Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Pitt athletic director Jeff Long -- Wants to play three BCS non-conference teams. Click photo for larger image.

The cancellation of the Pitt-Clemson football series scheduled for 2010 and 2011 was met this week with some cynicism among Pitt fans.

The theory most commonly advanced by talk-show callers and message-board junkies is that the series was canceled because Pitt is scheduled to play Notre Dame and Miami in 2010 and wanted to get out of the Clemson game in order to replace it with a much lesser opponent.

Pitt athletic director Jeff Long, who has taken some heat for scheduling games against I-AA opponents the past few years, said that isn't close to being true.

"Clemson approached us about getting out of the series because they wanted the dates," Long said. "At first, we balked, but then we began to talk to some other teams and, when we realized we had enough time to find an adequate replacement, we decided to go ahead and let them out of the contract.

"That's really all it was -- some times things come up. And some of the teams we are talking to as a replacement are very encouraging to me. We are talking to BCS conference teams, so this talk of wanting to add a I-AA is just not fair."

Long said contrary to popular belief, his policy and desire is to get Pitt at least three non-conference games (out of five) against teams from BCS conferences (or Notre Dame) every year.

That has not been the case the past few years, nor will it be this year when the Panthers play only Michigan State and Virginia along with Eastern Michigan, Navy and Grambling. Long said it is not fair to judge Pitt's scheduling on the past couple of years because of what happened to the Big East when three schools left the league.

"All of the Big East teams struggled to find games for a few years because, when we were scheduling, we still had no idea who we were or what our conference schedule would look like," Long said. "Now we are stable, we know what we'll need going forward and we are in a much better position to make future schedules.

"I'll reiterate, it is my desire to play at least three BCS conference teams every year and, if we can add a good MAC team in there as well, that's a pretty good non-conference schedule no matter who we fill the fifth game with. It may not always work out that way, but that's what we'd like to do."

Long said he is working hard on achieving his goal of getting three BCS-quality opponents each year, but scheduling is not easy because nearly every BCS team is trying to maximize home games for revenue purposes.

Although Long's stated desire is to play three BCS non-conference teams, a look at future schedules suggests he has work to do.

The Panthers are scheduled to play only two BCS conference opponents in 2008 (Iowa, Notre Dame), 2009 (North Carolina State, Notre Dame) and as of now 2010 (Notre Dame, Miami), 2011 (Notre Dame, Iowa) and 2012 (Virginia Tech and Notre Dame).

In fact, the lone exception in the next seven seasons is 2013 when Pitt is scheduled to play Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and Notre Dame.

"We still have games to fill and we're still talking to a lot of teams," Long said. "Like I said, I'm encouraged by the caliber of teams we are talking to, but, as always, it has to be the right deal, a deal that makes sense and a team that makes sense.

"We know our fans want to see exciting football games against quality opponents and we're working very hard to achieve that."

Long declined to name specific teams he is talking with, but said he hoped to have a replacement for the Clemson series by September. He also said Pitt's desire to play Penn State every year is well known and has been well-documented.

NOTES -- Long declined to talk about the status or the terms of the contract extension that he and the university have been working on for the past few months. An extension, according to sources, is inevitable but has not yet been signed. "All I can say is Chancellor [Mark] Nordenberg has indicated to me that he has been very happy with my work and what I've done, and he indicated that it is his desire for me to remain a member of the Pitt family for a long time," Long said.