Pitt football bandwagon still one member short

In the past week, two things on campus have caught my attention: the bandwagon to a BCS bowl… In the past week, two things on campus have caught my attention: the bandwagon to a BCS bowl game for the football team and the early underrating of the basketball team by major media outlets.

An upset win over Boston College and a blowout of Rutgers have students jumping on the Panthers’ bandwagon left and right.

Writers who wanted head coach Walt Harris fired a couple of weeks ago are now praising him and his team. I just don’t understand it.

As much as I would love to see this team win, I am not about to jump on any bandwagon just yet.

It is easy to notice the talent that Pitt possesses, but I’m sorry, I don’t consider 41 points against Rutgers — a team that has given up 34 or more points in four of its seven games — anything to get excited over.

However, those wins have opened a door for the Panthers. On the other side of that door is a trip to a BCS bowl game. Pitt just has to win.

This opportunity has everyone talking.

But a couple of roadblocks lie in the way. First, the Panthers have to travel to Syracuse for what could be a tough game inside the Carrier Dome. The following week, Pitt will travel to South Bend for a matchup against Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame game is not a Big East game, but it is important that the team keep up its level of play. Tyrone Willingham’s Fighting Irish will be the best team Pitt has played all year, and will prove a worthy test before the Panthers host the biggest game of the year on Thanksgiving Day.

On ESPN’s College GameDay preseason show, an analyst said that the Pitt-West Virginia game would be the biggest of the season because WVU would be undefeated and playing for a national title, while Pitt would be somewhere along the lines of 3-7.

Things have changed. The Panthers are now in the driver’s seat.

With a win at Syracuse after this bye week, I might be ready to hop on the bandwagon. And the buses to Heinz Field can pick me up on Bigelow Boulevard so I can enjoy a win over the Mountaineers.

But for now, I’ll sit back and hold off on an “I told you so,” in case the Panthers can’t get it done.

A team that can get it done is the Pitt men’s basketball team, and yet again, Pitt is getting no respect in the preseason polls.

ESPN currently has Pitt ranked No. 21, which, at first, doesn’t seem so bad. But being at 21 puts the Panthers behind three other Big East schools: UConn, Syracuse and Notre Dame.

For those of you who don’t follow preseason polls, ESPN always does these rankings based upon what they think a team could do, and they are hardly ever right.

The Panthers will again prove all the “experts” wrong, just like they have done in the past.

But as many of you question who is ahead of Pitt now, don’t forget about that Notre Dame team when the Big East schedule rolls around. A healthy Notre Dame squad, which returns four of five starters and adds Arizona transfer Dennis Latimore, could very well run away with the Big East if not taken seriously.

For now, though, just forget about these rankings and move on. Fill the Pete in any way possible and watch as the Panthers start the season off with another winning streak to garner some of that national spotlight — a spotlight that both basketball and football could bask in if they both put together Big East Championship seasons.