Who needs San Fran?

I came into the office Wednesday to find a message from a woman calling from Hotel Nikko in… I came into the office Wednesday to find a message from a woman calling from Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. She explained that she was hoping the hotel could get a write-up in the newspaper, and my reaction was that she had accidentally called the wrong section.

Then she got to the point that grabbed my attention: Hotel Nikko is offering a package for fans coming for the first ever San Francisco Bowl and Pitt is looking like a possibility to play in that game.

San Francisco? It’s not exactly the ideal place for Pitt’s postseason. Sure, it would be fun to travel across the country to a city I’ve never been to before, but it would make it pretty difficult for Panther fans to attend the game.

College students want to support their team, but they are poor. They need to have the option of being able to cram five or six people in a car with luggage, snack food, plenty of CDs, a dry erase board and drive 15 to 20 hours away only to drink lots of alcohol and crash on the floor of their friends’ hotel rooms.

Now that is what the postseason is all about.

San Francisco just doesn’t fit that mold, and so the Panthers are going to have to ensure they make a better bowl game – and I’m confident that they will.

At this time last season, the Panthers were 2-5 heading into a matchup with then-No. 12 Virginia Tech, and a bowl bid seemed about as likely as Joe Paterno retiring. But then came the Panthers’ 38-7 upset over the Hokies at Heinz Field, propelling Pitt to three more victories and a trip to the Tangerine Bowl.

This year the stakes are higher, but who says the result can’t be the same?

Pitt was just points away from winning in two games and from being 8-0 on the season, and is currently tied atop the Big East with Virginia Tech and Miami as the unbeaten teams in the conference. Quarterback Rod Rutherford has consistently improved during the season, the defense is stellar from week to week and freshman kicker David Abdul has found his groove, connecting on his past nine field goal attempts.

And so I see no reason why the Panthers cannot get a win in Blacksburg.

Sure, the Hokies have perhaps the best running back duo in the nation with Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones. OK, they have dangerous special teams. And yes, they are the No. 3 team in the country.

So what?

The Panthers lost a heartbreaker two seasons ago when the Hokies kicked a field goal with just seconds left in the game to secure a 37-34 victory. The game this time around will be close as well, but it will be the Panthers who emerge victorious.

The victory will then once again invigorate Pitt, who will win its last three games, including an upset at Miami.

And as for San Francisco, I’ll hold onto the number for Hotel Nikko but I don’t think I’ll be dialing it any time soon.

Karen Bielak is the sports editor of The Pitt News and is looking forward to tearing down the goalposts at the Orange Bowl Nov. 21.