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Quick, what are Pitt's goals that you can think of off the top of your head?
BCS game? Winning the Backyard Brawl? Basketball Final Four? All would be correct, but as a program, one of the biggest may be getting to the ACC as soon as possible. We're still without any clear indication of exactly when the school may be able to go, but if reports are correct, it might not be anytime soon.
Thanks to Big East Coast Bias for pointing this out, but the Sporting News' Matt Hayes says the Big East may not be interested in taking any buyouts:A high-placed Big East source told Sporting News that not only will the Big East not back off its 27-month notice of withdrawal for West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse, but there’s "no chance" the three wayward universities can buy their way out of the contract – for any amount of money – and leave in time for the 2012 season.
"It’s not about money," the Big East source said. "It never has been."
West Virginia likely remains the key in all of this. The Mountaineers went out on a limb deciding to create a lawsuit against the Big East in the hopes of leaving early. Pitt and Syracuse attempted to play good cop and didn't follow, no pun intended, suit, instead waiting to see how this all played out.
How this does play out is anybody's guess. But if there's anything we're starting to see, it's that the likelihood that Pitt gets to go to the ACC immediately is diminishing greatly.
I've been over this before, but as much as I'd want to see Pitt get on with its future, which will include a tougher football slate and basketball games in the Dean Dome and Cameron Indoor, I wouldn't really mind seeing Pitt stay in the Big East for another year, or even two. Pitt has a better chance of contending in the Big East and I'd love to see the program get to a BCS game before they bolt. And, oh yeah, that Big East basketball is pretty good, too.
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