USA Today projects that Pitt will play Michigan State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1. I like that soo much better than Notre Dame in the Peach. The beauty of the college bowls is the matchups that you never see. Pitt plays Notre Dame every other year or so, they're in our conference, and has played them forever. In ND's classification of their opponents Pitt is, not a rival, but a "traditional opponent." Whatever, we play them very, very frequently. But Michigan State? I'm sure we've played sometime in the last 100 years but not frequently at all. That's what a great bowl game means to me.

The Sporting News and CBS has us still in the Peach but against Ole Miss. Fine with me too! However, the Fiesta Bowl has a fond place in the heart of Pitt fans. The Fiesta was created to give Arizona State someplace to play. In 1973, the first year of "A Major Change in Pitt Football" the project was just getting started, we finished only 6-5, but got our first bowl invite in a long, long time and it was in the Fiesta against the Frank Kush-coached, Danny White-quarterbacked "Sun Devils." They waxed us 28-7 or something but it was the springboard. Three years later we dominated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl 27-3 to win our last national championship. "Pitt Is It" Sports Illustrated proclaimed on its cover.