LOUISVILLE, KY. - Just got to Louisville and I'm heading over to have lunch with John Renshaw, one of the most knowledgeable and entertaining sports radio guys in the entire country, and Evan Daniels of Scout.com (who, along with Dave Telep, is more plugged in with recruiting than anyone). I usually go on about 20 or so radio shows per week throughout the country and Renshaw is as good as anyone out there.

His station is Louisville abruptly pulled the plug from their all-sports format last month and Renshaw - who I listened to back in my college days when he was a national guy - should land on his feet soon.

By the way, I forgot to admit that both my wife and daughter knocked me out in Wii boxing before I left on this trip. Humiliating?  Yes.

But I've always been a lover, not a fighter. OK, that's a lie, too.

PANTHERS PROVE POINT

My bad.

Now I'm sold on The Big Bad Pittsburgh Panthers.

Sometimes it's difficult to get a true read on teams in the preseason when they aren't going up against other Top 25 clubs - as Jamie Dixon's team failed to do.

I knew Pittsburgh once again had toughness with three guys - Levance Fields, DeJuan Blair and Sam Young - that are about as blue-collar as it gets. They also added Jermaine Dixon, a lock-down defender.

But it was difficult to tell where they stacked up against the upper-tier teams because, well, the Panthers had yet to measure themselves against any of them. Their best victory was at Florida State - a team that will likely be on the bubble come March.

But Dixon made a valid point.

``They're all in our league," he laughed. "It's hard to play ranked teams when one-third of them are in the Big East."

In Dixon's defense, Pittsburgh did have an open date for a game against a BCS team at Madison Square Garden. However, no one stepped up, so the Panthers instead grabbed a non-conference home game against Siena.

It wasn't that I didn't feel as though the Panthers were capable of taking the mantle (for now) as The Team Behind North Carolina. However, they hadn't been battled-tested by a legitimate Final Four contender.

Dixon's team absolutely ran away from a Georgetown club that drilled former No. 2 UConn in Hartford.

What does this, along with St. John's win against Notre Dame, about the Big East?

It'll be filled with unpredictability.

Pittsburgh controlled the glass against a Hoyas team that needs to find a way to get more out of their bench - especially either Julian Vaughn or Henry Sims. Georgetown's reserves scored a total of two points and the quartet of Vaughn, Sims and guards Jason Clark and Omar Wattad logged 25 total minutes in the loss.

The Panthers also managed to win fairly easily despite being ineffective from long distance (3-of-19 from beyond the arc).

``I feel good about this team," Dixon said while out recruiting in New Jersey after the game. ``This team is getting better. They do the right thing and execute."

The Panthers, and in particular Levance Fields, are doing a nice job taking care of the ball. Dixon said that he's seen improvement with Fields, who missed a good chunk of last season and all of the preseason with a foot injury.

``We kept trying to see if he wanted to come out today, but he played 36 minutes and played the entire second half without coming off the floor," Dixon said. "It's almost like playing him into shape."

VOLS BATTLE TESTED

One guy you can't ever question as far as a non-conference slate is concerned is Tennessee's Bruce Pearl.

After losing at Kansas, Pearl's team still has to play Gonzaga and Memphis prior to SEC play.

``I'm OK with where we're at right now," he said.

Pearl was obviously disappointed with his players lack of a sense of urgency - especially early in the game - and their overall lack of toughness.

While he praised Bobby Maze and admitted that there is no way the Vols are a Top 25 team without him, he also said the junior college point guard needs to take more pride in his defense.

``He's had a couple of pretty good defensive efforts," Pearl said. "But this wasn't one of them."

The Vols look like a team you'd hate to meet up with in a dark alley in layup lines, but just don't play with the physical toughness.

``People forget that we lost five guys from last year and this is supposed to be a rebuilding year," Pearl said.

True, but with success comes expectations.

RANDOM NOTES: Here's how smart Bill Self is: When he walked out of the tunnel just minutes prior to the start of Kansas' game against Tennessee, he shook one person's hand: Elite junior Harrison Barnes, who was sitting in the front row behind the Jayhawks bench on an unofficial visit. Self really is one of those guys who just "gets it". While many coaches appear uncomfortable mixing with fans, Self is basically a fan at heart - other than the fact that his bank account is much larger than most these days. ... If I'm a low or mid-major athletic director in the Midwest, I'm all over bringing former Missouri State coach Barry Hinson aboard. The guy is a proven coach and is what college basketball is all about. ... There's a perception that former NBA guys aren't cut out to be college assistant coaches because they don't have the work ethic. Well, Kansas assistant Danny Manning was the last one to leave the office about 4