Pitt Football: Sports Writers, Coaches & Other Poll Voters: Listen Up!

Hey guys, Halloween joke, right? Or maybe you just got a bad case of Orange Fever. I hear you can get it from breathing in that funky air in the Carrier Dome. But, dear God, what were you thinking when you voted Syracuse the 27th best team in the country in the AP poll and 28th in the USA Today poll?

At least you AP voters had enough sense to give Pitt a few scraps by voting the Panthers the 34th best team. You USA Today voters really must hate Pitt. No votes at all. Zilch. That hurts.

All the games you watch could have given you short term memory loss, but Pitt plastered Orange fragments all over that stinky Dome to the tune of 45-14. Just to remind you the Panthers are sitting in first place in the scrub-a-muffin Big East. First place has got to count for something.

I get it now. You love, love, love comeback stories and Syracuse's, minus the Pitt game of course, is pretty good this year.  That's great.

Big East fans—especially those of us who were mature adults when the football league was formed back in 1992 couldn't be happier. Welcoming Syracuse back into the Big East football elite—stop laughing now—is great for Pitt and great for the conference.

Unlike that blue and white program to the east of us which only excels in football, Pitt and Syracuse historically have excelled in both basketball and football. Welcome back, Orange gridders.

But you can't vote Syracuse ahead of us. Sure, they had a cupcake party to open the season. We were the first real team they played and you know the result. For all my hope that FBS colleges would schedule tough out-of-conference games, your crazy voting diminishes the possibility.

Don't forget the Panthers are a comeback story, too. You voters got it all wrong to open the season by giving a team with an inexperienced quarterback and only five returning starters on offense and six on defense the number 15 rank in the nation.

Remembering your mistakes might help you become more accurate. Right now you suck at rating college football teams.

AP voters: what's the deal with Hawaii, Maryland, San Diego State, and UCF getting more votes than Pitt?

And USA Today voters: Michigan is still getting votes and the Panthers aren't? Did you guys even watch the Penn State-Michigan game last night? I did and I wouldn't give the Wolverines any votes now.

The trick is to find a silver lining in every cloud, and you may have given the Panthers a silver lining worth millions.  It's called motivation. The classic poll snub is a sure fire way to deliver abundant motivation to a break-out team

I'm through ranting. The Pitt Panthers respectfully disagree with your disregard. We'll take your snub and ride it all the way to a big bowl game. So....thank you?