Safe to say the local media was figuring on doing some more stories about Pitt getting a #1 ranking for the first time in b-ball history. Since that didn’t happen, they had to scramble with other angles.

“What I really like about them is they’ve taken to what we’ve tried to talk to them about each game, what we’ve tried to emphasize, and I think we’ve carried that over from game to game really consistently,” Dixon said. “They understand that it’s not good enough where we’re at right now. That’s the most gratifying thing about this group.”

A No. 1-ranking wouldn’t have altered that mindset — especially in November.

I think Coach Jamie Dixon is just angling to have the Jim Rome Show call to schedule another interview. It’s the only reason to bring up UCSB. Nothing gets you on his show faster then a UCSB shout-out.

Dixon gave credit yesterday to former UC Santa Barbara coach Jerry Pimm, who had Howland and Dixon as his assistants in the early 1990s.

“You can look at our practice plans,” Dixon said. “It’s the same practice plans Jerry Pimm was drawing up at UC Santa Barbara. That’s where we get our defensive fundamentals and philosophies. That’s what carried over.”

The players didn’t deny watching the polls, but they weren’t particularly bothered.

“I definitely thought about it,” sophomore guard Levance Fields said. “But we’re fine with where we’re at. We think we’re playing excellent. If it would have happened, of course we would have been happy. It’s good to be ranked that high, but it doesn’t really mean anything. As long as we’re getting better throughout the season, I’d rather do that than be No. 1.”

Saying exactly the right things.

“We don’t worry about the rankings,” Ramon said. “But how could we be disappointed to be No. 2? We just have to go out and keep winning games. As a team, you always want to do good for your school and your city.

“We feel that we’re a team that can go out and play well against anybody. And if we do what we can do, we can compete with any team.”

And of course, the other angle is the fact that UCLA jumped Pitt for #1 in the AP Poll. There’s that little connection between the coaches and Pitt.

UCLA coach Ben Howland called Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and, naturally, the topic of which team would be No. 1 in the AP college basketball poll came up.

“He said, ‘Hey, you guys are going to be No. 1, and I said, ‘No, you guys are going to be No. 1.’ It just went back and forth like that,” Dixon said Monday. “We joked about it and that was it.”

Turns out Dixon was right.

UCLA, coached by Dixon’s best friend and former boss, jumped from No. 5 last week to No. 1 after the Bruins won the Maui Invitational and last week’s 1-2 teams, Florida and North Carolina, were beaten. UCLA had not been top-ranked since the final poll before the Bruins won their 11th and most recent NCAA title in 1995.

Dixon was so concerned he went to the Pittsburgh Zoo with his kids.