Pitt bowl picture still a bit hazy

With one game left to play in the regular season, it still isn’t clear where or when the… With one game left to play in the regular season, it still isn’t clear where or when the Panthers will play their bowl game. In fact, there are a handful of bowls in which Pitt could find itself, depending on how the last week of action unfolds. Technically, Pitt could participate in the PapaJohns.com Bowl, the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Sun Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the International Bowl or the St. Petersburg Bowl. Still, they’re not all legitimate scenarios. This week, Sun Bowl chairman John Folmer told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he might be interested in bringing Pitt to El Paso, Texas ‘mdash; that is, if Pitt is able to beat Connecticut and Rutgers defeats Louisville. A Rutgers victory would make the Knights bowl-eligible and would contractually prevent the Sun Bowl from selecting Notre Dame. Otherwise, if Pitt loses to Connecticut, or if the Sun Bowl is allowed to select Notre Dame, the Panthers could travel to Birmingham, Ala., for the PapaJohns.com Bowl to play a team from the Sun Belt Conference. It was initially believed that Pitt had a chance to land in the Gator Bowl and play on New Year’s Day. But it now appears that the Gator Bowl will be selecting a representative from the Big 12 Conference. The entire bowl picture is far from being settled, and because of a number of different stipulations, the final result is difficult to predict. With that in mind, Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is trying to focus on the things that the Panthers can control. ‘Our guys would like to end up with nine [regular season] wins,’ said Wannstedt. ‘That hasn’t been done around here in over a quarter-century. That would be a nice thing for our football team to accomplish. That’s kind of our focus more than what bowl [we’re going to play in], because we have no clue.’ More Honors for McKillop, McCoy Middle linebacker Scott McKillop was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. This week, McKillop was recognized for his efforts that helped stymie West Virginia’s powerful offense for a second straight year. McKillop finished Friday’s contest with a team-high seven tackles against the Mountaineer offense. He currently leads the nation with 6.91 solo tackles per game and is 12th in the nation with 10.27 total tackles per game. The senior linebacker is also making progress in Pitt’s record books. He now has 320 total tackles throughout his collegiate career, a mark that ranks 12th in Pitt history. McKillop only needs eight more tackles to tie former-Panther Ramon Walker for 11th place. Meanwhile, Pitt tailback LeSean McCoy will enter Saturday’s game as the reigning Big East Offensive Player of the Week. The sophomore running back ran for a career-high 183 yards against West Virginia and scored two crucial fourth-quarter touchdowns.