From the Desk of Jim Snyder
The Panthers are headed for a BCS Bowl
Well you never know. The Pitt offense started 10 new players in September. Quite frankly they were a very poor football team in September. Pitt was scheduled to go to Tampa in early September when a hurricane postponed the game. The Panthers would have been an underdog had the game been played. Now they go to Tampa with a chance to wrap up a BCS Bowl berth.
A few weeks ago you could have said with a 90% certainty that Pitt would probably replace Walt Harris at the end of the season and who knows they still might. About the only thing you can say for sure is that Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long will undoubtedly be second-guessed by some alums now no matter what direction he eventually decides to go.
We spoke briefly to Jeff Long on Wednesday night at the Robert Morris basketball game about an individual who had taken early retirement. Jeff joked there had been times this past year where early retirement seemed like a good idea to him. I am not sure what he might say now that Pitt has upset West Virginia and is headed to a BCS Bowl.
Over the past three years Pitt is now 9-4, 8-5 and 7-3. Over this period the Panthers football team is 24-12. Pitt came into the season looking like a major rebuilding job was in order. It now looks like they were simply reloading.
The Panther football team is 30-12 in its last 42 games and 18-6 in its last 24 Big East Conference games. They have won at least seven games five years in a row. They will have been to a bowl five years in a row.
It appears Pitt is now headed for the Fiesta Bowl unless we have an upset or two next weekend. Pittsburgh, Southern California, Oklahoma, California and Auburn all have games this weekend but all will be favorites. It would probably take an upset in one or more of these games for Pitt to go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It is theoretically possible that Pitt could lose to South Florida and still end up in a BCS Bowl.
A BCS Bowl payout is currently worth approximately $14 million. This money is shared with all members of the conference, which means Rutgers and Temple will also get a share. Should Pitt go to a BCS Bowl as expected their share would be approximately $4.5 million. This will help Jeff Long to balance his budget.
Pitt has not dominated any opponent this year. They should be able to handle the South Florida Bulls but there is little evidence that it will be easy. As we reported in the War Room last week the game will be televised on ESPN2.
The Pitt basketball team was ranked No. 16 in last week’s poll. Pitt’s football team is ranked No. 19 in this weeks football poll. There are only six schools that can make the claim that their football and basketball programs are nationaly ranked and two of them will be in the new Big East. They are Louisville, Pittsburgh, Texas, Wisconsin and Florida.
After the Robert Morris basketball game we stopped on the SouthSide for a bite to eat. We have tried to make this point before and we will try it again. The new South Works development near the football practices facilities will eventually benefit recruiting although we may be still a year away. It will also help to revitalize the entire SouthSide. While traveling down Carson Street a school bus marked Sierra Catholic High School dropped off a group of young adults at a neighbor bar. It took us a minute or two to realize these were not students.
Hoops Talk and a Pope sighting
Jamie Dixon team is now 3-0 as they breezed by Loyola of Maryland on Saturday night. It is still early in the season but it appears that Dante Milligan and Levon Kendall will not get many minutes in the Panthers rotation once conference play starts. Keith Benjamin and Mark McCaroll may also see a limited number of minutes. It appears that McCarroll is playing only at the No. 4 spot as a backup to Chevon Troutman. Once league play begins Chevy figures to be on the floor except for brief rests and/or foul problems. If I were Mark I would play very hard the next several games or he could end up seeing a limited number of minutes once the new year starts.
On Wednesday night we spoke to Herb Pope who is a sophomore that just transferred to Aliquippa. Herb Pope is rated as one of the top sophomores in the country by Rivals.com. He has been given a four-star rating. Herb was on the floor at the “Pete” the night of the Robert Morris game. He told me he would be available later this year for an interview. He has already attended a couple of Pitt games. He appears to be the basketball version of Tyler Palko or Anthony Morelli in that Pitt will recruit him over a very long period of time. He cannot sign a Letter of Intent for two years. Herb reminds me a little of Billy Knight right now in street clothes. He is currently listed at 6’ 8” and is young enough that he could get bigger. He is in the 2007 basketball database.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
This post was edited on 11/29 6:50 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 11/29 6:52 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
The Panthers are headed for a BCS Bowl
Well you never know. The Pitt offense started 10 new players in September. Quite frankly they were a very poor football team in September. Pitt was scheduled to go to Tampa in early September when a hurricane postponed the game. The Panthers would have been an underdog had the game been played. Now they go to Tampa with a chance to wrap up a BCS Bowl berth.
A few weeks ago you could have said with a 90% certainty that Pitt would probably replace Walt Harris at the end of the season and who knows they still might. About the only thing you can say for sure is that Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long will undoubtedly be second-guessed by some alums now no matter what direction he eventually decides to go.
We spoke briefly to Jeff Long on Wednesday night at the Robert Morris basketball game about an individual who had taken early retirement. Jeff joked there had been times this past year where early retirement seemed like a good idea to him. I am not sure what he might say now that Pitt has upset West Virginia and is headed to a BCS Bowl.
Over the past three years Pitt is now 9-4, 8-5 and 7-3. Over this period the Panthers football team is 24-12. Pitt came into the season looking like a major rebuilding job was in order. It now looks like they were simply reloading.
The Panther football team is 30-12 in its last 42 games and 18-6 in its last 24 Big East Conference games. They have won at least seven games five years in a row. They will have been to a bowl five years in a row.
It appears Pitt is now headed for the Fiesta Bowl unless we have an upset or two next weekend. Pittsburgh, Southern California, Oklahoma, California and Auburn all have games this weekend but all will be favorites. It would probably take an upset in one or more of these games for Pitt to go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It is theoretically possible that Pitt could lose to South Florida and still end up in a BCS Bowl.
A BCS Bowl payout is currently worth approximately $14 million. This money is shared with all members of the conference, which means Rutgers and Temple will also get a share. Should Pitt go to a BCS Bowl as expected their share would be approximately $4.5 million. This will help Jeff Long to balance his budget.
Pitt has not dominated any opponent this year. They should be able to handle the South Florida Bulls but there is little evidence that it will be easy. As we reported in the War Room last week the game will be televised on ESPN2.
The Pitt basketball team was ranked No. 16 in last week’s poll. Pitt’s football team is ranked No. 19 in this weeks football poll. There are only six schools that can make the claim that their football and basketball programs are nationaly ranked and two of them will be in the new Big East. They are Louisville, Pittsburgh, Texas, Wisconsin and Florida.
After the Robert Morris basketball game we stopped on the SouthSide for a bite to eat. We have tried to make this point before and we will try it again. The new South Works development near the football practices facilities will eventually benefit recruiting although we may be still a year away. It will also help to revitalize the entire SouthSide. While traveling down Carson Street a school bus marked Sierra Catholic High School dropped off a group of young adults at a neighbor bar. It took us a minute or two to realize these were not students.
Hoops Talk and a Pope sighting
Jamie Dixon team is now 3-0 as they breezed by Loyola of Maryland on Saturday night. It is still early in the season but it appears that Dante Milligan and Levon Kendall will not get many minutes in the Panthers rotation once conference play starts. Keith Benjamin and Mark McCaroll may also see a limited number of minutes. It appears that McCarroll is playing only at the No. 4 spot as a backup to Chevon Troutman. Once league play begins Chevy figures to be on the floor except for brief rests and/or foul problems. If I were Mark I would play very hard the next several games or he could end up seeing a limited number of minutes once the new year starts.
On Wednesday night we spoke to Herb Pope who is a sophomore that just transferred to Aliquippa. Herb Pope is rated as one of the top sophomores in the country by Rivals.com. He has been given a four-star rating. Herb was on the floor at the “Pete” the night of the Robert Morris game. He told me he would be available later this year for an interview. He has already attended a couple of Pitt games. He appears to be the basketball version of Tyler Palko or Anthony Morelli in that Pitt will recruit him over a very long period of time. He cannot sign a Letter of Intent for two years. Herb reminds me a little of Billy Knight right now in street clothes. He is currently listed at 6’ 8” and is young enough that he could get bigger. He is in the 2007 basketball database.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
This post was edited on 11/29 6:50 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 11/29 6:52 AM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
