It's probably unrealistic to expect Pitt to make a bowl game this season after the loss of star wide receiver Derek Kinder Saturday night. The Panthers were a long shot even before Kinder blew out his right knee in practice. Remember the Big East Conference's preseason poll? The one that predicted Pitt would finish sixth in the eight-team league? It was legit. The Panthers' road schedule is frightful; games at Michigan State, Virginia, Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia all look like losses. They're breaking in a new quarterback, almost certainly Bill Stull, at least for the opener against Eastern Michigan Sept. 1. The defense isn't experienced enough or good enough to carry the team.

But 2008?

That's a different story.

It's absolutely realistic to expect Pitt to challenge for the Big East Conference championship, even more so now that Kinder is expected back for his redshirt season. Feel free to dial the heat way up on coach Dave Wannstedt. (You probably won't need your arm twisted to do it if the Panthers live down to the expectations and fail to have a winning season this year for the third consecutive season under his watch.) A 9-3 or 10-2 or even an 11-1 record in '08 doesn't seem out of the question. All of the Panthers' toughest games, with the exception of one against Notre Dame, will be at Heinz Field. The quarterback situation should be settled, either with Stull or, by then, highly touted freshman Pat Bostick, as long as he gets his personal issues in order. The defense will be older and better.

In that long-range sense, Kinder's injury could turn out to be a huge positive for the Panthers.

What do they say about good things coming to those who wait?

Kinder doesn't want to hear that, of course. Not this morning, anyway. He's looking at surgery, then at a long, grueling rehabilitation. Who needs that? Kinder wanted to play this season, be a team leader, be there for Stull and Bostick and the rest of his teammates, have a big senior year and push along a Pitt program that, to this point, has moved far too slowly in a winning direction under Wannstedt for anyone's liking.

Now, all of that is gone.

But it's fair to think Kinder's world will be a much better place at this time next year when he's lining up as a starter on a top 20-or-better team.

Wannstedt's world will be better, that's for sure.

Wannstedt has been pointing to '08 all along. He won't say that publicly even now that he has lost Kinder for this season. The last thing he's going to do is feel sorry for himself and write off '07. That wouldn't be fair to his other players, who are working hard at training camp and are naive enough to think that, even without Kinder, they can win all seven home games or maybe six and somehow steal a win on the road to finish 7-5 and sneak into some second-rate bowl.

But that doesn't change the fact Wannstedt long has targeted '08 as Pitt's breakthrough season. Almost all of the players will be his recruits, more than a handful, such as Bostick, highly regarded. Many will be experienced in Wannstedt's system. He'll lose some key people after this season, among them offensive linemen Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn, defensive end Joe Clermond, cornerback Kennard Cox and safety Mike Phillips. But those losses should hardly be devastating.

Pitt also was going to lose Kinder, a first-team All-Big East player from the '05 season and another in the school's long line of outstanding receivers. But that's no longer the case, assuming he's able to battle back from his injury. As much as Kinder would help Stull and Bostick this season, on the field with his pass-catching and Hines Ward-like blocking ability and in the huddle with his poise and leadership, he figures to be an even bigger asset next season when the supporting cast is better, the schedule is more forgiving and the games are more meaningful.

Kinder needs to keep that thought in mind during the long, brutal hours of rehab.

Pitt fans need to keep it in mind if the Panthers stumble through one more dismal season.