Pitt Redshirt Diaries : Oklahoma

Preseason AP poll unveiled

Ray Fittipaldo — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:18:00 GMT

The Associated Press released the preseason top 25 this morning and here are a few of the highlights:

*Florida is the most overwhelming No. 1 in the history of the AP poll, which was started in 1950. The Gators received 58 of the 60 first-place votes, or 96.7 percent.

*Texas received the other two first-place votes.

*Florida topped the 2007 USC Trojans for most first-place votes. USC received 62 of 65 first-place votes in the '07 preseason poll.

*Florida is the preseason No. 1 team for the third time. The Gators were also No. 1 to start the season in 1994 and 2001.

*Florida is the 20th defending national champion to start the next season atop the poll.

*Florida is one of five SEC teams in the top 25. The Big 12 also has five teams ranked.

*The Big East does not have any teams in the top 25. Pitt is the closest to cracking the poll. The Panthers begin the season No. 28.

*Notre Dame is in the rankings again for the first time since the final poll of the 2006 season. The Fighting Irish begin the season ranked No. 23.

Here is the complete top 25:

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. Oklahoma

4. USC

5. Alabama

6. Ohio State

7. Virginia Tech

8. Mississippi

9. Oklahoma State

9. Penn State

11. LSU

12. Cal

13. Georgia

14. Boise State

15. Georgia Tech

16. Oregon

17. TCU

18. Florida State

19. Utah

20. BYU

21. North Carolina

22. Iowa

23. Notre Dame

24. Nebraska

25. Kansas

Pitt pregame

Ray Fittipaldo — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:12:00 GMT

*Today's officials are Roger Ayers, Ted Valentine and Bryan Kersey. The only official who does Big East games is Kersey. Valentine is a veteran and does not take much lip from the coaches. He used to work Big East games many years ago, but hasn't recently.

*DeJuan Blair could have a big game today. Oklahoma State tallest starter is 6 feet 6. In three games against Oklahoma State this season, Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, the favorite for national player of the year, had 17 and 19; 33 and 14; and 26 and 19. The Sooners won two of those games and lost the other by one point.

*With Syracuse's victory, the Big East has three teams in the Sweet 16. Pitt, Louisville and Marquette can make it, too, later on today. The Big East has had four teams in the Sweet 16 on three previous occasions. The league has never sent five teams to the Sweet 16.

Bad omen for Pitt?

Ray Fittipaldo — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:08:00 GMT

ESPN flashed a statistic on the screen this morning that I thought was very interesting. Pitt is the 12^th No. 1 seed to beat a No. 16 seed by 10 points or fewer. None of those previous 11 No. 1 seeds went on to win a national championship.

I dug deeper into the NCAA record book and found out that only two of those teams advanced to the Final Four and one to the national title game. Here are the end results for those teams that had narrow escapes against No. 16 seeds in the first round:

*Michigan lost in the second round to Villanova in 1985

*St. John’s lost in the second round to Auburn in 1986

* Duke lost in the national championship game in 1986

*Illinois lost in a national semifinal game in 1989

*Georgetown lost in the Elite Eight in 1989;

*Oklahoma lost in the Sweet 16 in 1989

* Michigan State lost in the Sweet 16 in 1990

* Oklahoma lost in the second round in 1990

*Purdue lost in the second round in 1996

* Connecticut lost in the Sweet 16 in 1996

*North Carolina lost in a national semifinal game in 1997.

Pitt went through a walk-through this morning and the Panthers reported no major injuries. Jermaine Dixon turned his ankle against East Tennessee State, but he said he would be good to go against Oklahoma State. Levance Fields said once again that his groin is fine and was not a reason for his sub-standard play against East Tennessee State.

Oklahoma State center Marshall Moses is only averaging about seven points per game, but he had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first-round victory over Tennessee. In talking to some of the writers who cover Oklahoma State, Moses either plays a great game or a lousy game.

Moses had 16 points and 12 rebounds in Oklahoma State’s loss to Missouri in the Big 12 tournament. In the previous game against Oklahoma – a 71-70 win for the Cowboys – Moses did not score, had one rebound and fouled out.

Florida is No.1, but Texas got my vote

Ray Fittipaldo — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:12:00 GMT

The final AP poll is out and Florida will carry the No. 1 ranking into the BCS national title game against No. 2 Oklahoma. The Gators received 50 first-place votes and the Sooners had nine. The final six first-place votes went to Texas. I was one of those six voters who cast a first-place vote for the Longhorns. Apparently, voters were swayed by the way the Gators and Sooners finished the season. While it was certainly impressive to watch those teams play down the stretch, I tend to look at the season on the whole when voting. So here is my reasoning for voting Texas No. 1.

Florida lost to Mississippi at home.

Oklahoma lost to Texas

Texas lost to Texas Tech on the road.

I really believe Texas would be playing for the national title had Texas Tech not been blown out by Oklahoma. That's why I'll be anxious to watch how the Big 12 teams fare in bowl games. I want to know if these offenses, especially Oklahoma's, are off the charts great, or are the defenses in the league just god awful?

Here's my final regular-season ballot:

1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. Florida
4. Alabama
5. USC
6. Penn State
7. Texas Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Utah
10. Boise State
11. Oklahoma State
12. TCU
13. Cincinnati
14. Michigan State
15. Virginia Tech
16. Georgia Tech
17. Oregon
18. Pitt
19. Georgia
20. Missouri
21. Northwestern
22. Mississippi
23. Oregon State
24. Boston College
25. Ball State

A mythical national tournament (we can dream)

Ray Fittipaldo — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:58:00 GMT

Now that President-elect Barack Obama has mandated a playoff for Division I-A football, it’s only a matter of time before the hypocrites who run the game – the presidents and chancellors – fall in line and institute a postseason tournament. But being that we’re stuck with the Bowl Championship Series for this year and probably a few more after that, let’s have a mythical national championship tournament of our own.

We propose a 16-team playoff with the higher seeded teams playing host to first-round games. After that, the usual bowl sites would begin playing host to the final four games. A semifinal round and a championship game would ensue. So without further adieu, here is how a mythical national tournament would play out this year.

First round

No. 1 Alabama (projected SEC champion) vs. No. 16 Ball State (projected MAC champion)

No. 2 Texas (projected Big 12 champion) vs. No. 15 Florida State (projected ACC champion)

No. 3 Florida (at-large) vs. No. 14 Cincinnati (projected Big East champion)

No. 4 Oklahoma (at-large) vs. No. 13 Oregon State (projected pac-10 champion)

No. 5 USC vs. No. 12 Missouri (at-large)

No. 6 Penn State (Big Ten champion) vs. No. 11 Boise State (WAC champion)

No. 7 Texas Tech (at-large) vs. No. 10 Utah (Mountain West champion)

No. 8 Ohio State (at-large) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State (at-large)

Second round

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Ohio State

No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 Texas Tech

No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Penn State

No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 USC

Semifinal round

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Oklahoma

No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Florida

Championship game

No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Texas

National champion

Texas 42 Oklahoma 31

Here’s my AP ballot for this week

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida
5. USC
6. Penn State
7. Texas Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Utah
11. Boise State
12. Missouri
13. Georgia
14. Ball State
15. TCU
16. Cincinnati
17. Oregon State
18. Michigan State
19. Boston College
20. Oregon
21. Pitt
22. West Virginia
23. Northwestern
24. Florida State
25. Mississippi

BCS talk from around the country

Ray Fittipaldo — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:22:00 GMT

The first BCS standings came out Sunday night without a whole lot of surprises. Here's a look at what people are writing about across the country.

Here is some national perspective from Brad Edwards.

Texas received all 65 first-place voters in the AP poll this week, but Mark Schlabach from ESPN has some questions about Texas and the quality of defenses in the Big 12.

So much for that loss at Oregon State. USC is in good shape in the BCS according to Chris Dufrense of the L.A. TImes.

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News reports that Texas is No. 1 across the board in the rankings that determine the BCS.

Jake Trotter of the Oklahoman says an Oklahoma-Texas rematch in the national title game is a possibility.

The Buffalo Bills of college football have an uphill climb in the BCS. Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch reports on Ohio State's chance of getting back to the BCS title game.

Oct. 5 top 25 and the PG ballot

Ray Fittipaldo — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:46:00 GMT

When Pitt dropped the opener against Bowling Green I opined that it might be a long time before the Panthers resurface in the rankings. At the time it seemed like a logical conclusion. The Panthers played downright awful against the Falcons, and it was going to take a while for the Panthers to earn the respect of voters once again. In reality, it didn’t long for that to happen. After four consecutive victories, including Thursday’s upset at No. 10 South Florida the Panthers cracked the top 25 again today at No. 24. A nice way to enter the longest stretch between games this regular season.

Here is my ballot followed by a link to the new top 25.

1. Missouri
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. LSU
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Texas Tech
8. BYU
9. USC
10. Georgia
11. Florida
12. Ohio State
13. Boise State
14. Utah
15. Kansas
16. Vanderbilt
17. Ball State
18. Virginia Tech
19. Northwestern
20. Illinois
21. North Carolina
22. Auburn
23. Wisconsin
24. Pitt
25. South Florida

New top 25

New on my ballot

Pitt: The Panthers have no excuse to lose to Navy this time, not with 18 days between games.

North Carolina: I’ve been slow to give respect to ACC teams this season, but it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the Tar Heels. Their only loss was a three-pointer against Virginia Tech.

On the cusp of my ballot

Oklahoma State: Other voters have a much higher opinion of the Cowboys than I do. They are No. 17. I’ll rank them if they upset my No. 1 team this week, the Missouri Tigers.