John Fanta (big college basketball insider) has Jaland Lowe going #17 overall. Would be pretty impressive.

Big rivalry dual, we need to get one back after losing the last one two years ago.
125: Babin v. Stickenberger
Stick was up at 133 earlier this year. He has since come back down to 125 where he is a past NCAA qualifier. These two have never hit directly, and they have similar common opponents. TOSS UP

133: Chappell v. Maddox
Tebo is a 125 wrestling up, but Maddox is a senior who has never had a great record and was the backup until Stick dropped. Hard to tell but I think Tebo can keep it close and pull a win off potentially. TOSS UP

141: Ant/Priest v. Titus
Whoever we send out here is probably in a 50/50 match. Titus is on a downswing this year, with 1 win in his last 8. However he has some great past wins, including beating Cole in the last dual v. WVU when he was ranked no.1 overall. TOSS UP

149: Solomon v. Hillegas
Finn gets Hillegas who is a 5th year. He is 4-6 on the year and has dropped 4 straight. He can give Finn some problems but I would expect for Finn to get it done. PITT FAVORED

157: Evans v. Gavronsky
Gavronsky has a winning record on the year but is 2-6 in his last eight. He could potentially push Evans but the Evans I have seen this year is someone I would expect to win this. PITT FAVORED

165: Keslar v. Hall
Hall is a returning AA who has been on a really good run this year. He is 19-0 and has 57% bonus rate. I would expect him to win and get WVU bonus points. WVU FAVROED

174: Augustine v. Conley
Luca won 3-2 over Conley last time they faced off. Conley is 8-3 on the year with some solid wins. I would hope Luca wins and wins comfortably, but based on their common results I think it will come down to a few sequences. TOSS UP

184: Heller v. Robin
Robin is 16-5 on the year, but all 5 losses are by fall, tech or major. He is someone who is vulnerable to give up points and while he has some good wins on the year, I would expect Reece to win again, but maybe close. PITT FAVORED

197: Stout v. Bush
Stout likely has Bush who was a 184 all year but has been at 197 for the last two duals. He has 1 win and 1 loss at 197. Stout has looked great recently and I would expect him to come out and get a bonus win in this won. PITT FAVORED

285: Pitzer v. Wolfgram
Pitzer won by major last time these two faced. He hasn't been as dominant this season but he should still get the win. PITT FAVORED

5 Pitt Favored, 4 Toss Up, 1 WVU Toss Up

** Some wins feel pretty good. Occasionally they can be euphoric.

** Conversely, most losses are disappointing. Some are really disappointing. But for me, I have to confess this one even stings a little more than usual.

** In fact, I’m stinging so much I considered not offering a post game entry today. But I’ve always pledged to write in the good and the bad. So perhaps this won’t be my best effort, but at least hopefully it will be a little bit better of an effort than our Panthers put forward today on the defensive glass.

** But this one stings a little more than usual not because of the loss in itself, but more because this is the first loss that makes me worry that this team isn’t quite the team that I thought they might be.

** I’ll readily acknowledge this could easily be an overreaction.

** So let’s be clear that I’m not yet offering any kind of predictions that our tournament berth is moving toward the bubble.

** And even if this team was most everything we thought they might be, we were always going to lose a minimum of three more ACC games after Duke, and this one was on the list of games we might lose.

** So there’s that.

** But it’s still a game I believed we should win, and I’m a bit troubled that we didn’t.

** Or maybe it’s just as simple as needing to figure out how to improve our defensive rebounding.

** This has been a real problem for us at times this year. This was the first time it cost us a win.

** Also when we needed stops down the stretch, our defense failed us.

** Louisville scored on their final four possessions and 9 of their final 10 possessions. We were up 2 when that streak started. The math is pretty simple. We lost by four.

** What adds to the sting is that we did enough good things offensively to win this. We shot well enough and took care of the ball well enough. And we scored extra points over average on a great night at the foul line.

** On the offensive end down the stretch, we showed enough poise, and truly benefited from the full return of Damian Dunn.

** For whatever reason, Damian was seemingly the only Panther who could be counted on to clear the defensive glass, especially in the second half.

** But all of the Panthers, including Damian made gaffs on the defensive end. Long story short, this team has a long way to go to figure out how to defend ball screens as a team. A couple times we went under the screen without secondary help, leaving Reyne Smith way too much room to torch us.

** Reyne may be a pretty decent player, but he’s not nearly as good as the Panthers allowed him to be today.

** While I don’t necessarily question Capel’s second half strategy to play his main five for all but 2 minutes in the second half, I do wonder exactly what he’s thinking. Has he lost confidence in GDG? And if so, I’m not exactly sure why because it didn’t appear to me to me that his defense or rebounding was particularly worse than that of anyone else.

** And Cam can’t or shouldn’t be considered the main culprit for the Panthers’ defensive struggles. But he had several issues with his own man at times, his help was untimely, and his boxing out on the defensive glass was hard to locate.

** Otherwise, while much of the needed defensive effort was there, communication and attention to detail on that end was not.

** Nonetheless, if you enjoy college hoops as much as most of us do, you know that just a few days after a stinging loss, there’s an opportunity for one of those satisfying wins.

** On the road at Florida State would be one such win. So even if this loss brings some thoughts that maybe the team isn’t quite what we thought they were, a win on Wednesday gets us back on that path.

Here's the thread for tonight's Pitt-Stanford game. We'll use this to discuss the game as it happens, and I'll post news and notes here throughout the night.

Here's some pre-game reading material:

little picture, big picture stuff.

1. i see a lot of people who are surprised at some of the results this season; people who expected something better. i haven't understood this as we quite literally don't have a 4 on this team. we just don't. we have one center, who doesn't play defense at a p5 level. and some of you are shocked that we lose rebounding battles? why? leading to:
2. the DG brothers are not p5 level. GDG maybe as a backup center...i guess. we expected a jump from year one to year two and did not get it, whatsoever. did some of you expect a jump from year two to three? and please do not tell me that they shoot good 3 pointers - this team doesn't need 7 footers hanging around the perimeter. it's just dumb.
3. so your back court is pretty challenged. we play clemson this week - a team that always has a solid back court. can you guess what is going to happen? i can.
4. i don't know where this team ends up. we seem to be a solid little BB team. the guards are really nice. and that's great. but it's an incomplete team, which, at this point, is what we get with jeff capel. it's been 7 years now. i have a group chat with friends and after 7 years, we still ask, "i don't know what this team is trying to do on offense." that is, outside of having a good 3 point shooter who takes over. otherwise, it's a lot of passing around the perimeter. less so with blake but we still see it now. at least we have a center cam can actually score, though, which is a radical departure from our previous centers.
5. so where does this leave me? if i'm running almost any division one college, i'm probably not making expensive changes right now, barring a kevin stallings type of situation. there are just too many unkowns in the short-term. replacing JC would be expensive, and i have no faith that we could attract a clear upgrade.

part of me thinks we just go cheap with head coaches but tell them they've got $3m in pay to play, plus whatever we can dig up in NIL. instead of paying a coach $5m, we'll pay $2m + $3m for roster costs. and we tell them, if you have success and want to walk, have at it. i know this won't happen but i kind of feel as if the game is about jimmy's and joe's - and pitt can find similar coaches to jeff capel.

but the cost to can capel is still in the 7 figures somewhere. until that's reduced, we aren't garbage enough that paying the exit fee makes sense. if i'm green, i probably tell jeff it's time for new blood on the bench, help him find NIL money the best i can, and cross my fingers. also tell him he's got a real blind spot in evaluating and developing big guys, b/c it's massive. guards? i trust you all day, jeff.

i also would have questions about the guys on the end of the bench: how much are we paying them to have nearly zero contributions? how much is papa getting? can we use that money for an older transfer who can add decent minutes? i don't even remember the name of the dude who redhsirted last year. and the kid who isn't playing from this class. what's the point? you don't have the luxury to develop guys anymore, unless they're super cheap and have a real trajectory. we're doing that with the twins and it's been a waste. kind of a will jeffress situation - but he was before NIL so it was fine to take flyers on young dudes. doesn't seem to make sense anymore.

anyway, a good number of you will shout me down for being negative. but this team just has glaring flaws, which has been a consistent pattern with JC's teams.

Does anyone know if Aaron Donald’s house has survived the fires in LA?

#H2P

Jerry should go after tomlin, take him off our hands, and then have the same exact coach in Dallas that he had with McCarthy.

Updated: 1/15/2025

Pitt has 15 games left in the regular season. Here's where each of those opponents currently sit in the NET rankings and what quadrant each game falls in:

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Pitt's first weekend of transfer visits is upon us. Here's a rundown of some of Pitt's top targets, what this weekend will look like and more.

- The top priority from the very start has been rebuilding the offensive line. I get the sense that Pitt believes it has a franchise quarterback in Eli Holstein (and I don’t entirely disagree), but as we saw this season, things get rough when the offensive line starts breaking down - even for a franchise quarterback.

The sense I get is that Pitt is intent on not going into next season with the same situation on the offensive line as the one that the team entered 2024 with. The coaches want experienced veterans for the starting lineup and some quality backups to fill in the depth. The starters are of the utmost importance, but the depth is important, too, since we saw what one injury did to Pitt’s offensive line - and, by extension, the offense - this past season.

The goal, from what I’m told is to get tackles. The staff largely feels good about Ryan Baer, Lyndon Cooper and B.J. Williams, but they need two more linemen to fill out the lineup. If that has to be a guard and a tackle, they’ll take it, but if they can get two tackles and potentially move Baer inside to guard, that’s an option on the table as well.

Either way, they want linemen, first and foremost, from the portal this offseason. To that end, we’ve seen a pretty heavy emphasis on offensive linemen in the portal, and the first weekend will have a couple coming to campus.

- Here’s a look at the top offensive line targets for the staff so far (in no particular order):

Derek Simmons - Offensive tackle, Western Carolina

Yep, another Western Carolina transfer target. Simmons actually transferred to WCU after starting his career at Abilene Christian. After joining the Catamounts (and sitting out a year due to the old transfer rules), Simmons started 16 games over the last two seasons. That was a start for every game he played, as he missed some due to injury. But when he started, Simmons lined up at tackle, which is where he would be most needed at Pitt.

Simmons is expected to visit this weekend, and he’s apparently also planning a visit to Oklahoma this weekend, too.

Rahtrel Perry - Offensive tackle, Central Connecticut State

Perry was the starting left tackle for Central Connecticut State this year and allowed four sacks on 430 pass-block snaps according to Pro Football Focus. I’ve talked to some people who think Perry might be the best of the offensive tackles Pitt is looking at, and I think the Panthers are high on his list. He’s also visiting Syracuse this weekend and is also looking at Maryland, Boston College, Vanderbilt, Washington, Virginia and Houston.

Will Jados - Offensive tackle, Miami (Oh.)

Jados has started the last 27 games at left tackle over the last two seasons and started 11 of the Redhawks’ 13 games in 2022. In 1,173 pass-block snaps over that span, he allowed nine sacks, per PFF. In addition to his offer from Pitt, Jados has offers from Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. He’s another big tackle - listed at 6’8” and 307 pounds - and would be another nice fit blocking on the edge.

Kendall Stanley - Offensive tackle, Charlotte

Stanley started every game for Charlotte this season and allowed two sacks total with around one pressure per game. Since he went into the portal, Stanley has gotten offers from Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Kansas, Memphis, BYU, Miami (Fla.) and Pitt. We're still working to see what we can find about Stanley; we'll add more as we get it.

Alex Wollschlaeger - Offensive tackle, Bowling Green

Wollschlaeger has started 37 games at right tackle over the last three seasons with seven sacks allowed, according to PFF. He’s a 6’7” 305-pound senior with one year of eligibility remaining, and he went into the portal after earning first-team All-MAC honors in 2024. Since he announced his transfer, Wollschlaeger has received offers from Kentucky, Northwestern, Pitt, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, Nebraska, Arkansas, N.C. State Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Kansas State and Florida State. That’s an impressive list, to be sure, and Wollschlaeger told us he is starting his visits with a trip to Indiana today and Kentucky on Saturday. Pitt is in consideration for a visit, too, but as of Friday morning, he had not decided whether he would see the Panthers in person.

For now - and things can (and probably will) change - it seems like these five offensive line targets have emerged at the top of Pitt’s board. There are a few common themes here: chief among them being that all five are offensive tackles and all five have a lot of starting experience. It’s clear what the staff is going for: experienced, talented offensive tackles who can step in and play right away.

- The other top priority has been at receiver. With Konata Mumpfield graduating from a group that felt a little thin to begin with, the staff is hoping to add to the ranks from the portal. Here are some targets who have emerged so far - and where the Panthers stand.

Noah Jennings - Wide receiver, Charleston Southern

Jennings is a 6’1” 185-pound receiver who caught 46 passes for 475 yard and three touchdowns this season after earning freshman All-America honors (second team) from Phil Steele last year. He went into the portal on Dec. 8 and has since picked up offers from Pitt, Georgia Southern, East Carolina and Washington State. The Panthers will get a look at him in-person when he visits this weekend (he was on his way to Pitt as of this afternoon), and he’s also looking to visit East Carolina and Cincinnati in the next week.

Javon Tracy - Wide receiver, Miami (Oh.)

Tracy caught 57 passes for 818 yards and seven touchdowns this past season - he threw a touchdown pass, too - and he was named first-team All-MAC for that performance. A 6’” 200-pound receiver, Tracy will be on campus early next week when he visits Pitt on Tuesday. He told us he’ll be visiting Minnesota this weekend, Georgia Tech on Monday, Baylor on Tuesday, Pitt on Wednesday and Utah on Thursday. That’s a lot of travel, but that’s what he’s got planned.

Reggie Virgil - Wide receiver, Miami (Oh.)

Tracy’s teammate at Miami, Virgil was a second-team All-MAC selection after posting 816 yards and nine touchdowns on 41 catches. Virgil is bigger than Tracy - he’s listed at 6’4” and 190 pounds - and could provide some needed size in Pitt’s receiver room. The Panthers aren’t the only interested team, of course; more than 20 Power-4 teams have offered him, and he already visited Michigan State before heading to Texas Tech today. It’s going to be a battle - a high-priced one, most likely - for Virgil, so we’ll see if Pitt can get him on campus.

UPDATE: Virgil committed to Texas Tech on Friday night.

- There’s one other name I’ll touch on here.

Anthony Colandrea - Quarterback, Virginia

I dismissed this initially, but I think there might be more here than I suspected. I knew Pitt had been in contact with Colandrea, but I didn’t think there was much to it and I didn’t expect it to go anywhere, mostly because Pitt has a starting quarterback for 2025, and I can’t see Colandrea going to a school where he would almost certainly be the backup.

But the more I’ve dug into it, the more I think there is some legitimate interest. Again, I think the interest is only in acquiring him as a backup, so I can’t really see it from his angle. But it’s something to keep an eye on.

- So right now, we’re looking at three visits for Pitt this weekend: receiver Noah Jennings and offensive linemen Derek Simmons and Rhatrel Perry. We’ll see what comes of those visits and if anyone else comes to town (which I think will be the case).

Auburn without their best player just crushed Miss St. They out muscled and out hustled the Bulldogs tonight with Johni Broome.

Zero playoff wins combined.
Steelers legends. not
Next to MinKah and Tomlin

Realizing this is stating the obvious, I wanted to look at what his stats looked like only in games he finished (SMU and YSU count). 250 YPG, and looking at 26 TDs across a full season. It finished so poorly that it's easy to forget how great it started. 300 yards passing in every game except YSU because he was both pulled and we rushed for 295 yards. Until the Cal game, he had 3 TD passes in each of the first five games.

He should be able to give us a chance in every game. I see Duq, CMU as locks. BC and NCSU are likely wins. But other than ND, I don't really see a game that we don't at least have a shot of...and that's only because they are getting $25MM from the playoff which is going to load up their NIL. Wish we had GT/STanford/Cuse at home.

Pittsburgh Panthers​

2025 starter: Eli Holstein, redshirt sophomore

Why he'll start: The Alabama transfer put together Pitt's best season by a freshman quarterback since Alex Van Pelt in 1989. He matched Van Pelt's 17 touchdown passes while completing 62% of his passes for 2,228 yards. Holstein also provided a true dual threat for coordinator Kade Bell's offense with 328 rushing yards, which ranked second on the team, and three touchdowns. He's coming off a late-season leg injury and will need to be monitored in the spring, but when healthy, he gives Pitt a real spark.

Competition: Freshman Julian Dugger finally saw the field in the GameAbove Sports Bowl and provided a spark with two passing touchdowns to complement 88 rushing yards and a score. After the strong debut, he could be good insurance behind Holstein in 2025.