I have to say I'm a little surprised by this because it's happening so late, but nonetheless, Chris Dokish is blogging that Pitt may be adding a point guard for THIS SEASON:
Enter Chase Adams. The 5′10″ Baltimore native is very seriously considering joining the Pitt program. Adams has spent the last three seasons at Centenary College in Louisiana where last season he averaged 14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 4.5 apg, while making 39.8% of his three point shots and 70.3% of his free throws. He was also named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year thanks to his 83 steals. He has averaged 2.3 spg over his three year career.
Before you get to skeptical with the team already having Travon Woodall now and Isaiah Epps coming in next year, this looks like it would be a one-year deal. I have to admit that last year's 'short-term' addition of Jermaine Dixon was a good pickup. But I'm still a bit skeptical that Pitt would do this.
Woodall may be just as talented and has already been in the system a year. Yes, his numbers at the home of Robert Parish, but every bad team is always going to have someone put up good numbers (See Cedric Ceballos with the Lakers from 1993 - 1996).
The flip side is that he may be just the type of veteran we need on a young team.
Count me remarkably undecided.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
A Little Basketball
In the midst of all of the football talk, Pitt released it's non-conference basketball schedule today.
You can hit the link for the entire schedule, but a few highlights are:
- Still no Midnight Madness...I won't get on my soapbox about this. The annual FanFest will be Saturday, October 3rd at the Peterson Events Center.
- Game Vs. the Binghamton Kornheisers on November 17th will actually be on ESPN2.This is part of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Pittsburgh. Pitt will play Eastern Kentucky two days later. I think this is a bit different from before - if I'm not mistaken, Pitt played on back-to-back days.
- The tournament will then move to Kansas City for the Semifinals/Final/Consolation games. Pitt will match up against Iowa, Wichita State, or Texas. Wichita State in Missouri? Can you say trap game?
- The City Game Vs. Duquesne will be on December 2nd at Duquesne. The game will be on CBS.
- The Robert Morris game is the only one TBA.
You can hit the link for the entire schedule, but a few highlights are:
- Still no Midnight Madness...I won't get on my soapbox about this. The annual FanFest will be Saturday, October 3rd at the Peterson Events Center.
- Game Vs. the Binghamton Kornheisers on November 17th will actually be on ESPN2.This is part of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Pittsburgh. Pitt will play Eastern Kentucky two days later. I think this is a bit different from before - if I'm not mistaken, Pitt played on back-to-back days.
- The tournament will then move to Kansas City for the Semifinals/Final/Consolation games. Pitt will match up against Iowa, Wichita State, or Texas. Wichita State in Missouri? Can you say trap game?
- The City Game Vs. Duquesne will be on December 2nd at Duquesne. The game will be on CBS.
- The Robert Morris game is the only one TBA.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
A New Deal
Looks like the Big East has, deservedly so, locked up their BCS bowl guarantee for the next five years:
"It is all in place, the Big East is in for the next five years," BCS administrator Bill Hancock said yesterday at Big East media day. "There were standards in place, and the Big East proved it on the field.
"All six [BCS] conferences earned it on the field for that matter, and there was a pretty big gap between conference No. 6 and conference No. 7 in the ratings. It was a four-year [span] that was evaluated '04 to '07. Now the next four years will be evaluated to see if anyone else out there can earn it."
Personally, I didn't know what the criteria was for the Big East keeping their bid. But it's good to know that the folks making these decisions (however ludicrous it might be that there's no playoff system) are at least looking at the results on the field and not going with public opinion.
The Big East has been very successful in bowl games, particularly BCS games, where they're 3-1 over the past four years as the article notes.
And it's not just been the BCS games - they've performed solidly throughout the course of the entire bowl season each year, stacking up well against other BCS conferences:
2008 Season (4-2) - 3rd overall (out of six BCS conferences)
2007 Season (3-2) - 4th overall
2006 Season (5-0) - 1st overall
2005 Season (1-3) - 6th overall
Over the past four seasons that were evaluated, the Big East went 13-7. How does that stack up against other BCS Conferences? I was curious myself so I did a little digging:
SEC (22-10 / .688)
PAC-10 (15-7 / .681)
BIG EAST (13-7 / .650)
BIG 12 (17-14 / .548)
ACC (15-19 / .441)
BIG Ten (9-20 / .310)
The first thing that should stick out is despite the public's insistence that the Big East is a weak conference, their track record is solid, placing third of the six conferences. If ANY of these conferences should lose a BCS bid, it sure as heck ain't the Big East.
The next obvious thing is, man, I knew the Big Ten was bad, but didn't know they were THAT bad. 9-20? Even Prairie View A&M thinks that's a lot of losses.
The last thing is look how close the Big East is to having the best record - they're only .38 points behind the leader, the SEC. By contrast, look how much better they are than the worst conference, the Big Ten - They MORE THAN DOUBLED their winning percentage. That's unbelievable considering the relatively short time period we looked at.
Clearly, the Big East should be in no danger in the near future of losing a BCS bid.
"It is all in place, the Big East is in for the next five years," BCS administrator Bill Hancock said yesterday at Big East media day. "There were standards in place, and the Big East proved it on the field.
"All six [BCS] conferences earned it on the field for that matter, and there was a pretty big gap between conference No. 6 and conference No. 7 in the ratings. It was a four-year [span] that was evaluated '04 to '07. Now the next four years will be evaluated to see if anyone else out there can earn it."
Personally, I didn't know what the criteria was for the Big East keeping their bid. But it's good to know that the folks making these decisions (however ludicrous it might be that there's no playoff system) are at least looking at the results on the field and not going with public opinion.
The Big East has been very successful in bowl games, particularly BCS games, where they're 3-1 over the past four years as the article notes.
And it's not just been the BCS games - they've performed solidly throughout the course of the entire bowl season each year, stacking up well against other BCS conferences:
2008 Season (4-2) - 3rd overall (out of six BCS conferences)
2007 Season (3-2) - 4th overall
2006 Season (5-0) - 1st overall
2005 Season (1-3) - 6th overall
Over the past four seasons that were evaluated, the Big East went 13-7. How does that stack up against other BCS Conferences? I was curious myself so I did a little digging:
SEC (22-10 / .688)
PAC-10 (15-7 / .681)
BIG EAST (13-7 / .650)
BIG 12 (17-14 / .548)
ACC (15-19 / .441)
BIG Ten (9-20 / .310)
The first thing that should stick out is despite the public's insistence that the Big East is a weak conference, their track record is solid, placing third of the six conferences. If ANY of these conferences should lose a BCS bid, it sure as heck ain't the Big East.
The next obvious thing is, man, I knew the Big Ten was bad, but didn't know they were THAT bad. 9-20? Even Prairie View A&M thinks that's a lot of losses.
The last thing is look how close the Big East is to having the best record - they're only .38 points behind the leader, the SEC. By contrast, look how much better they are than the worst conference, the Big Ten - They MORE THAN DOUBLED their winning percentage. That's unbelievable considering the relatively short time period we looked at.
Clearly, the Big East should be in no danger in the near future of losing a BCS bid.
Check It Out
I'm honored to have been selected to participate in the weekly CBSsportsline.com weekly football Blogpoll.
You can compare the blogger picks vs. the 'experts' here.
In addition to finding my weekly vote there, you can also get it right here. Definitely be sure to check it out. First vote is due out later this month.
You can compare the blogger picks vs. the 'experts' here.
In addition to finding my weekly vote there, you can also get it right here. Definitely be sure to check it out. First vote is due out later this month.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Football News
Today was kind of a shocker. First I thought it was the Sporting News that had gone batty. Now it's the media, which has gone and picked Pitt to win the conference.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - any team with as big of a question mark at quarterback is hard to pick as a champion. That said, the defense looks good and if the running game can manage the clock a bit, they could surprise some. Still, it's hard for me to pick them outright - I placed them third in the blogger preseason poll in the post below.
And speaking of the Big East, guess who's on Twitter and Facebook?
Recruiting-wise, Pitt landed another one over the weekend in Ohio TE Dan Schneider:
Schneider chose the Panthers over 19 scholarship offers, including offers from Florida State, West Virginia, Colorado, Syracuse, Louisville and Cincinnati. His three finalists were Pitt, Florida State and West Virginia and he made his decision after visiting both Pitt and West Virginia earlier this week.
Looks like Pitt's current Tight End, Nate Byham, had something to do with it:
''It helped a lot to sit down with Nate and get the perspective of someone who's been through this and get his honest opinion of his experience at Pitt,'' Schneider said of their lunch during an unofficial visit this past Monday. ''It was invaluable.''
In the 'not completely meaningless, but darn close' category, you can vote here for Pitt to have a spot in the All-Time Top 40 team (they're currently 37th). ESPN.com has already had their top 40 mock draft and Pitt is not included. Now I'm not normally one for these types of polls, but really - Arizona State? Kansas? South Carolina? Come on.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - any team with as big of a question mark at quarterback is hard to pick as a champion. That said, the defense looks good and if the running game can manage the clock a bit, they could surprise some. Still, it's hard for me to pick them outright - I placed them third in the blogger preseason poll in the post below.
And speaking of the Big East, guess who's on Twitter and Facebook?
Recruiting-wise, Pitt landed another one over the weekend in Ohio TE Dan Schneider:
Schneider chose the Panthers over 19 scholarship offers, including offers from Florida State, West Virginia, Colorado, Syracuse, Louisville and Cincinnati. His three finalists were Pitt, Florida State and West Virginia and he made his decision after visiting both Pitt and West Virginia earlier this week.
Looks like Pitt's current Tight End, Nate Byham, had something to do with it:
''It helped a lot to sit down with Nate and get the perspective of someone who's been through this and get his honest opinion of his experience at Pitt,'' Schneider said of their lunch during an unofficial visit this past Monday. ''It was invaluable.''
In the 'not completely meaningless, but darn close' category, you can vote here for Pitt to have a spot in the All-Time Top 40 team (they're currently 37th). ESPN.com has already had their top 40 mock draft and Pitt is not included. Now I'm not normally one for these types of polls, but really - Arizona State? Kansas? South Carolina? Come on.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Preseason Blog Poll Results
Who is going to win the Big East this year? Your guess is as good as ours, but assorted BE football bloggers decided select a consensus conference favorite, also voting for all-conference teams, and projected award winners in the process.
Participating blogs:
Astro's Bulls Blog (South Florida)
Bleed Scarlet (Rutgers)
Eye of a Panther (Pittsburgh)
Orange::44 (Syracuse)
Orange Fizz (Syracuse)
The Smoking Musket (West Virginia)
The UConn Blog (Connecticut)
Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician (Syracuse)
If your favorite blog was not included, it was either because they apparently have no fans on the internet (Cincinnati), did not respond to invitations to participate, no contact address could be found, were unfortunately overlooked, and there was one major human oversight where a ballot was not sent in time to the popular Pitt Blather blog.
Projected order of finish (tally of first place votes in parentheses)
1. USF (3) - Big East bloggers generally loved USF, with the only major skeptic being Rutgers blog Bleed Scarlet.
2. West Virginia (2) - The votes are once again a near consensus, with Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician the only one skeptical of the Mountaineers.
3. Pittsburgh (1) - Aptly named The UConn blog projects big things for the Panthers in '09, losing only one conference game.
4. Rutgers (1) - The double reverse jinx may be in play, with Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician seeing the Knights rolling through a god-awful schedule to their first ever BCS berth.
5. Cincinnati (1) - There's a lot of skepticism of the Bearcats this year, likely owing to their complete overhaul on defense. Bleed Scarlet thinks that Brian Kelly and co. will manage to outscore their opponents anyway, while Syracuse blog The Orange Fizz believes that Cincy will barely manage to stay out of the conference basement.
6. UConn - UConn's projection is as boring and monotonous as their offense, with exactly four voters placing them fifth, and the other half had them sixth.
7. Syracuse - Upset of the century! The rebuilding Orange managed to stave off a crumbling Cardinals squad for seventh. The Orange Fizz actually has the Cuse finishing sixth in conference, ahead of Cincinnati.
8. Louisville - It's going to be a very long year for the once-proud Cardinals.
First Team All-Conference Roster
QB: Matt Grothe (USF)
RB: Victor Anderson (UL) - unanimous selection
RB: Noel Devine (WV) - unanimous selection
WR: Marshawn Gilyard (UC)
WR: Mike Williams (SU)
TE: Nate Byham (Pitt) - unanimous selection
OT: Anthony Davis (RU)
OT: TIE Jeff Linkenbach (UC)/Mike Hicks (UConn)
OG: Josh Jenkins (WV)
OG: Art Forst (RU)
C: Ryan Blaszczyk (RU)
K: Maikon Bonani (USF)
KR/PR: Marshawn Gilyard (UC)
DL: Scooter Berry (WV) - unanimous selection
DL: Arthur Jones (SU)
DL: Greg Romeus (Pitt)
DL: George Selvie (USF)
LB: Reed Williams (WV) - unanimous selection
LB: Ryan D'Imperio (RU)
LB: Scott Lutrus (UConn)
CB: Aaron Berry (Pitt)
CB: Brandon Hogan (WV)
S: Robert Vaughn (UConn) - unanimous selection
S: Nate Allen (USF)
P: Rob Long (SU) - unanimous selection
Second Team All-Conference Roster
QB: Tony Pike (UC)
RB: Mike Ford (USF)
RB: John Goebel (UC)
WR: Jonathan Baldwin (Pitt)
WR: Jock Sanders (WV)
TE: Mike Owen (SU)
OT: Jeff Adams (UL)
OT: Jason Pinkston (Pitt)
OG: Zach Hermann (USF)
OG: Moe Petrus (UConn)
C: Jim McKenzie (SU)
K: Jake Rogers (UC)
KR/PR: Mike Holmes (SU)
DL: Jabaal Sheard (Pitt)
DL: Terrell McClain (USF)
DL: Lindsey Witten (UConn)
DL: TIE George Johnson (RU)/Mick Williams (Pitt)
LB: Jon Dempsey (UL)
LB: J.T. Thomas (WV)
LB: TIE Kion Wilson (USF)/Lawrence Wilson (UConn)
CB: Jasper Howard (UConn)
CB: Jerome Murphy (USF)
S: Aaron Webster (UC)
S: Sidney Glover (WV)
P: Teddy Dellaganna (RU)
Team by team breakdown
UC: 7
UConn: 7
UL: 3
Pitt: 7
RU: 6
SU: 6
USF: 9
WV: 8
Honorable mention (also receiving votes)
QB: Jarrett Brown (WV), Bill Stull (Pitt)
RB: Kordell Young (RU), Delone Carter (SU), Andre Dixon (UConn), Joe Martinek (RU), Jordan Todman (UConn)
WR: Jesse Hester Jr. (USF), Timmy Brown (RU), Alric Arnett (WV), Doug Beaumont (UL), Donte Davis (SU), Carlton Mitchell (WV)
TE: Shamar Graves (RU), Kazeem Alli (UC), Ben Guidugli (UC), Tyler Urban (WV)
OT: Selvish Capers (WV), Jamar Bass (USF), Tucker Baumbach (SU), Greg Tomczyk (UL)
OG: John Malecki (Pitt), Lucas Nix (Pitt), Jeff Braun (WV), Alex Hoffman (UC), Zach Hurd (UConn), Jason Pinkston (Pitt), Kevin Haslam (RU), Jason Kelce (UC), Alex LaMagdelaine (UConn), Caleb Ruch (RU), Mark Wetterer (UL)
C: Moe Petrus (UConn), Chris Jurek (UL), Robb Houser (Pitt)
K: Dave Teggart (UConn), San San Te (RU), Shane Raupers (SU)
KR/PR: Dontavia Bogan (USF), Trent Guy (UL) Jasper Howard (UConn), Max Suter (SU)
DL: Alex Silvestro (RU), Jason Pierre-Paul (USF), Chris Neild (WV), Aaron Harris (USF), Julian Miller (WV), Curtis Young (UC)
LB: Adam Gunn (Pitt), Greg Williams (Pitt), Derrell Smith (SU), Manny Abreu (RU)
CB: Jason McCourty (RU), Johnny Patrick (UL), Dom DeCicco (Pitt)
S: Joe Lefeged (RU), Mike Holmes (SU), Boogie Allen (WV), Aaron Bagsby (UConn), Max Suter (SU)
P: Desi Cullen (UConn), Delbert Alvarado (USF), Cory Goettsche (UL)
Awards
Preseason Big East Offensive Player of the Year: Noel Devine (3)
Preseason Big East Defensive Player of the Year: George Selvie (5)
Preseason Big East Special Teams Player of the Year: Rob Long (3)
Preseason Big East Rookie of the Year: Greg Paulus (2)
Preseason Big East Coach of the Year: Jim Leavitt (3)
Participating blogs:
Astro's Bulls Blog (South Florida)
Bleed Scarlet (Rutgers)
Eye of a Panther (Pittsburgh)
Orange::44 (Syracuse)
Orange Fizz (Syracuse)
The Smoking Musket (West Virginia)
The UConn Blog (Connecticut)
Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician (Syracuse)
If your favorite blog was not included, it was either because they apparently have no fans on the internet (Cincinnati), did not respond to invitations to participate, no contact address could be found, were unfortunately overlooked, and there was one major human oversight where a ballot was not sent in time to the popular Pitt Blather blog.
Projected order of finish (tally of first place votes in parentheses)
1. USF (3) - Big East bloggers generally loved USF, with the only major skeptic being Rutgers blog Bleed Scarlet.
2. West Virginia (2) - The votes are once again a near consensus, with Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician the only one skeptical of the Mountaineers.
3. Pittsburgh (1) - Aptly named The UConn blog projects big things for the Panthers in '09, losing only one conference game.
4. Rutgers (1) - The double reverse jinx may be in play, with Troy Nunes Is an Absolute Magician seeing the Knights rolling through a god-awful schedule to their first ever BCS berth.
5. Cincinnati (1) - There's a lot of skepticism of the Bearcats this year, likely owing to their complete overhaul on defense. Bleed Scarlet thinks that Brian Kelly and co. will manage to outscore their opponents anyway, while Syracuse blog The Orange Fizz believes that Cincy will barely manage to stay out of the conference basement.
6. UConn - UConn's projection is as boring and monotonous as their offense, with exactly four voters placing them fifth, and the other half had them sixth.
7. Syracuse - Upset of the century! The rebuilding Orange managed to stave off a crumbling Cardinals squad for seventh. The Orange Fizz actually has the Cuse finishing sixth in conference, ahead of Cincinnati.
8. Louisville - It's going to be a very long year for the once-proud Cardinals.
First Team All-Conference Roster
QB: Matt Grothe (USF)
RB: Victor Anderson (UL) - unanimous selection
RB: Noel Devine (WV) - unanimous selection
WR: Marshawn Gilyard (UC)
WR: Mike Williams (SU)
TE: Nate Byham (Pitt) - unanimous selection
OT: Anthony Davis (RU)
OT: TIE Jeff Linkenbach (UC)/Mike Hicks (UConn)
OG: Josh Jenkins (WV)
OG: Art Forst (RU)
C: Ryan Blaszczyk (RU)
K: Maikon Bonani (USF)
KR/PR: Marshawn Gilyard (UC)
DL: Scooter Berry (WV) - unanimous selection
DL: Arthur Jones (SU)
DL: Greg Romeus (Pitt)
DL: George Selvie (USF)
LB: Reed Williams (WV) - unanimous selection
LB: Ryan D'Imperio (RU)
LB: Scott Lutrus (UConn)
CB: Aaron Berry (Pitt)
CB: Brandon Hogan (WV)
S: Robert Vaughn (UConn) - unanimous selection
S: Nate Allen (USF)
P: Rob Long (SU) - unanimous selection
Second Team All-Conference Roster
QB: Tony Pike (UC)
RB: Mike Ford (USF)
RB: John Goebel (UC)
WR: Jonathan Baldwin (Pitt)
WR: Jock Sanders (WV)
TE: Mike Owen (SU)
OT: Jeff Adams (UL)
OT: Jason Pinkston (Pitt)
OG: Zach Hermann (USF)
OG: Moe Petrus (UConn)
C: Jim McKenzie (SU)
K: Jake Rogers (UC)
KR/PR: Mike Holmes (SU)
DL: Jabaal Sheard (Pitt)
DL: Terrell McClain (USF)
DL: Lindsey Witten (UConn)
DL: TIE George Johnson (RU)/Mick Williams (Pitt)
LB: Jon Dempsey (UL)
LB: J.T. Thomas (WV)
LB: TIE Kion Wilson (USF)/Lawrence Wilson (UConn)
CB: Jasper Howard (UConn)
CB: Jerome Murphy (USF)
S: Aaron Webster (UC)
S: Sidney Glover (WV)
P: Teddy Dellaganna (RU)
Team by team breakdown
UC: 7
UConn: 7
UL: 3
Pitt: 7
RU: 6
SU: 6
USF: 9
WV: 8
Honorable mention (also receiving votes)
QB: Jarrett Brown (WV), Bill Stull (Pitt)
RB: Kordell Young (RU), Delone Carter (SU), Andre Dixon (UConn), Joe Martinek (RU), Jordan Todman (UConn)
WR: Jesse Hester Jr. (USF), Timmy Brown (RU), Alric Arnett (WV), Doug Beaumont (UL), Donte Davis (SU), Carlton Mitchell (WV)
TE: Shamar Graves (RU), Kazeem Alli (UC), Ben Guidugli (UC), Tyler Urban (WV)
OT: Selvish Capers (WV), Jamar Bass (USF), Tucker Baumbach (SU), Greg Tomczyk (UL)
OG: John Malecki (Pitt), Lucas Nix (Pitt), Jeff Braun (WV), Alex Hoffman (UC), Zach Hurd (UConn), Jason Pinkston (Pitt), Kevin Haslam (RU), Jason Kelce (UC), Alex LaMagdelaine (UConn), Caleb Ruch (RU), Mark Wetterer (UL)
C: Moe Petrus (UConn), Chris Jurek (UL), Robb Houser (Pitt)
K: Dave Teggart (UConn), San San Te (RU), Shane Raupers (SU)
KR/PR: Dontavia Bogan (USF), Trent Guy (UL) Jasper Howard (UConn), Max Suter (SU)
DL: Alex Silvestro (RU), Jason Pierre-Paul (USF), Chris Neild (WV), Aaron Harris (USF), Julian Miller (WV), Curtis Young (UC)
LB: Adam Gunn (Pitt), Greg Williams (Pitt), Derrell Smith (SU), Manny Abreu (RU)
CB: Jason McCourty (RU), Johnny Patrick (UL), Dom DeCicco (Pitt)
S: Joe Lefeged (RU), Mike Holmes (SU), Boogie Allen (WV), Aaron Bagsby (UConn), Max Suter (SU)
P: Desi Cullen (UConn), Delbert Alvarado (USF), Cory Goettsche (UL)
Awards
Preseason Big East Offensive Player of the Year: Noel Devine (3)
Preseason Big East Defensive Player of the Year: George Selvie (5)
Preseason Big East Special Teams Player of the Year: Rob Long (3)
Preseason Big East Rookie of the Year: Greg Paulus (2)
Preseason Big East Coach of the Year: Jim Leavitt (3)
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