I think my posts were misunderstood. I'm not saying that I'm unhappy in the ACC. I'm thrilled to be in the ACC! I know the BE's story as well as anyone and I am very familiar with its issues. Also, I see what happened to everyone else who did not get an invite to the ACC and I feel fortunate that it worked out as well as it did for us.

I was just making the point that the competition in the ACC is not stronger than it was in the Big East. It is stronger in football but not in men's basketball. In men's basketball quality, the league's are extremely similar.

Pitt's struggles are of its own making and it has nothing to do with our conference affiliation. Had the Big East not fallen apart, we would stink in that league too if we competed with this roster. Teams without point guards, shooting guards, centers or benches don't typically do well in major college basketball conferences.

The problem for Pitt is that Stallings was left a long term rebuild and his hiring was extremely unpopular among the locals. I mean have you ever heard of an introductory press conference where one of the reporters in attendance demands that the athletic director "come clean" with how he rigged the process to hire such a "wildly unqualified coach?"

I've never seen that before so I don't know what to make of it?

The athletic director who hired Stallings has already skipped town for Oregon State, leaving the embattled coach further unprotected.

I think next year Pitt is going to hit rock bottom and be among the worst teams in the ACC. The year after that they will be young and they will stink again. I think Stallings will most likely be fired after that third year because the new athletic director will have no allegiance to him at all. Then, I think they will stink for a few more years while Stallings's successor gets his system in place.

In other words, I think Pitt is going to stink for the foreseeable future, but I don't think it has anything to do with the level of competition as much as it does the relative quality of the program.

The good news is we have one of the better atmospheres in the ACC and we have proven that we can compete at the highest levels of the sport. However, you have to get the right guy or you could be headed for BC territory.