Well, here’s something predictable and not so predictable. Bob Smizik thinks Pitt can make the Sweet 16. Of course, he must preface it thusly,
I am not a huge fan of this Pitt team. I think coach Jamie Dixon has done the best job of his stellar career in getting this team to where it is. It does not have great talent.
But the Panthers are capable of winning two games and get to the round of 16. If they can do that, what already has been season of unexpected highs will become a truly remarkable one.
I could be being sensitive, but it is typical Smizik to denigrate while complimenting. No one, even when Pitt was surging into the top-10 nationally, has claimed that this team has “great” talent. It has good talent that works hard and is well coached. The potentially “great” talent on the team is inexperienced, raw or redshirting (or coming next year).
Meanwhile Ron Cook says the obvious — while pretending others are saying otherwise — that Pitt has to win their first round game.
A lot of people around here will tell you that the Panthers don’t have to beat Oakland for this to be regarded as a successful season. They will point out, quite correctly, that Pitt didn’t look much like a tournament team at the start of the season after losing four starters to the pros from a team that went 31-5 and made it to the final eight in 2009. They will argue that its marvelous regular-season success — including a tie for second place in the powerful Big East Conference and wins against then-Top 5 opponents Syracuse, West Virginia and Villanova — assures that this will be remembered as a great year.
Sorry, I’m not among those people.
What? Who, outside of the Pete would claim that losing to Oakland in the first round wouldn’t be a huge disappointment and put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and discolor the accomplishments of the entire season? I mean, did you not notice the reactions when Pitt went down in their first game of the Big East Tournament to a hot Notre Dame team? You would have thought that Pitt played itself completely out of the Tournament.
Even the players are aware and think it would make the season a disappointment. You don’t think that goes for every team that is on the first four lines? It’s brutal when you are a #5 seed and it happens — and most people are conditioned now to expect 5-12 upsets.
Pitt is under no more or less pressure to win that game than any other team on those 4 lines. Get over the myopia.
Since the field expanded to 64/65, the #3 seed has been upset 15 times out of 100 opportunities.
The Golden Grizzlies of Oakland are looking for things to motivate and give them a chip-on-the-shoulder. Since they only have to go to Milwaukee, they are going with the seeding.
Oakland also played a tough schedule, featuring the likes of No. 1 seeds Kansas and Syracuse, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Yet it’ll face Pittsburgh (24-8), the regional’s No. 3 seed.
“It’s mixed emotion,” Kampe said. “I’m happy we’re not going to Spokane or San Jose. It gives our fans a chance to come and see us. We’ll have five or six busloads going there.
“I’m real unhappy with the seed. I don’t know how we got a 14th seed. Our RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) was 51 this morning. Maybe we’re new to it. Maybe we need to win. Maybe it’s our league.”
Kampe pointed out New Mexico State has an RPI of 91, but the Western Athletic Conference tournament champion got a No. 12 seed and will open against No. 5 seed Michigan State in the Midwest Region.
And their closest loss to those other BCS teams was 16 to Wisconsin (the other three were an average of 31 point losses). They also lost by 12 to Oregon and 31 to Memphis.
Oakland to their credit, did play a load of tough games. They went 6-7 in their non-con with 8 road games. Granted, as guarantee games, they probably made up the bulk of the basketball team’s budget, but that also gave them their surprisingly high RPI number despite the losses.
It’s about a seven hour drive to Milwaukee for Oakland, so they should have a decent contingent make the trip.
Pitt does have some extra scouting information via Chase Adams.
ll they have to do is turn to senior guard Chase Adams, who faced Oakland for the past three seasons when he was at Centenary College in the Summit League.
“They’re definitely a veteran team,” Adams said. “They’re a complete team. They have an inside game and they have shooters. It’s going to be a good matchup.”
I’m going to assume that he’s going into more detail for the coaches and teammates.
Like most fans, there isn’t a lot of complaining from Pitt players about things.
“We’ve got a favorable draw,” junior forward Gilbert Brown said. “We just have to try to make the most of it.”
…The Pitt players, however, couldn’t resist at least taking a peak at what might lay ahead.
…
“I know who’s possibly the next two teams,” senior guard Jermaine Dixon said, “but that’s something we’re not thinking about now.”
Added Brown: “You see the potential games that you could play, but your main objective is to focus on this first game.”
Come on, get those cliches going.
