Nice going, Texas. You just had to have your own network. Now we all have to deal with the consequences.

By the way, I know I said I wouldn't talk about expansion unless there were statements from the conference commissioners saying a school has joined a certain conference. Well, I lied.

The latest news is that Texas A&M is indeed leaving the Big 12/10 and heading to the SEC. If the rumors are true, Florida State, Clemson, and Missouri may also join the Aggies as the SEC would move to 16. At the very least, if Texas A&M does head to the SEC, one other school will likely join them - giving the SEC 14 members. 

So what does this mean for Pitt and the Big East? Well, this all depends on who the last school(s) is/are and how many schools are heading to the SEC. Here's a few scenarios.

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Sports Illustrated released their Big East 2011 Conference Report and is predicting a big season for Pitt. SI says Pitt and West Virginia will both finish 10-2, but they appear to have the Mountaineers in first place for the conference title.

Ten regular season wins? That may be the rosiest outlook I've seen for Pitt yet. While possible, that seems a bit high for me. Road games at Iowa and West Virginia? Home games against Notre Dame and Utah? Plus, a few other conference games that could get tricky? I'm not so sure. If Pitt loses both of those tough road contests, I'm not so sure they can win their remaining ten games.

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One of the reasons that Henry Hynoski reportedly left school early was because he wasn't sure how he'd fit in Todd Graham's new system. Like the fullback position, there are questions of how much a tight end will fit as well.

That apparently has Brock DeCicco thinking that maybe he should head elsewhere. With Dorin Dickerson and Mike Cruz around, DeCicco hadn't played much yet. But with both players gone, he was hoping to get on the field in 2011.

The other factor in all of this is the transfer of Hubie Graham. With Graham on board and with two years of eligibility, that could cut greatly into DeCicco's playing time.

So, where's he headed if he does decide to go?

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When Zac Brown Zach Brown decided to transfer to Pitt, it seemed like the Panthers were going to have the change of pace back they needed. Brown was reportedly a bruising runner who could spell Ray Graham when needed and perhaps contribute as a third-down back.

Yeah, um, so that might not exactly be the case.

Take this for what it's worth, but Brown looks to be competing for more than that. For starters, the PG's Paul Zeise has taken notice of him in camp and says there's more to him than just being a bruiser:

Again, no pads, only shirts and t-shirts, but here is a guy I really like a lot - Wisconsin transfer Zach Brown - I think he can add a lot to this team. He is fast, faster than I thought, has quick feet and to me, looks like a guy who nobody really wants to tackle when he gets rolling. And he catches the ball well out of the backfield as well.

Now don't get confused - Brown himself says he's more of a tough runner and no one would know better than him:

"I have confidence and experience. I know I can play the game. I'm more between the tackles and more of a bruising back, where Ray [Graham] can make a man miss," Brown said.

But he could be bringing more to the table than simply chipping in here and there.

So, could Brown conceivably start over Graham?

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More cross-promotion and just another reminder to check out the fall camp stream over at SB Nation Pittsburgh. It will be updated over the next several weeks and over most weekends as well.

Here's the link.

Haven't had an award watch list in a while, but a Pitt player is up for another one - namely running back Ray Graham.

Graham is on the watch list for the Paul Hornung award given annually to college football's most versatile player (thanks to Big East Coast Bias). I don't think Graham has a great chance at winning this award, but with his rushing ability and the increased opportunity to catch balls out of the backfield in the new offense, it's possible that he could at least compete for it. He had 24 receptions last season and I could see that number increasing in 2011.

So much of these awards is tied to team performance and Pitt's on-field success will depend on if any Panthers can seriously contend for one of them.

Joining Graham on the list are fellow Big East players D.J. Woods from the Cincinnati Bearcats and Mohamed Sanu from Rutgers.

Joe Starkey of the Trib had a column that piqued my mundane curiosity a few days ago. Essentially, the gist of the article is that the only model of success for new head coach Todd Graham in his first season is a Big East championship.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I disagreed with Starkey.

The last two years? No doubt - Pitt needed to win the conference in each season. And when you look back at the debacle that was the Cincinnati game two years ago and the conference lead they held last year, it makes it even worse that Pitt didn't come away with the BCS berth in each season. The biggest problem, of course, was that Pitt didn't even win the title in one of those years. Had the Panthers done that, I don't think we'd have a new coach.

But that was then - this year is an entirely different situation.

Cliched as it may be, Todd Graham deserves time - certainly more than a year. Now, I realize the argument put forth by Starkey isn't that Graham should be let go after a season if he fails to win the nation's weakest BCS conference. But if Graham fails to win the conference, it doesn't mean the season was a failure.

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Rivals.com has released their way-too-early bowl projections for the 2011 football season.  Sure, it's only August 10th, but stuff like this provides for great blog fodder in the days leading up to the season, so why not.  The Rivals staff has made predictions for all 35 bowl games, including the BCS bowls, and Pitt (not surprisingly) is bowl-bound. But where?

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The Dan Mason saga continues and the only thing we know at this point is that there's still a way to go.

Back in March, head coach Todd Graham didn't sound that hopeful, calling the Mason rehab a month-to-month thing. Later in May, though, he gave fans some hope by saying that he could even be ready for the season opener against Buffalo, citing his work ethic. I, probably like a lot of people, wasn't buying it, though. Sounded like a nice story, but by all indications, Mason was in pretty bad shape.

Fast forward to today and it's still sounding like much of the same.

Paul Zeise of the Post-Gazette said after the first day of camp that he was 'likely' out for the season.

Mason is, though, on the field working out. The bottom line is that there's still a chance he gets back to playing - just maybe not until 2012.

I'll be the first to admit that for as much as I may downplay recruiting rankings, I was expecting things to go a bit different for Shayne Hale and T.J. Clemmings. Both Hale and Clemmings were five-star recruits from the Dave Wannstedt era and both were expected to be big-time players.

There's nothing to say that can't happen yet, but with Hale entering his third season into the program and Clemmings his second, I found this tidbit from Paul Zeise's camp notes quite interesting:

So right now, if the team was going to lineup, based on what we've seen and what Patterson said, the starting defensive line would be Alecxih and Hargrove at end and Caragein at nose tackle with Lindsey at the Panther linebacker position.And then the second group would be freshman Juan Price at the Panther position back up at that position, Donald at one end and Mosley-Smith at the other and Tyrone Ezell at nose tackle. That means the two guys who have to continue to battle to work their way onto the two-deep at defensive end are Shayne Hale and T.J. Clemmings, which is somewhat interesting considering they were two of the biggest names and highest rated recruits on this unit.

Clemmings' situation is far less panicky since he's only entering his second season. But having played a bit last year, if he plays scarcely this season, he'll only have two more left. He still has his redshirt, but since he saw time on the field last year, he could quite easily contribute at least a bit in 2011.

Hale, however is a different story.

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