I see that Pepperdine basketball canceled their game today.

Hoping that PittBasketBallInsider escaped unharmed from the fires in LA.

Now that the portal has closed for Pitt players, we can sort of start to take where the Panthers roster is from the guys set to return, the incoming 2025 class, plus the three players who have committed out of the portal to this point.

The roster situation changes next season. Currently, college football teams can have rosters of 120, with 85 players on scholarship. That is expected to change with 105 total roster spots, and you can put all 105 on scholarship, though I’m guessing some schools will maintain some commitment to having spots for walk-ons too.

But seeing the roster laid out like this should help paint a better picture in terms of what Pitt still needs from its remaining portal efforts. Obviously, DE looks to be at the top of the list, with OLine and WR help not far behind.

Then obviously, they need to close with some depth options at places like QB, TE, and DB as well.


Quarterback (3)

1. Eli Holstein Soph.
2. Julian Dugger R-FR
3. Mason Heintschel FR

Running Back (7)

1. Derrick Davis SR
2. Demond Reid SR
3. Che Nwabuko JR
4. Juelz Goff R-FR
5. Synkwan Smith FR
6. Jaylin Brown FR
7. Jykyrian Turner FR

Wide Receiver (10)

1. Raphael Williams SR
2. Censere Lee SR
3. Deuce Spann SR (Transfer)
4. Kenny Johnson JR
5. Zion Fowler-El Soph.
6. Cameron Monteiro R-FR
7. Tyreek Robinson R-FR
8. Tony Kinsler FR
9. Bryce Yates FR
10. Cameron Sapp FR

Tight End (4)

1. Jake Overman SR
2. Jake Renda Jr.
3. Malachi Thomas SO
4. Max Hunt FR

Offensive Line (18)

1. Lyndon Cooper SR
2. Terrence Enos SR
3. Kendall Stanley JR (Transfer)
4. Ryan Baer JR
5. Jackson Brown JR
6. Isaiah Montgomery JR
7. BJ Williams JR
8. Ryan Carretta SO
9. Tai Ray SO
10. Adham Abouraya R-FR
11. Jiavani Cooley R-FR
12. Caleb Holmes R-FR
13. Mason Lindsay R-FR
14. Moritz Schmoranzer R-FR
15. Shep Turk FR
16. Akram Elnagmi FR
17. Torian Chester FR
18. Jordan Fields FR

Defensive Tackle (7)

1. Nick James JR
2. Sean FitzSimmons JR
3. Isaiah Neal SO
4. Francis Brewu SO
5. Jahsear Whittington R-FR
6. Ty Yuhas R-FR
7. Trevor Sommers FR

Defensive End (6)

1. Nate Temple SR (Assuming he gets waiver)
2. Jimmy Scott JR
3. Maverick Gracio SO
4. Zach Crothers R-FR
5. Denim Cook FR
6. Julian Anderson FR

Linebacker (9)

1. Nick Lapi SR
2. Kyle Louis JR
3. Braylan Lovelace JR
4. Rasheem Biles JR
5. Davin Brewton R-FR
6. Cameron Lindsey R-FR
7. Jeremiah Marcelin R-FR
8. Justin Thompson FR
9. Emmanuel Taylor FR

Cornerback (7)

1. Tamon Lynun SR
2. Rashad Battle SR
3. Shadarian Harrison SO
4. Nigel Maynard R-FR
5. Davion Pritchard R-FR
6. Mason Alexander FR
7. Shawn Lee FR

Safety (6)

1. Javon McIntyre SR
2. Jesse Anderson SO
3. Cruce Brookins SO
4. Allen Bryant R-FR
5. Joshua Guerrier FR
6. Cole Woodson FR

Specialist (3)

1. Caleb Junko SR
2. Nilay Upadhyayula SR
3. James London JR

Watched a couple of minutes of Duke/Miss. Broadcaster said Duke paid $9M NIL for Tulane QB. Can't believable Duke has that much NIL money. I guess their standards were bought out by NIL.

Also, it was great watching Oregon get stomped. I guess Nike's unlimited NIL wasn't enough.

Could PSU's CFP run get any easier? No word yet on who may be out. These things CAN be pretty a pretty big deal.

Scores After Quarter
Q1: 32-7 SMU
Q2: 49-18 SMU
Q3: ............ 49-46 SMU
THEY WENT ON A 28-0 RUN

Same records basically. PSU 11-2, OSU 10-2

Both lost to Oregon

OSU has the head to head AT Penn State, which is a huge win.

OSU beat Indiana. PSU beat Illinois.

Rest of the schedules were junk.

OSU does have the worse loss but is that enough to offset the head to head win and IU win....and Vegas metrics which show that OSU is considerably better?

This isnt fair to Oregon either as they are the #1 seed but are a 2.5 point underdog to a team that many feel is the best in the nation. They probably would have been better off losing to Penn State and getting the 5 seed.

I might have missed this on the board but this is pretty big news:

Login to view embedded media
Any idea who this could be or is it potentially old news?

Let’s go…

TVD to reunited with Rhett Lashlee.


Also, there's this...

Why didn't they give UGa a quasi-home game in Atlanta as the 2 seed?

This has been posted in various threads, but just to get everybody on the same page. Pitt is expected to host two transfer candidates today:

Western Carolina QB Cole Gonzalez
Mercer DE Brayden Manley

The priority is still on offensive linemen, but in the meantime, these are two interesting positions to target.

Gonzales obviously has the connection to Kade Bell. While playing for Bell at WCU in 2022 and 2023, Gonzales appeared in 19 games and completed 65% of his passes for 4,139 yards, 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. This season with Bell gone, Gonzales only played eight games but threw for 2,543 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He went into the portal after the season and stands as an intriguing target.

From Pitt's perspective, a capable backup quarterback could be very valuable. Eli Holstein is the returning starter, and he'll be the starting quarterback this season. But Holstein also missed two full games and parts of three others due to injury; that doesn't guarantee that he'll miss time in the future, but it's a possibility Pitt should be prepared for. After Nate Yarnell and Ty Dieffenbach transferred, the Panthers were left with two scholarship quarterbacks on the returning roster and one incoming freshman. The ideal scenario would have been to bring Yarnell back, but with that off the table, Gonzales is a pretty good option, given his knowledge of the offense.

From Gonzales' perspective, though, I don't quite get it. Like I said, Pitt has a starting quarterback, and Gonzales would have to know that going into the visit. Additionally, I don't see Pitt using a lot of the NIL budget on a backup quarterback. So I would have to think Gonzales could find better options if he's looking for 1. A starting job, and/or 2. A decent NIL amount. But he's visiting, so there's something to monitor, and like I said, he would be a pretty great option as the backup QB.

Manley went into the transfer portal on Monday and almost immediately got offers from Pitt, Arizona, Toledo, Memphis, Virginia, Western Michigan, Charlotte, UAB and Eastern Carolina on his first day in the portal. Indiana and North Carolina have also joined the mix in the last day.

Manley had a breakout this season, recording 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He's 6'2" and 245, so he's not a big pass-rusher, but he's productive and obviously has drawn a lot of interest. I think Pitt would love to add a defensive end to go with Jimmy Scott and Sincere Edwards (I suppose Chief Borders would fill out that rotation). Manley is also a sophomore, so he's got two years of eligibility remaining, which is another positive.

Big loss, but what's the difference anymore, honestly? This team seems pretty doomed while Narduzzi is still at the helm.

Cignettied yet again.