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Q: In your opinion which coaching job has been more impressive: Jamie Dixon taking a team unranked in the preseason and picked to finish ninth in the Big East to a second-place finish in the Big East tournament and probable No. 3 NCAA seed or Jim Boeheim taking a similarly unranked preseason team picked to finsh sixth in the league to the regular season Big East title and national No. 1 ranking? My opinion is Dixon because the Panthers also beat three teams ranked in the top 10, one of which was Syracuse on the road and also started the season without Jermaine and Gil Brown. I'd be anxious to hear your thoughts.

Chuck Kerley, Hanover, Pa.

FITTIPALDO: That's a tough call, Chuck. Both did such a great job preparing their teams after having so many key players graduate or leave early for the NBA draft. Dixon lost four starters, including two who were drafted into the NBA. People forget that Boeheim had three players leave before their eligibility expired to pursue professional careers. One of them was sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn, who was a lottery pick in the NBA draft. The thing that makes Dixon's coaching job so impressive is what he did early in the season when Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown were out of the lineup. Dixon patched together a rotation with players who barely play now, and he managed to win games. In November, Dixon had Pitt ahead of then-No.2 Texas without Dixon or Brown with about nine minutes to go. And when Dixon and Brown returned Dixon was able to rework the rotation without much a transition period at all. In fact, Pitt won its first five Big East games as the players were figuring out new roles. We'll find out today what the Big East coaches think. They cast the votes for the Big East coach of the year award, which will be handed out at 5:30 p.m. today. It should be a close vote, but Boeheim has not won the award since 1991, so I think he will be the sentimental favorite among the other coaches in the league. Dixon won the award in 2004, after his first season as head coach at Pitt.

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