Talk:University of Pittsburgh Panthers

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[edit] Holes in text

I found this page with incredible sparce information. I am currently researching the history of PITT basketball, and then will work forward from there. It is in pieces while i verify info and condense it. Needless to say, feel free to add and edit anything of use. --DruP55 02:53, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed redlinks

This page had large numbers of redlinks to Dr. H.C. Carlson, which is not a good idea for various reasons. For one, having 30 links to a non-existent article caused Dr. H.C. Carlson to show up on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Most_wanted_articles I removed all the redlinks but one. --Xyzzyplugh 15:17, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Basketball Section

There are some woefully in acurate things in the table, e.g. the confusing of the "Eastern 8" and the "Atlantic 10" with the Big East. Not to mention some questions about the neutrality of the articale.

[edit] Color

I changed the colors of the football section for year to year to reflect losing and winning (actually, non-losing) seasons. There seems to be some indication that yellow should indicate something else, but it makes no sense for me. At the very least, there should be some sort of key for the chart indicating what the color means. Further, I'm unsure what the "ranking" column means, though I suspect it's highest rank attained that season. If so, it's a pretty silly column title and should probably be changed to "final ranking". At the very least, it needs to be defined.Ltv100

I have no prob with definitions being made, it is highest ranking attained, which I think is most historically relevant given the popularity contest nature of college football. Hholt01 23:05, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] For the final time the highlights are any year ranked or won

College football is pretty unique from any other sport, no playoff system, no balanced sch., not much one-on-one between opponents vying for a poll position. This is why ALL national title claims should be listed with the notes above on the National Title section, also why the highest poll # should be given (obviously one would assume that Pitt either held every lower or earned the right not to), and HIGHLIGHTED just as a 6-5 or 7-4 season would be. In some instances the media and reputation of Pitt in a 5-6 #13 year was MORE then the media and reputation around Pitt during a 6-5 NR year. To be fair in a sport that judges all team based on rankings any year in the top 25 by Pitt should be highlighted, interested in other opinions, but really anyone who understands college football would do it this way to be fair Hholt01 23:12, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tagging this article as POV

Article claims that Pitt has 15 "National Championships" based on computer polls (many of which were devised years after the season in question). While "National Championship" in football is often preceded by the word "Mythical" there is general consensus among most football fans as to what is NOT a National Championship. To list the 1980 or 1981 Pitt Panthers, for example, as National Champions is wrong on several fronts- not the least of which is that the players on those teams and the fans at the time did not consider those to be National Championship seasons(both season- especially going to the lower tier Gator Bowl were disappointing to Pitt fans). If you want to bring "computer polls" into the entire discussion (which most people who follow college football tend to disregard), then it would be more balanced to show an average of computer ratings, not only the ones that, you(the primary author of this article) want to highlight as a Pitt Panther fan.

There are other POV flaws in this article, but this is the most glaring one. A good example of a more balanced and NPOV football article would be the article of your rival, Penn State Nittany Lions football. Jcam 16:32, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks so much for your input Jcam, and I only wish PennState was our rival still (we can't seem to get them on the sch. anymore :( ) but I will definetly check out the article on their program. Just off the top of my head though, PSU--although very competitive throughout the decades--never had many if any National title claims pre 1937 polls, so possibly a Yale or Princeton or like program might be a better indicator. As far as the modern-era, I can see your point that 1980 and 1981, though excellent years (though they went to the Gator Bowl they were ranked #3 in the nation prebowl and #2 in the nation postbowl, basically a BCS bowl berth today) were not celebrated by parades through Oakland. My intent was not to rewrite history or misguide readers, but to offer EVERYTHING that was said and occured to the program in those years. I had felt that it was clearly documented (especially above) what those "National Champions"hips were defined as. I would be all for more documentation on the 80 and 81 titles as well as some of the early ones, but I don't see the "averaging" being a success. Each poll is really its own animal in so many ways. I will check out PSU's site on the modern ones but again they don't have a season-by-season last I checked. Interested in hearing other opinions on this, if someone wishes to add further footnotes or explanations of what the 80 vs. 76 vs. 37 titles mean I wouldn't see anything wrong with that, as long as they are brief and to the point. Hholt01 21:01, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
I would argue that the definition of the colors on the tables as well as the use of "highest attained ranking" are also a non-neutral POV. They seem to be used specifically to paint the team in the best possible light. I would think, for example, that using final season ranking makes the most sense or at most putting in one column for pre-season rank and one for final ranking. Putting in the highest rank during the season makes as much sense to me as putting up the best record at any point in the season rather than the season total. Also, the use of colors would make more sense to be simply losing versus winning/non-losing seasons.Ltv100
I have edited the national championship section slightly so that it now reads the there were 17 different seasons in which Pitt was named national champion by at least one selector, or something to that effect. This is exactly how similar information reads on other pages. I agree that the 1980 teams should not be considered national champions because these polls occured when there was a consenus that different polls defined national titles (AP and UPI). However this is a very different situation than what existed for the earlier championship years. A list of years in which any poll that awarded Pitt their national title is simply a factual listing so cannot be considered non-neutral POV and similar information is provided on other pages (see Notre Dame). A list of championships is justified because it highlights the number of outstanding seasons that were recognized by independent sources and is a testament to the historical state of the program at various timeponts. However, the championships listed on the year-by-year results chart should be updated and it would be nice to see maybe a column for preseason and final rankings. As far as championship listings, I would recommend including 9 national championships, probably the years officially claimed by Pitt with the possible exception of replacing the 1929 and 1934 championships officially claimed by Pitt with the non-claimed championships awarded Pitt during the undefeated years of 1910 (which is recognized by CFDW) and 1917 (was awarded to Pitt by at least 6 different selectors..see below). No matter how you look at it, even if some individual years can be disputed, Pitt is quite justified in claiming 9 titles. Here is more info on Pitt national championships:

Pitt’s National Championships:

According to the Pitt Football Media Guide: To settle countless arguments, Sports Illustrated in 1970 researched the “first and only complete and wholly accurate list” ever compiled of college football’s mythical national champions.

Pitt has only recognized the national championships published in this list by Sports Illustrated in 1970 and added only its 1976 unanimous national championship to its totals.
Year Record Selector
1976 12-0 Unanimous*
1937 9-0-1 AP, DS, LS, IFA, WS, TFT#
1936 8-1-1 IFA, TFT
1934 9-1 Davis
1931 8-1 Davis
1929 9-1 Davis
1918 4-1 Unanimous@
1916 8-0 Unanimous^
1915 8-0 Davis

AP = Associated Press
DS = Dickinson System
LS = Litkenhous System
IFA = Illustrated Football Annual (Boand)
WS = Williamson System
TFT = The Football Thesaurus (Houlgate)
Davis = Parke H. Davis Ratings

The following additional selectors picked Pitt as National Champions (Pitt and Sports Illustrated do not list these selectors) in the years recognized by Pitt and Sports Illustrated (above).

Pitt was selected as National Champions in 1915 by Bill Libby, Mel Smith, and Jim Koger (in addition to Davis).

Pitt was selected as National Champions in 1931 by Bob Kirlin and 1st-N-Goal (in addition to Davis).

In 1936, in addition to the Football Thesaurus (Houlgate) and Illustrated Football Annual (Boand), Pitt was also selected by the College Football Researchers Association, 1st-N-Goal, Bob Kirlin, Esso Gas, Loren Maxwell, Earl Jessen, Jim Koger, Patrick Premo, and Angelo Louisa.

The following Pitt teams were also selected as National Champions. Pitt does not claim these MNCs (proving Pitt didn't just claim every championship it was given by every available source).

Pitt's 1910 undefeated team was selected as National Champions by the 1st-N-Goal, Century Football Index, Cliff Morgan, the National Championship Foundation, Patrick Premo, and Mel Smith. College Football Data Warehouse recognizes this as a consensus national championship for Pitt. Pitt doesn't claim this championship.

Pitt's undefeated team of 1917 was selected as a National Champions by Alexander Weyand, David Wilson, Earl Jessen, Jim Koger, Mel Smith and Angelo Louisa. Pitt doesn't claim this championship.

Pitt was selected as National Champions in 1925 by Soren Sorensen although Pitt doesn't claim this championship.

Pitt was selected as National Champions in 1927 by Esso Gas. Pitt doesn't claim this championship.

Pitt was selected as National Champions in 1933 by Bob Kirlin. Pitt doesn't claim this championship.

Pitt was selected as National Champions in 1938 by Patrick Premo. Pitt doesn't claim this championship.

In 1980, Pitt was also selected as National Champions by the College Football Researchers Association, 1st-N-Goal, Angelo Louisa, ARGH Power Ratings, College Football Researchers Association, Foundation for the Analysis of Competitions and Tournaments, Harry DeVold, James Howell, New York Times, Jeff Self, and The Fleming System. Pitt doesn't claim that championship.

In 1981, Pitt was selected as National Champions by Montgomery Full Season Championship and the National Championship Foundation. Pitt doesn't claim this title.

So, Pitt's claim (and Sports Illustrated's research) total is 9 (1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937 and 1976). There are also 9 years (only pre 1940 era plus 1976) that Pitt was picked as National Champion by more than one source (1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1931, 1936, 1937 and 1976).

However, there are 17 years Pitt was named a National Champion by at least one source according to College Football Data Warehouse and Pitt (and Sports Illustrated). They are: 1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1976, 1980 and 1981. Of these, Pitt claims only 9.

In addition, Pitt had undefeated teams in 1904 and 1920 that were not named national champions.

Sources:

All information was obtained from the 1) 2004 Pitt Football Media Guide http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/football/mediaguide/2004/panthers_history.pdf 2) College Football Data Warehouse (CFDW only lists 6 MNCs for Pitt in their recognized championship totals as opposed to the 9 recognized by Pitt. However, from 1869 to 1918, CFDW still only relies on one source, which seems in appropriate because even by 2003 standards there are multiple recognized selectors (AP and BCS/Coaches Poll). This causes CFDW to fail to recognize Pitt’s 1915 undefeated team recognized by Parke Davis. Their exclusion of the Davis rankings also causes them to miss the 1929 and 1931 Parke Davis National Championship teams. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/ 3) NCAA.org (The NCAA maintains a list of past champions from various polls on their website. Though not as complete of a listing as CFDW, they do list 11 years that Pitt was selected by national champions. The page also contains some interesting information on the different selectors. http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/ia_football_past_champs.html


  • ,#,@,^ not really unanimous, but mostly undisputed. As the AP and UPI polls were instituted, most other rankings diminished in prominence.
  • Associated Press, United Press International, 1st-N-Goal, Angelo Louisa, ARGH Power Ratings, Bob Royce, Century Football Index, Cliff Morgan, David Wilson, Football News, Football Writers Association of America, Foundation for the Analysis of Competitions and Tournaments, Harry Frye, Helms Athletic Foundation, James Howell, Jeff Self, Loren Maxwell, Massy Ratings, Mel Smith, Montgomery Full Season Championship, National Championship Foundation, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, Patrick Premo, Poling System, Sagarin Ratings, Soren Sorensen, The Fleming System, The Sporting News, Washington Touchdown Club.
  1. Associated Press, 1st-N-Goal, Angelo Louisa, Bill Libby, Billingsley Report, Boand System, Bob Kirlin, Bob Royce, Century Football Index, College Football Researchers Association, College Football USA, Dickinson System, Earl Jessen, Edward Likenhous, George Trevor, Harry Frye, Houlgate System, James Howell, James Whalen, Jim Koger, Massy Ratings, National Championship Foundation, Patrick Premo, Poling System, What’s What, Williamson System

@ Helms Athletic Foundation, 1st-N-Goal, Alexander Weyand, Angelo Louisa, Bill Libby, Bob Kirlin, Bob Royce, Century Football Index, College Football USA, George Trevor, Harry Frye, Houlgate System, James Whalen, Jim Koger, National Championship Foundation, Patrick Premo

^ Helms Athletic Foundation, Alexander Weyand, Angelo Louisa, Billingsley Report, Bob Kirlin, Bob Royce, Century Football Index, College Football USA, David Wilson, Earl Jessen, George Trevor, Harry Frye, Houlgate System, James Whalen, Jim Koger, Mel Smith, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis, Patrick Premo--cp101p 04:11, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

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