Pitino on bringing marquee games to Williams Arena: "I think our fans deserve it, and we're looking into it"

Starting tomorrow, Minnesota will be playing six more non-conference home games leading up to the Big Ten slate.

You're forgiven if you don't recognize many names.

The Gophers just finished playing the likes of Louisville, St. John's, Georgia and Wake Forest. Now the feel shifts -- to teams with directions and dashes in the names.

"That's four BCS schools in a matter of two week and then you come home," coach Richard Pitino said. "I think human nature is to say we've got a month to catch our breath. That's not the case, that's not going to be the approach...We can lose to anybody, and I think our guys know that."

Still, if fans are yawning, they can rest assured that Pitino isn't content with the status quo.

Does he hope to bring a marquee game or to to Williams Arena down the line?

"Yes," he said at media access on Thursday, "I think that our fans deserve it, and we're looking into it."

Whether Minnesota will play at home or on the road in those matchups remains to be seen.

"So you don't want to put yourself into position where you're playing on the road at an ACC opponent, on the road at a Big East opponent and then a home-and-home," Pitino said. "That is difficult."

When all of that is over, Minnesota has to play an 18-game conference schedule in the Big Ten, perennially one of the nation's strongest leagues. Most programs, especially those in such challenging conferences, offset the heavy slate with some lighter games in the early season. Last year, the Gophers had a top-10 strength of schedule, but missed the NCAA tournament.

Still, Pitino sees the desire for big-name games in Minneapolis -- and he wants to make it a reality.

"We have a big list [of schools]," he said. "We're open to anything, really."

A little tidbit, passed along by my pal Jeff Greer at the Louisville Courier Journal:

Louisville coach Rick Pitino had his own game to play in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night, but leading up to tipoff, he had another game on his mind: his son, Richard, of course, was coaching vs. Wake Forest.