Greg Romeus returned to practice yesterday. This is good news for Pitt fans, as Romeus had been questionable. Wannstedt claimed that Romeus simply had been experiencing stiffness due to lingering issues from his back surgery and his sleeping situation since returning to Pitt. However, Romeus had appeared to injure his ankle, and speculation was that his ankle may have been bothering him. Regardless, he’s now back in the lineup at practices, and if all goes well, should be ready for the Utah game.

Ray Graham isn’t fairing as well. Graham is still out with a knee injury that’s been bothering him since the first scrimmage on August 14th. We haven’t received word on when he’ll return.

There’s good news for Pitt’s number one back, however. Dion Lewis was named to the Doak Walker Award watch list yesterday along with fellow Big East backs Noel Devine (WVU), Jordan Todman (UConn), Victor Anderson (Louisville), Bilal Powell (Louisville), and Delone Carter (Syracuse). This is just the preseason watch list, but it’s nice to see the Big East getting some looks.

Pitt will be back on the practice field this afternoon.

The Pitt Blog staff was there last night and snapped some photos throughout the night.

This is a great opportunity for fans to get up close and personal with the team. Pitt holds this preseason event every year at Heinz Field and it just keeps getting better.

Here’s a look at the events scheduled for tonight:

Team Autographs (6:15-7:45)
93.7 The Fan Live Broadcast
Games and Inflatables
Live Music
Brand New Nike Merchandise Available
Season Tickets Available for Purchase

Stop by tonight and start getting ready for the Panthers’ 2010 season! We’re only 10 days away from the start of the season, when Pitt takes on Utah in the season opener. You still have a bit longer before the home opener, so if you haven’t picked up season tickets yet, tonight will be a great opportunity to do so.

Leave us a comment if you plan on attending tonight. We’d like to meet some of the readers if you’ll be there.

All throughout camp, we’ll be keeping up with major developments. This season has the potential to be one of the most exciting Pitt football seasons in recent history. Already ranked at 15th in the nation, the Panthers are a strong favorite to win the Big East Championship this season. With huge non-conference games this season against Utah, Miami, and Notre Dame, the Panthers have an opportunity to show the nation that Pitt football is a force to be reckoned with.

Before they start that journey, they need to prepare for the season and solidify their starting roster. With Bill Stull graduating last year, Tino Sunseri and Pat Bostick are ready to take over the offense. Right now, Sunseri looks to be the starting QB for the Panthers this year. Bostick is no stranger to leading the Panthers though. Remember that Bostick was the starting QB that stunned WVU in 2007, a game that seems to have marked the turnaround for Pitt under Dave Wannstedt.

Star running back Dion Lewis returns this year, as does the equally impressive Ray Graham. Combined with the solid receiving crew headed by Jon Baldwin, the offense looks to be as potent as it was last season as long as the new offensive line can step up to the challenge. Jason Pinkston appears to be ready to step up as a leader amongst the linemen to ensure they meet the challenge.

The defense is looking solid so far. Despite the loss of a few key seniors from last year, namely Mick Williams, there’s a lot of young talent ready to step in and take over. Greg Romeus should have another great year, so look for him to stand out this season. He’s currently recovering from an early camp injury, but it doesn’t appear to be too serious. Expect him to return to practice as early as tomorrow.

Things are looking good for Pitt. It’s a perfect time to start getting pumped up about Pitt football. With only a few weeks left until the season starts, fans should pick up their season tickets if they haven’t done so already. Home games against Miami, Rutgers, and WVU this season make the package well worth the price. We’re looking to step up our coverage this season for our readers, and it all starts with camp. Check back with us often for updates.

Jonathan Baldwin was announced to the preseason list and is considered a favorite to reach the semifinals of the list when it is announced in November.

Congratulations Jonathan!

The Maxwell Trophy is awarded to the “most outstanding college player”. Dion Lewis and Jon Baldwin were among the nominees.

The Walter Camp Trophy is awarded to the “best college player” and Dion Lewis was among the nominees.

Finally, the Bednarik Trophy is awarded to the “best defensive college player” and Greg Romeus was among the nominees.

Congratulations to these 3 players and all the best in the upcoming season.

ESPN/USA Today Poll

1 Alabama (55)
2 Ohio State (4)
3 Florida
4 Texas
5 Boise State
6 Virginia Tech
7 TCU
8 Oklahoma
9 Nebraska
10 Iowa
11 Oregon
12 Wisconsin
13 Miami (FL)
14 Penn State
15 Pittsburgh
16 LSU
17 Georgia Tech
18 North Carolina
19 Arkansas
20 Florida State
21 Georgia
22 Oregon State
23 Auburn
24 Utah
24 West Virginia

Courtesy of ESPN.com

However, there has been a lot of buzz in general in the college sports world these days. Almost all of it relates to conference expansion and realignment.

We learned our lesson once already when we reported on speculation and rumors the last time we heard them. Those rumors turned out to be completely false and we were left standing in public with our pants down. So you won’t hear any more reports on rumors from us. But we would like to address all the expansion/realignment talk that’s going on right now. More specifically, we’d like to point out the facts to all of our readers so that they know which reports to listen to, and which reports to let pass in one ear and out the other.

Let’s take a look at the facts surrounding conference expansion/realignment.

FACTS:
1. The Big Ten Conference is exploring expansion options. This one is no secret. The Big Ten’s announcement back in December has caused quite a stir in the college sports world. This is what started the whole fuss. We’ve heard countless rumors and speculation since the announcement. Almost all of it has been unfounded (and false). The simple fact is that the Big Ten is EXPLORING expansion on a 12-18 month timetable. The keyword here is “exploring”. The Big Ten has not made a decision on whether or not they will expand. They’re simply looking into the possibility. That means we might wait until fall just to hear the Big Ten tell everyone that they’re ok without expanding. Whatever the case, their timeline remains the same. So unless something changes, the Big Ten will announce their plans no sooner than late fall.

2. The PAC 10 Conference is exploring expansion options. This is recent news. The PAC 10 has just recently decided that they will explore their own expansion options this year as well. Again, they’re just exploring options. This doesn’t mean that they will expand. Just like the Big Ten, the PAC 10 is taking a look at the options for expansion and whether or not it makes sense for the conference.

That’s it. There are no more facts. Everything else that you read out there is speculation and unfounded rumors. The only tidbit of information that even approaches the credibility of a fact is that Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany and Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon, also the chair of the Big Ten’s council of presidents/chancellors, both mentioned that if other conferences take action before the Big Ten has decided what to do about expansion, it may speed up the Big Ten’s timeline. Keep in mind though, the PAC 10′s timeline ends at about the same time as the Big Ten’s original timeline, and the PAC 10 is the only other conference that’s even mentioned expansion. So the chances of seeing something from the Big Ten sooner than their original timeline are still somewhat small.

It’s somewhat surprising that after all of the rumors we’ve seen fall through so far, the major networks like ESPN are still reporting on these rumors that are floating around. But then again, ESPN also erased all of their stories on the “Pitt to the Big Ten” rumor once it turned out to be false. I guess it’s easy to report on rumors when you don’t have to own up to your coverage, isn’t it?

If the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl sounds new to you, that’s because it used to be the St. Petersburg Bowl.

The Big East Bowl lineup will now look like this:

BCS Bowl – Big East Champion
Champs Sports Bowl – Big East vs. ACC
Meineke Car Care Bowl – Big East vs. ACC
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Big East vs. Big 12
Papajohns.com Bowl/AutoZone Liberty Bowl – Big East vs. SEC or C-USA
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl – Big East vs. C-USA

The 2010 Big East Bowl Season will be as follows:

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl – 12/21/10, 8:00 PM, ESPN
Champs Sports Bowl – 12/29/10, 8:00 PM, ESPN
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – 12/30/10, 3:00 PM, ESPN
Meineke Care Car Bowl – 12/31/10, Noon, ESPN
AutoZone Liberty Bowl – 12/31/10, 3:30 PM, ESPN
Papajohns.com Bowl – 1/8/11, Noon, ESPN

All in all, it’s a pretty impressive bowl lineup. The Big East set out to structure its bowl season so that it included top opponents and attractive locations. From the looks of this lineup, I’d have to say that they did a pretty good job.