Either that, or make sure you are plugged into (and your work network is not blocking) March Madness on Demand.

Pitt will take on ETSU at approx. 2:55 pm on Friday.

The announcers will be Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery for both rounds. Awesome

Getting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is great. It is recongnition of a fantastic season by Pitt. It is also a sign of respect by the basketball powers that Pitt is not only given a #1 seed after failing in the BET badly, but just how many pundits seem to be putting Pitt in at least the Final Four.

It’s also a little unnerving. To some degree, Pitt fans like the team almost seem to prefer the “no respect” and “no one believes in us” chip. That is not the case. Not by a longshot. Pitt is a favorite.

We can complain and be annoyed when it is brought up yet again how Pitt has never made it past the Sweet Sixteen in the modern Tourney and never won more than two games in any format of the NCAA Tournament. There is nothing to do about that. It’s a huge glaring detail about Pitt basketball. It can’t be ignored. The only way it can be excised is to make it past the Sweet Sixteen.

That is up to the team. No fan is seriously worried about the first round foe. It’s that looming second round game that is the first unnerving thing.

First, since it is an 8/9 game, it is a pick-em. I have no sense of who will win.  They are close by every measure. In RPI Tennessee is 18 and Oklahoma State is 20. In Pythag winning % they are 32 and 33 and nearly identical in offensive and defensive efficiency. There’s a slight difference in pace, but not significant.

I doubt the coaches are sure, so that presents a problem just in game planning ahead of time

Tennessee likes to press, but they are a spotty/streaky shooting team that makes it difficult for them to do it consistently. The lack of a good point guard also can bog them down many times. In general, their guard play is spotty, but they throw a lot of them at you. They are reliant on their front court with Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith.

Oklahoma State, by contrast is guard oriented. They have four guards — James Anderson, Byron Eaton, Terrel Harris and Obi Muonelo — that play 30+ minutes a game. They also like to press, as Coach Travis Ford is a Pitino disciple.

The second round game is not any tougher than any other #1 seed faces. It is the match-up that makes me nervous.

There is no doubt, as Coach Dixon has said, this team has a chance to do/be something special. That is the thing. They have to do it. Literally, one game, one half, one possession at a time.

And Pitt goes to…

the East Bracket as the #1 seed.

That means Pitt goes to Dayton then Boston

Louisville took the overall #1 for the Midwest.

UConn #1 in the West

UNC #1 in the South

Wow. Big East with 3 #1

Less than 5 hours to the Section Show. I really can’t see any way Pitt doesn’t get a #1 seed. They’ve been in the top-4 all but one week in the polls this year. They have the top RPI.

There is really no logical way to put Pitt on the second line. They can’t argue about Fields’ health because then they would have to drop UNC and Ty Lawson’s toe a notch.

It is really about finding out if Pitt will be in the East (Dayton and Boston) or West (Philly and Glendale).

I have a hunch that Louisville just played their way to getting the Midwest #1 (Dayton and Indy).