up and down the court. This is a big mistake. Pitt has strong physical players who are tough and difficult to move on defense. By playing uptempo, UConn, which has faster, more athletic players can use their speed to get around the Pitt defense. Since they are playing uptempo, the Pitt defenders are reacting a little late and keep getting whistled for ticky-tack fouls -- reach-ins, hand checks and the like -- because they are being beat on the dribble. Pitt needs to slow the game down and keep UConn from moving the ball so much.

Page and Krause both pick up 2 two fouls early. At the 12 minute mark, Pitt calls a time-out. Coach Dixon is visibly hot. Pitt is down 18-10. He is pissed at the refs for the cheap calls, and is being pushed back to the bench by a couple assistants. I get why he is pissed at the refs. The cheap calls are all against Pitt right now, but that is because Pitt is completely off their game. The players look visibly flustered and worried about the refs; they are playing UConn's style; and that is leading them to take bad shots. They are running and gunning, but misfiring.

Pitt goes down 20-10 at about the 11 minute mark, and Pitt uses another time out. This time, Dixon is focused on his players rather than the officials. This marked the turnaround in the game for Pitt. It quickly became obvious that Dixon really got on the team -- and they actually listened -- about not playing UConn's game. About playing the half-court game that they can win. Not the up and down the court, frenetic pace that is killing them.

And the message gets through. Pitt goes on a 7-0 run over the next 3-4 minutes. The game slows to a half-court game where Pitt controls the tempo. Pitt, does, though miss some big opportunities to score more.

There has been a lot of talk about the difference in the team from last year with Brendin Knight at point versus this year with Carl Krauser. Knight was the more traditional PG looking for passes, setting up the offense, and having great court vision. Krauser is more the scoring PG. He looks around the court, as much to get his own shot as he does for finding the open pass.

I was struck by just how much Krauser can hurt the team at times during the 7-0 run when he forgets about his teammates. Pitt was cleaning the boards on rebounds, both on offense and defense, leading to the run, but there were plenty of missed chances. The problem was Krauser was more interested in slashing and driving more than he was in passing. He would stand out beyond the key looking things over, trying to get a lane cleared for him to drive. Or he would pass the ball on the perimeter where it would clearly have to go back to him. Since everyone knew he was looking to take the ball himself, the Pitt players were not moving as much. They were not cutting and moving away and without the ball. To some degree they had to stay where they were. They weren't sure which way Krauser was going with the ball, and the most they can do is try and get their defender to move out of the lanes.

Of course, UConn came out of the drought, and you could see just how much talent is on the team. They have excellent shooters. Their size inside is something to envy with Emaka Okafor, Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva. Then add in their excellent shooters with Ben Gordon and Denham Brown. Jeez. If they could make free throws (gee, that sounds familiar), they would be unbeatable.

By halftime, UConn reasserted themselves and had a 39-32 lead.

Think Pitt would like to have the first 9 minutes or so back for a do over? The bright side, it only took them 9 minutes to start playing their game. In the last week or so, it has taken Pitt at least 15 minutes to an entire half, before they settle down and play the game at their tempo. This is something that Dixon has to get control of immediately. Getting Pitt to play their style from the opening tip-off. Not getting caught up in trying to push the ball or play too fast.

Playing up-tempo led to more turnovers -- Pitt had 9 in the first half; and poor shooting -- only 39%.

The second half is completely Pitt's style from the opening. Pitt has the tempo at their pace. There's some frustration by UConn that they haven't been able to put Pitt away. Pitt, on the other hand, hasn't really been able to close because UConn keeps responding to any surge by Pitt.

At about 13:40, Pitt ties the game at 47. Then takes the lead 49-47 at the 13 minute mark. UConn has been held to only 8 points in the first 7 minutes of the second half.

UConn ties then takes the lead. And for the next 10 minutes I have no notes because the game keeps going back and forth. Neither side getting any separation. The lead changing. This is an edge of the seat game. UConn never getting more than 4 points ahead of Pitt; Pitt never being more than 2 points ahead.

At 2:47, Krauser gives Pitt a 63-62 lead. But UConn retakes the lead at 1:45. Then extends the lead to 3. UConn's big men really work the glass, and UConn shows how good they can be at killing the clock when they need to.

Pitt gets back within one point, 66-65 with 34 seconds left, and they have to foul. Oddly enough, since the refs kept their whistles in their pocket most of the second half, Pitt had to foul 3 times before they got to the one-and-one free throw time. UConn is just as bad as Pitt at the line. Unfortunately, Denham Brown made his free throws to give UConn a 68-65 lead with 25.8 seconds left.

Krauser takes the ball and drove right to the basket. Unfortunately, for Pitt, UConn was not biting. They knew Krauser was going to take it all the way himself. That he wouldn't pass the ball or kick it out. He ended up being stuffed and UConn got the ball with 14.4 left. Krauser and Pitt were completely predictable. It cost them against a talented and well coached team.

By the time Pitt fouled, 6 more seconds had run. UConn missed the first of the one-and-one. Pitt got it and called time out. 5.5 seconds left. Still a chance to send it to OT.

On the inbound, Ben Gordon gambled on the steal for the inbound to Krauser and whiffed. Krauser drove to the 3 point line and passed to the open Adam Graves, the freshman point guard. Graves had an open look but it hit the front of the rim. Damn.

Final score UConn 68-65.

It's still hard to be that upset over this loss. UConn is one of the best teams in the country, and Pitt almost beat them in Hartford. Just a little short. If Pitt could have had the first 9 minutes back... Oh, well. There is a rematch this year, and Syracuse is coming up on Saturday.

Post-game. Caught Digger Phelps' comments like Lee It was still nice to see Phelps finally concede how good Pitt is, after his dismissal of them last week after the Notre Dame game.

When did Chevy Troutman start playing so far away from the basket? He has been too far away all season. He can't get rebounds or points when he is that far out (7 boards, 5 points) and he is not the kind of player to be out there. He needs to be down low more. I know that with Chris Taft, that he is playing outside more, but he needs to be closer. Way too often he was up at the free throw line or further.

Box score. Despite only getting to the line 7 times, Pitt went 6-7 (it helps when Jaron Brown doesn't get to the line). Pitt shot a tolerable 7-20 from 3-point land, but shot only 41.3% (26-63) overall. Julius Page shot only 4-11 with 14 points. He has not shot well all year now, with his shooting % for the year at 41.1%.

Looks like we only got 2 seasons to watch Larry Fitzgerald play for Pitt. It appears that the NFL will let him in early.

Two seasons into what already has been a standout college career, Pittsburgh receiver Larry Fitzgerald early this week will be declared eligible for the 2004 NFL draft, league sources have told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

Because he is a true sophomore, Fitzgerald is not eligible for the draft based on the NFL rule that prevents players from entering the draft until three NFL seasons have "elapsed" -- language that has evolved into a league policy stating that players must be three years out of high school.

However, the NFL is verifying that Fitzgerald indeed earned enough credits at a military school he transferred to during his senior year of high school, sources have told Mortensen. In that case, Fitzgerald would meet the league requirement of being three years removed from his prep graduating class, and thus be eligible to enter the draft.

Well, it would have been nice if he could have stayed, but I can't argue with him going pro. There will be new QB under center, a new WR coach (should be a new offensive coordinator, but Walt doesn't see that as necessary), loss of the starting RB and TE. Just a lot of changes. Add in, of course, the fact that he is a projected Top 5 pick, and there is absolutely no reason to stay.

I can only wish him well in the pros, and hope the Eagles trade up for him. That would be sweet.

Back in August, Pitt released an incoming freshman basketball player from his scholarship to Pitt. As Pat said at the time, Pitt had depth at the position, the freed-up scholarship could be used to sign a much needed back-up point guard, and the recruit (Walt Waters) had yet to academically qualify. Well Pitt did use the scholarship to get a good young point guard.

The player Pitt lost accepted an offer at Cleveland State. My local paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer was very excited about this recruiting "coup," and glossed over the whole academic qualifications thing at the time.

Guess who has been declared ineligible for the rest of the season for academic problems?

Maybe it's nothing, maybe it's everything. Either way, this story sent a chill down my spine with regards to Pitt football recruiting.

Penn Hills quarterback Anthony Morelli, Pitt's marquee recruit from the Class of 2004, has told Panthers coaches he is going to talk to other schools because of their silence over his snub by a national all-star game.
...
Morelli, who gave Pitt a verbal commitment in August, has received overtures from Ohio State, Penn State and UCLA, among others, since December.

He would be Pitt's second high-profile WPIAL recruit to re-open the recruiting process. North Hills tailback Andrew Johnson has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State this weekend. Verbal commitments are non-binding. The national letter of intent signing period begins Feb. 4.

According to the story, Morelli is bent because he wasn't selected to play in a national high school all-star game. The head coach of the squad he would have played for is the father of Tyler Palko -- a redshirt sophmore, who will be competing for the starting position with Morelli in the next couple of years. Morelli claims that the Palkos punked him out of the all star game -- the coach Palko claims he had nothing to do with it, that he doesn't have a say in who is selected for the squads.

Pitt coach Walt Harris is in Florida (presumably recruiting) but will be returning to talk to the Morellis.

This thing stinks. I have trouble buying that Morelli is going to consider other schools just weeks before the national letter of intent day due to being snubbed. It sounds like a crock, that Morelli was just looking for an excuse to reconsider his options after getting plenty of whispers about the future of Pitt football and the Big East. If he just admitted that, I would have a hard time getting annoyed with the news because it is what we feared when the ACC staged its raid.

I'm back to praying for the Big 11 miracle.

I wish I had noticed this article last week. It talks about various top-25 teams as whether you should buy or sell their rank based on what they had accomplished in the non-conference portion of their schedule.

PITTSBURGH -- SELL: Of all the soft non-conference schedules that have been played this season, this is the one that disappoints me most. Pitt doesn't have the luxury of being an established commodity like Syracuse, and a couple of big-time games on national TV would do wonders for elevating the program. Not only have the Panthers not played a single ranked team, they have also played exactly one road game. They're a good team, but not nearly as good as their 14-0 record and No. 15 ranking would indicate. And that schedule will really hurt their NCAA seeding.

This makes a really good point. Pitt isn't a household name in college basketball. 3 straight years playing in the Big East Championship game (winning it last year) and 2 straight Sweet 16 appearances does not erase the decade or so of anonymity that was Pitt basketball.

I want to thank Pat for the valuable summary of the game from the stands. Pat points out that his favorite cheerleader was out of action for another game. Unfortunately, there is no Pitt Dance/Cheerleading site. This makes no sense, given the number of Google searches for the Pitt dance and cheerleading team that have come to this blog in its 5 month history. This is the only page Pitt provides for the Pitt spirit squads. Please note, that it is also out of date. It hasn't been updated for 2003-04. Sad. Once again, PSB must call on the people running Pitt's dance and cheer squads to make some effort to set up a separate site. Surely there are many computer geeks at Pitt who would be happy to assist in this worthy endeavor.

Pat also reminded me of some thing I noticed about the Pitt dance team -- which, by the way, was looking a little more toned than they did through the first half of the football season -- the Pitt dance team has to be the most modestly dressed dance team in the BCS. Come on, girls. You are indoors now. There is no excuse for pants, and top with a body stocking cover to the neck and arms. No mid rifs. No shorts. Hell, not even an elbow exposed.

You can do better.

Now, before Pat and the others jump on me to point out that the cheerleaders look hotter than the dance team this year -- let me just say that I agree with that assessment. I am merely commenting on the dance team's outfit since they received more time on the ESPN cameras than the cheerleaders.

It's just a good thing my wife doesn't even bother to read this site.

Where to start. Pitt won 74-71. Pitt did not play a particularly inspiring game, but they weren't lucky to win or such. The box score actually tells most of the story. Still, I took notes

This was the 7pm game on ESPN's "Big Monday," but it wasn't the big game. Apparently the hype was going to the Syracuse/Missouri game. ESPN-HD was showing that one (for all 5 people that actually have it), and more importantly, that meant that would be where Dick Vitale would be calling the game. I really wish I could recall where I read it recently, but someone was writing about watching a college game from the mid-80s on ESPN Classic where the color guy was smart, insightful and didn't overpower the game. Then realized it was Dick Vitale before he became a caricature of himself.

For the ND-Pitt match-up, it would be a 3-man crew of Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas. None of these guys really annoy me, and I found no reason to consider plunging an ice pick into my ears.

Pitt had a lot of trouble staying patient on offense. There were noticeable spells where Pitt was just hoisting shots and giving up the easy board. At the 11:40 mark in the first half, Pitt took a time out and when play resumed you could tell that Coach Dixon must have said something. The team really took some time setting up the half-court offense and looking for the open man. This would be something that happened throughout the game, even the commentating crew noticed a couple times. I think it was Bilas (with around 2:15 left in the first half) who said that Pitt's lack of patience on the offense was "bailing Notre Dame out." By halftime it was Notre Dame by one, 31-30.

Chris Thomas was smoking in the first half, and it continued for him in the second half. He finished the night with 29 points on 11-22 shooting (7-13 from 3-point) and 9 assists.

Pitt was outrebounded in the first half. Chris Taft was doing great work underneath, blocking shots and disrupting drives to the basket, but Chevy Troutman was not playing inside. He was often out beyond the free throw line guarding someone. ND was much more active in the first half to get after the loose board.

The first 5 minutes of the second half was very sloppy from both sides. The teams struggled to score, and shot poorly. Notre Dame, which does not have much depth, started committing more fouls. Of course, this is Pitt's weakness. Pitt could not seem to make free throws for a while. By the 6:07 mark in the second half, they flashed a stat showing Pitt going 4-11 from the line.

Notre Dame held on to their lead for almost the first 11 minutes of the second half, but Pitt started to dominate physically after a while. Pitt started to slowly take a lead and extend it. With 3 minutes to go, Pitt had a 63-54 lead.

At that point, the Irish began raining down the 3 pointers. They made 4 straight 3-pointers, went 5-6 from the 3-point line in the last 2.5 minutes. Pitt made some easy buckets and then had to earn their points from the free throw line.

Julius Page, usually one of the better FT shooters for Pitt, went 2-5 in the final minutes; but was bailed out because Taft and Troutman made their two FTs each. Jaron Brown -- who has an ugly FT shot -- added 1-2.

Pitt held on. ND went 12-26 from the 3-point line, which was what kept them in the game. Pitt went only 5-16.

Free throw shooting made this game closer than it should have. Pitt went 11-22 from the line. That is pathetic. At home. No screaming fans trying to distract. The team shot nearly that same percentage with contested shots -- 29-60. Jay Bilas talked to Dixon after the game and asked him about the lousy free throw shooting. Dixon, taking a page from his mentor, Ben Howland, dismissed the concerns. He pointed out that Pitt made the free throws when they needed them. Of course, if they made some of them earlier, they wouldn't have had to worry about making them later. Free throws will cost Pitt at least one victory this season.

Good balance in the scoring again. Jaron Brown led with 19 points, then Julius Page with 18, Krauser had 15 and Troutman and Taft each had 10. Chris Taft also had 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. He is playing amazingly well as a freshman. Yuri Demitrius will keep playing fewer minutes for a reason. He can't contribute. He only played 6 minutes, missed the front end of a one-and-one, and didn't provide any defense.

Pitt needs to remember to be patient on offense. Krauser still gets a little too excited at times, and tries to score without looking to see if someone might have a better shot. There are times when Krauser and Page just don't seem to be in the same sync that Page had with Knight. Otherwise, Pitt looked good.

Family duties kept me from the computer most of the weekend, so there was no way I could preview the big match-up (and it is big, despite the stupid slant taken in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the game isn't quite so big because Notre Dame had some early losses) that starts in about a half-hour between Pitt and Notre Dame on ESPN.

So I never got to post on the big double OT road win for Pitt over Miami on Saturday (but what about the other guys? don't know, ask them?). I don't know why this game being close and tight was surprising. Miami has a very good coach, one big star (Darius Rice), and a better than average team. Add in the possibility that Pitt might have been looking past them, and it was Pitt's first road game in almost 2 months -- and it hardly seems that far-fetched. I mean, I saw the potential last week.

Pitt's 15-0 start also has a Post-Gazette columnist planting a big slurpy one on head coach Jamie Dixon's rear as he jumps on the bandwagon. I'm not ready to go that far yet. Things can change quickly, and there are still plenty of questions. Still, even I will admit to some surprise that Pitt didn't lose focus and give a game away early in the season.

Get their free throws over 75% and I'm in all the way.

Pitt won its Big East opener against perennial bottom dweller Virginia Tech 78-59. VT played well for the first 18 minutes or so. They were shooting lights out from the 3-point line and forced 10 turnovers with some solid defense the game was tied at 28 with a little more than 5 minutes left in the first half. Then Pitt went on a run and it was 39-33 in favor of Pitt. The second half was all Pitt. Pitt Guard, Jaron Brown had a career game with 21 points, 4 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists (though his free throw percentage dropped even lower with a 1-4 shooting) while getting to 1,000 points. Still, I implore Jaron to stop shooting 3-pointers. He is a terrifying 4-30 at that range.

Freshman sensation, Chris Taft, got his third start in place of Senior Torree Morris. Taft also had a great game and doesn't look to be going out of the line-up anytime soon. Morris played only 6 minutes in the game committing 2 fouls and scoring 4 points.

Next up, at Miami on Saturday.

First a little self-congratulations for being dead-on:

Pitt is going to be a team, barring an upset to one of its cupcake opponents that will be in the top-15 by conference play, but no one will know whether this team is really that good.

I wrote that back in mid-November after Pitt's first game. Conference play begins today and Pitt is #15 in both the AP and the ESPN/USA Today polls. Pitt has moved up about 7-8 notches so far.

The counter argument for Pitt's soft non-con schedule is the fact that they may have the toughest conference schedule in the Big East, because of the new system in place.

In an effort to get more television exposure and ease tensions within the league by some member schools that didn't like the idea of divisional play, commissioner Mike Tranghese decided to have the top four teams in the league play each other twice and every other team once.

That means Pitt, the defending champs, must play home-and-home games against the other top three teams -- current No. 1 Connecticut, defending national champion Syracuse and Notre Dame.

"I think the biggest concern was everyone wanted to play everyone else," said Rob Carolla, director of communications for the Big East Conference. "There were certain years where Syracuse didn't play Connecticut, and TV wants to see those games."

The so-called second-tier teams are Providence, Seton Hall, Boston College and Villanova. They play home-and-home games against one another, but only have to play Pitt, Connecticut, Syracuse and Notre Dame once apiece. The system, which has been widely panned by the first-tier teams, presents an unbalanced schedule that could skew the won-loss records for the Big East season, and as a by-product, affect seeding for the NCAA tournament.
...
The tradeoff for Pitt is more national television games, which means more exposure for the program. (The Panthers play seven times on ABC, CBS, ESPN or ESPN2 between now and the end of the regular season). The downside, of course, is the potential for incurring more losses.

As a Pitt alum outside of the local area, more national games is nothing but a positive. The last few years, until the Big East Tournament in March, it would be happy time if Pitt was on ESPN or ESPN2 once or twice.

Now with VT coming into Pittsburgh tonight, the obligatory article on local connections. This is an easy one, since their head coach, Seth Greenberg, used to be an assistant coach at Pitt.

Well, Pitt assistant coach and ace recruiter Barry Rohrssen is a Greenberg protege, so every time Rohrssen lands a player such as blue-chip forward Chris Taft, a small piece of credit should go to Greenberg.
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Rohrssen, while playing at St. Francis (N.Y.), was a counselor at the prestigious Five Star Basketball Camp in 1980 when he met Greenberg, a 24-year-old assistant coach under Dr. Roy Chipman at Pitt.

Greenberg was instrumental in signing players such as Clyde Vaughan, who is Pitt's second all-time leading scorer.

Part of Greenberg's sales pitch was talking about the possibility of a new arena on Pitt's campus.

The one arrived two decades later.

The gregarious Greenberg laughed Monday when recounting the story. He got his first look at Petersen Events Center when his team took the court for a late-afternoon workout.

"This is the building we told recruits they'd play in," Greenberg said. "It's just a few years late. Once a facility (the Bryce Jordan Center) was built at Penn State, Pitt's wasn't far behind. I really think that helped facilitate the process."

Still haven't got around to doing a year-in-review thing for the past football season. Maybe this weekend. Two articles of note. A longish but well done piece on the outlook for the Pitt team in terms of turnover of players, position battles and the program as a whole.

The other article is one focusing on the program, and cautions Pitt fans against unrealistic expectations. Translation -- there is still a long way for Pitt to go before it can consider itself a national power, let alone a perennial top-25 team.

Pitt's Big East Conference schedule opens tomorrow against Virginia Tech. This is followed by a game against Miami on Saturday. Miami will be the first game away from the Pete for Pitt since the opening game at Madison Square Garden. The first true Big East test will be on Monday, January 12, a national game on ESPN's "Big Monday" at home against Notre Dame. The schedule shows 2 more games after that on ESPN and ESPN2 for Pitt (at UConn, at Syracuse) in January.

Pitt is 14-0 so far, and has moved up the polls and has improved as the season progressed. Not that Pitt isn't taking shots for the schedule they played -- and it isn't undeserved.

Pittsburgh (RPI 32, SOS 183): The Panthers are off to their best start in school history, going 14-0 into Big East play. Pitt also has never played 20 home games, at least that's according to the current staff.

Jamie Dixon took the schedule that Ben Howland gave him and actually added two of its best early tests -- Florida State at home and Alabama in New York. Both were good additions considering the Tide is No. 10 and the Seminoles are No. 44 in the latest RPI. Beating Murray State (No. 45) and Georgia (No. 60) also are quality wins at home.

But the rest of the schedule had only one team below 200, as Penn State checked in at No. 117. This schedule shouldn't hurt the Panthers if they can wind up with 25-plus wins and compete for a top spot in the Big East. But if they fall a bit in the league, the soft schedule will come back into play. Still, the Panthers enter conference play with loads of confidence, which is what Dixon needed a team on the younger side to have after beating a few higher-rated teams during their unblemished run.

The VT game doesn't worry me too much. The Miami game is more worrisome. Not because it's the first roadie in 6 weeks, but because it is 2 days before a national game against a quality team.

I've had a week to let the fiasco that was the Continental Tire Bowl work its way out of my system. I'm no longer thinking that wholesale changes need to be made to the Pitt coaching staff -- there's a lot I agree with in this Mike Pirusta column, but I disagree with his conclusion -- though Harris and the Pitt coaches need to take a hard look at their in-game coaching and adjustments.

Walt Harris has been at Pitt since the 1997 season. I'd say after this year, it's a safe bet that Walt won't be lured away within the next couple of years. That's fine, because he should have about 2 more years to make some more corrections and see how much further he can take Pitt football.*

As is oft repeated, he came here when it was seriously debated about dropping the program to Division II. Harris with AD Pedersen, the new facilities and much support from the administration helped to bring the program back. 1998 to 2000 saw the true rebuilding as the team started working its way out of the Rutgers and Temple district. The program took a step backwards when Harris tried to implement the spread offense on a team that was built for the pro set; and seemingly not aware that it usually takes a full year before a team actually functions effectively in the spread (see, West Virginia in 2001 versus 2002). Harris learned, though, and has not tried to reimplement the spread. 2002 saw the team make real progress and led to real expectations for Pitt.

This year, clearly, the team took a step backwards. This was a down year in the Big East (as evidenced by the bowl performances), and Pitt had the position talent to compete. (Actually, and excuse the digression, this was a down year in college football. I mean, this was parity hell. Is it any wonder the MAC looked so good this year? There proved to be no truly unbeatable teams. This has been a rather bland year for college football.) What no one realized was that the offensive line was so weak, and the defense was no where near what it had been. This exposed a real weakness for Harris -- failing to recruit and develop linemen. No one noticed until this year, because Pitt had so many other areas to develop, and the expectations weren't there. This year it bit them on the ass. Pitt didn't come close to matching anybody's expectations. But for Virginia Tech, Pitt would have been the most disappointing team in the Big East.

Harris prizes his reputation as an "offensive genius." Sadly, for him, you can't be much of a genius if the line doesn't give you a chance to execute the plays; if your quarterback is running for his life and has no chance to look downfield; if the line can't give any penetration or open a hole for the running game.

Harris now knows he can't scheme and work around weak line play. He needs to make improvements there. He needs to make it a vital recruiting area and have very strong coaching and teaching for the position.

The plain fact is that Pitt can't make another change right now. In 2003, the school lost its AD and basketball coach. Not to mention the whole ACC raid on the Big East crap. The AD and b-ball coaching searches were completely botched and embarrassing to watch. There has been enough turmoil that some relative calm would be recommended. Besides, new AD Jeff Long, probably doesn't have the juice or the stones to fire Harris right now -- especially with what appears to be a very, very good recruiting class coming.

* I reserve the right to change my mind on this come the 2004 season if I see no changes in the team's approach to line play, tackling, and game adjustments.

Okay, even I'm getting a little tired of being so negative. It's not that there isn't a reason to be so negative with Pitt sports at times; and to be honest, it comes more naturally and is almost more fun, to be acerbic, sarcastic, sardonic and bitter. But that's really my problem, not yours. So, while a look back on the 2003 Pitt football season should be in the works -- and I hope the others will offer their own versions -- it's time to give a little more notice to something that is going well. Pitt basketball.

Pitt is now 13-0 after beating down Georgia last night. The team was sparked by Mark McCarroll coming off the bench and being locked in. McCarroll hit his first 10 shots and finished going 11-for-12 with 26 points. Pitt dominated Georgia despite starting point guard Karl Krauser being out with a groin injury.

Now, I know I've complained a little about the weak non-conference schedule; and Pitt's shooting inconsistency, but I think I am getting close to believing this could be a very good team. I still maintain my stance that there is a lot of unknowns heading into the Big East schedule since Georgia and FSU were about the best teams they faced so far -- and that isn't much.

Krauser went down, something I feared and thought would be devastating, but Page played well at the point and back-up point guard, freshman Antonio Graves, has been developing quickly. And that is the real story. The surprising depth of the Panthers.

Freshman Guard, Chris Taft has been seeing more playing time. Chevon Troutman and Julius Page have missed time with injuries, but the team keeps moving. Seniors Yuri Demetrius and Toree Morris are seeing their minutes drop as they are being quickly passed by the younger talent -- so much so, that Demetrius appeared to be on the verge of quitting the team.

Pitt could very well be battling UConn for the top of the Big East.