Dave Wannstedt's greatest victory as Pitt's head coach came Dec. 1 when the Panthers upset second-ranked West Virginia, 13-9, at Mountaineer Field, knocking the Mountaineers out of their spot in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game.

It was one of the biggest wins in school history. The problem is, according to Wannstedt, the celebration has gone on too long.

That is one reason he is looking forward to tomorrow when the two teams meet at Heinz Field in the 101st Backyard Brawl.

"Probably the only negative thing [about the celebration of the upset of West Virginia] was that it went on too long," Wannstedt said. "I mean, our players and coaches were still being asked questions about that game in training camp. And it propelled us into the national rankings, which we didn't deserve to start the season.

"I think we've evolved into a pretty good football team, but, at that point in the season and coming off five wins and being ranked in the Top 25, that made no sense to me."

Pitt (7-3, 3-2 Big East) will play West Virginia (7-3, 4-1) in a nationally televised matinee (noon kickoff), and Wannstedt is hoping it will help people move past the game last year and recognize that Pitt has done a lot of good things since then.

He said that the beauty of the Pitt-West Virginia rivalry is that each year is different and each game should stand alone.

"It was good for the right reasons at the time," Wannstedt said. "But it is time to move on. It is another year, it is another team, another set of circumstances, so we will deal with what we have today.

"And last year's game will have no bearing on this year's game. Nothing from last year's game is going to make any plays come Friday. It will be the guys out there blocking and tackling."

Wannstedt acknowledges the win gave a huge boost to his program, particularly in recruiting this past offseason.

Pitt and West Virginia are 4-4 against each other in the past eight games, but the Mountaineers had won two years in a row in blowout fashion leading up to the game last year, and most people figured they would make it three blowouts in three years.

The victory took some of the sting out of a 5-7 season and breathed new excitement into a program that seemed to be teetering on mediocrity.

"The two positives were that it really jump-started us into a great recruiting season," Wannstedt said. "Not that we recruited any new players, but we had a half-dozen or so players who were right on the fence and that win gave them the push to say that in their hearts that they wanted to be here at Pitt.

"The second positive was that it jump-started our players and coaches into the offseason program. It gave us something to start climbing those hills over at Flagstaff. From a players standpoint, it was getting into the weight room to do the extra work."

Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop said he understands his coach's sentiments, that the victory tended to overshadow what was not a very good season.

He said the nature of any rivalry game is that it can provide the highest of highs and the lowest of lows regardless of circumstances or the records.

He believes any win against West Virginia is a great one -- but, given all that happened leading up to that game, he is not surprised that it was indeed viewed as being something extra special.

"In a way the reality is we were a 5-7 football team who had a great win against a great team in West Virginia," McKillop said. "It seems like in the offseason, because of it, everybody seemed to forget we were 5-7, we lost at home to Navy on national television, we lost to Louisville, we lost to Rutgers ... people tend to forget about our lack of performance last year as a team because of how our season ended.

"But to win against West Virginia with the 101st meeting between two great teams, it is important. No matter what the records are, no matter what is at stake, it is still the Backyard Brawl on national television and [the seniors] last game at Heinz Field -- I couldn't ask for anything more."

NOTES -- The Pitt athletic department said the game tomorrow is sold out. ... Pitt kicker Conor Lee was named a second-team Academic All-American by ESPN magazine and college sports information directors.