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Tuesday, December 03, 2002

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

If you like college basketball, thank television for creating all those marquee matchups of highly ranked teams in November and December.

Television has accomplished what coaches and athletic directors in the Big East Conference aren't willing to do -- travel to play games against high-profile opponents.

	More on Pitt: SCOUTING REPORT Matchup: Norfolk State (1-1) vs. Pitt (2-0), 7:30 p.m. today, Petersen Events Center. Radio, Internet: WRRK-FM (96.9), http://www.rrk.com. Pitt: Coming off an 89-49 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in which the Panthers led by only 37-30 at halftime ... Is 36-1 under Ben Howland when holding the opponent under 60 points. ... Has won 20 consecutive regular-season non-conference games at home. ... G Julius Page leads with 14 points per game, followed by G Carl Krauser (12 ppg) and G Brandin Knight (11.3 ppg). Krauser is expected to be available after missing the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game with strained calf muscles. ... Making 23.8 percent of 3-point attempts (15-63). ... Leads series, 1-0, with 102-78 victory at home in 1999. Norfolk State: Coming off a 61-60 victory against the University of Missouri-Kansas to give Dwight Freeman his first victory as the head coach. Freeman was an assistant at Miami, Fla., the past seven seasons. ... Sophomore forward Ryan Grier led with 17 points, including 1 of 2 free throws with four seconds remaining. ... Lost, 75-74, in overtime to Western Illinois in the opener. Led by guard Derrick Smith's 16 points. ... Spartans are a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Hidden stat: Krauser leads Pitt with seven rebounds per game and the Panthers have outrebounded first three opponents by an average of 16.7 per game. ... a word from our columnist Ron Cook Howland at top of splendid field for Dapper Dan

Pitt isn't alone among its Big East brethren in playing an unattractive non-league schedule. The Panthers, for whatever reason, don't have any made-for-TV games.

That's why Pitt's schedule is stocked with home games against the likes of St. Francis (Pa.), Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Norfolk State, Southeast Louisiana, George Mason and Robert Morris. Petersen Events Center might be sold out for every game, but the fans haven't filled the 12,500 seats the past two games and aren't expected to pack the place 7:30 p.m. today when the Panthers play Norfolk State.

Pitt's crowd of 12,508 for the opening of Petersen Events Center against rival Duquesne is one of only four sellouts in 27 home games in the Big East, with the average attendance 7,703. Miami's first three home games against New Hampshire, Texas A&M and Savannah State averaged 1,920.

Syracuse leads the pack with 18,874 for its only home game, Valparaiso.

Take away tournaments, where teams don't know who their opponents will be, and games on television, and much of the Big East competition can be found on a list of "Who's Not Who" in college basketball -- Quinnipiac, Grambling, Towson, Coastal Carolina, Savannah State, Belmont, IUPUI, Albany, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Brown, Vermont, Morris Brown, Howard, Florida Atlantic, Delaware State, Colgate, Binghampton, Wofford, Morgan State, Western Carolina and Gardner-Webb.

No wonder the Big East is 27-1 at home, with Boston College's 27-point loss to St. Joseph's the only blemish.

Without television exposure, Big East teams, for the most part, beat up lightweight opponents at home. That formula has worked in the early part of the season to help the league build a 35-11 record in non-conference games.

The Big East is 3-4 on the road and 5-6 on neutral courts.

The Big East has constructed a chunk of its glittering record against lower-level conferences, going 16-1 against America East, Ivy League, Patriot League, Northeast, Colonial and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences.

It's a different story against the bigger boys -- Atlantic Coast Conference (0-1), Conference USA (0-3), Missouri Valley (0-1), Atlantic 10 (4-3) and Big 10 (2-0).

Given the fact the Big East teams don't have many quality wins, it's not surprising that only No. 5 Pitt and No. 11 Connecticut are in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Pitt doesn't meet a current member of the Top 25 before it heads into league play in January. Pitt plays at Georgia Dec. 31, but the Bulldogs are 1-3 and have fallen out of the rankings.

Thanks to television, there are some games worth looking forward to involving Big East teams the next month or so.

Connecticut is at Oklahoma (CBS) and North Carolina (ESPN), Georgetown is at Duke (ESPN) and Virginia (CBS), St. John's is at Wake Forest (ESPN) and UCLA (ESPN), Villanova is at Memphis (CBS) and Georgia Tech (ESPN) and Missouri (ESPN) are at Syracuse.

Thankfully, the best is yet to be seen. On television, that is.