Pitt has staked the early claim to being the underdog against Colorado.

“We have been preaching since the start of the ACC tournament that we are the underdog,” Dixon said. “That was our mentality, that was our thinking and we wanted to play that way.

“But we also talked about playing on the road or playing in neutral court games. We have had great success.”

He pointed out that the Panthers’ 7-2 road record in conference play was the best in the ACC (tied with Virginia).

“We seem to play well on the road. … The key is we have had good focus on the road trips, good preparation and pretty good practices the times we’ve had them.”

It should be easy enough to claim. Colorado is seeded higher than Pitt. Even if it is only 9 vs. 8. The team seems to be buying into it a bit.

But, wait. Colorado isn’t going to let that underdog claim go to Pitt that easy.

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Brackets get announced at roughly 6pm on CBS. ESPN gets to take control of the conversation at 7pm.

It seems like there are two deserving #1 seeds (Florida and Wichita State) and then flawed #2 (and #3) seeds that will see  two of them in 1 seed spot to be prime targets for derision (Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Villanova, Wisconsin, Louisville, Iowa State and Syracuse).

Still don’t see the ACC getting more than 5 bids. T.J. Warren is the best player in the conference, and I look forward to him going pro. But I don’t see his NC State squad making the field when they took that long to realize they needed to let Warren score while the rest of the team does everything else.

Pitt will be a 9 or 10 seed by just about any projection. But then again, we know how those things have worked for Pitt before.

I’m kind of hoping Pitt is a 10 seed rather than a 9. I just think this group will respond a lot better with more of a sense of disrespect.

I still haven’t made up my mind who I’m rooting against in this game.

Forget that Big East/ACC solidarity. I’m looking for pain and anguish.

On the one hand, I live in Ohio and seeing Ohio State fans gnash their teeth and try to rationalize how basketball isn’t as important as football — after their run to the Championship game with Oden and their Final Four appearance last year has had them crowing — well, that would just be fun.

On the other hand, the Big Blue Nation that is Kentucky are batshit crazy. To have Louisville and Rick Pitino — in the same year they lose an opening NIT game to Robert Morris — win creates such epic rants and meltdowns all over the internet. It’s just a non-stop festival of insanity.

Obviously, there is no winner for me, without Pitt. But I can take joy in my own way because of who wins.

It really does feel that way at times. In the moments of self-pity and “woe is me”

2011: Pitt goes down to UConn after a double-bye in the Big East Tournament when Kemba Walker hits a final shot. The Huskies. After struggling all season with inconsistent play storm through the Big East Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament to win it all. Pitt loses in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Butler who goes all the way to the NCAA Championship game before losing to UConn.

2013: Syracuse beats Pitt in the Big East Tournament. En route to falling in the Big East Tournament Championship game. Syracuse is now in the Final Four. Wichita State pulls the mild — sorry, I have to do it — shocker by beating Pitt in the 8/9 game. Well, beating up and and down the court is probably a better description. The Shockers are also in the Final Four.

Oklahoma State beat Pitt in a Sweet Sixteen meeting and made the Final Four. UCLA and Villanova. Frickin’ Marquette. All within the last ten years.

The flip side to the optimism of being so close and knocking on the door. That pessimism that Pitt is always going to fall just short and some other team will be the one to go through that door.

If Michigan and Louisville win their games today, Pitt will have faced — and lost to every Final Four team this year. Just keep twisting that knife.

The game is at 1:40. It’s on TBS. On the bright side, it isn’t a noon tip. The downside (for me) is picking up the kids from school roughly as the second half is getting underway.

Will Pitt be able to avoid yet another slow start to their game? They are definitely aware of it. I’m not sure that it makes a difference or not — the being aware of it part. The fact is, this Pitt team has started most of their games — win or lose — sluggishly. Fitfully. At this point in the year, it is hard not to shrug and acknowledge that this team doesn’t get off to good starts.

Dante Taylor got six stitches above his right eye from the Syracuse game last week. The eye is still a bit swollen, but he’s not missing the game.

(more…)

You know those coincidental illnesses that fell many of us right around the start of the NCAA Tournament? Yeah, I actually did get sick and it timed out horribly. It’s not a deathly illness. It’s a sinus infection that I tend to get around this time of year. If that was it, it would be annoying but tolerable as the antibiotics kick it out. It’s the sleep deprivation from continually waking up from the coughing and continual drainage issues. Just been trying to get through work.

This is by no means a gimme first round game. Not simply because this is an 8-9 match-up. Personally, I think Pitt is seeded a bit low and WSU a bit high. But a 6-11/7-10 meeting is not exactly an uncommon upset. And superficially, some similarities on the resume.

Pitt went 4-7 against RPI teams in the top 50 and 5-0 against teams ranked 51-100. Its best wins came at second-seeded Georgetown (73-45) and against fourth-seeded Syracuse (65-55).

WSU, No. 37 in the RPI, went 3-2 against the top 50 and 5-3 against teams ranked 51-100.

The teams played three common opponents, all victories. Pitt defeated Howard (70-46), Detroit (74-61) and DePaul (93-55 and 81-66). WSU defeated Howard (69-50), Detroit (94-79) and DePaul (75-62).

The Shockers best wins came at VCU (53-51) and versus Creighton (67-64) who they also lost to twice.

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So after all my comments about how seeding is not as important as match-ups and where you play the games. When Pitt ended up as a Number 8 seed, well that kind of went out the window.

Pitt was a top-20 team. They were ranked in the top-10 in KenPom.com. The ESPN system of BPI said top-15. In the RPI, Pitt was only #43. The NCAA Tournament Committee Chair, Mike Bobinski has said they don’t just look at RPI. That they look at Sagarin, KenPom, and plenty of rankings beyond RPI. And when there is a significant discrepancy they look at a team closer.

I guess they didn’t like what they saw. On their official 1-68 list they had Pitt at #31. The popular sentiment is that the Committee leaned towards agreeing with the RPI rationale. Which penalized Pitt for their non-con strength of schedule. That the Committee wanted to penalize Pitt for a weak non-con.

Even so, it seems that this is more than a single seed line penalty to be dropped to an #8 seed.

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You know, when you aren’t on the bubble and you aren’t on the top 4 seed lines, this seems like a whole lot of standing around for nothing. All the talking heads on CBS and ESPN. Along with the punditry online and in print are focused on the #1 seeds and the last 4 in (along with last 4 out and 4 more after that for good measure).

Pitt falls into neither of those places. Pitt will be seeded somewhere in the #5 to #7 range. The seeding will have to take into account the seeding of Big East teams placed ahead of Pitt.

Louisville is expected to be a #1 seed. Georgetown, a #2 or #3. Syracuse a #3 or #4. Marquette will be somewhere in the #4 or #5. Notre Dame is probably a #5 or #6. (Villanova and Cinci will likely be anywhere from #9 to #11)

Where they get seeded and what bracket they get placed will have a significant impact on Pitt’s seeding. Protected seeds — the first 4 lines — will keep conference foes from facing each other in the opening weekend.

So, for example, say the committee made a Pitt a #5 seed but Pitt got placed in the same region as #4 seed Marquette. If the committee could not make it work to switch them to another region, they could drop Pitt down to the #6 seed so that they avoid any potential 1st weekend meeting.

Needless to say, seeding after first few spots is more of a point of pride than true relevance. Match-ups become much more important. Who you face and potentially face in each round makes a bigger difference.

The selection show starts at 6pm on CBS. The babbling and endless analysis goes on through tomorrow.

Congratulations to OrlandoPittAlum for taking the PittBlather Tournament Challenge. Obviously, OPA nailed the championship game. He had 3 of the 4 Final Four teams. Only his West Bracket — like just about everyone else — was wrecked in the course of the tournament. Otherwise, he had a very good performance. Wracking up 1560 points. My pathetic entry garnered a meager 700 points.

Even though, he placed in the 99.5 percentile of all entries, he was still 34,511 places below the winning total of 1780 points.

So OrlandoPittAlum, shoot me an e-mail so I can get your prize pack set to go.

Everyone is talking about the Ohio impact on the NCAA Tournament. Well, except for Northeastern Ohio, where the focus remains on what the Browns do with the 4th pick in the NFL Draft.

Ratings should be interesting. There are still blue-blood programs in the Sweet 16 with Kentucky, UNC, Kansas and Indiana. Plus huge alumni groups/band wagon fans for Ohio St., Michigan State and Florida. At the same time, there is no west coast presence. Baylor? Four states — Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky and Wisconsin contain 10 of the Sweet 16.

As much as people want to talk about the Ohio thing, the bigger story is UNC point guard  Kendall Marshall breaking his left wrist. The fact that there is speculation that since it was to his left wrist, leaving open the speculation that maybe he could play, tells you how dire the situation is for UNC at that spot. A nasty reminder that even the best, biggest name schools can’t just stockpile talent at all spots. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the starting point guard is for a team. If he’s starting, then he is almost certainly the best you have.

John Thompson III is lucky to have made that Final Four early. Otherwise, he would have the worst reputation in the Big East for coaching flops in the NCAA Tournament. He hasn’t gotten the Hoyas past the first weekend in the last 5 tries.

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So… everyone happy to have a wrecked bracket?

I sure am. There is nothing more fun than seeing those huge upsets in the first round — as long as it isn’t your team.

My theory that my picks would improve now without Pitt in the NCAA Tournament has been rather effectively destroyed. I’m way down on the list at 84th. My Final Four picks are still intact, but I’ve already lost 3 of 8 Elite Eight teams. I going to need a new “theory” to excuse this pathetic performance.

In the first round, there were a possible 320 points available. The initial leaders are D Morningstar Hook Shot, humza0822 6, and dbkohan 1 with 250 points. They are in the 99.3d percentile at the moment in the complete ESPN bracket challenge. Which is good enough to be 46,842 overall. But it is still wide open considering there were a couple Final Four teams eliminated from the entries.

K-State and Cuse kick off in a few minutes in Pittsburgh. Should be a good one.

The NCAA Tournament really tips in less than an hour.

See, the play-in games simply cannot count when you don’t have to pick them for bracket pools.

Hope you have made your pick for the annual Pitt Blather Bracket Challenge.

The group is locked, and semi-private. To join, the password is: PittIsIt

A little time left to make the picks.

The theory that I have at least been telling myself the last 10 years as to why my bracket has fallen apart is that my Pitt biases are just too strong for me to logically analyze and make bracket picks.

Guess it’s time to put it to the test.

Time for the annual Pitt Blather Bracket Challenge.

The group is locked, and semi-private. To join, the password is: PittIsIt

This year the prizes include a $50 gift card, a couple Pitt shirts and any other free shwag I’ve accumulated and can regift. (I swear, John I’m going to get your prize pack for 2011 mailed any day now.)

Last place is a copy of the game program from the Buffalo-Pitt football game featuring a smiling Fraud Graham on the cover. A collector’s item to be sure.

I know, it is the topic lately. Whether fans or media. With Travon Woodall healthy, Pitt is surging (Insider subs) with 3 straight wins. They look like a completely different team. The team left for dead as recently as last week now has a pulse.

And so goes all the talk about if Pitt can make the NCAA Tournament.

I do get it. Especially from the media side. It’s a guaranteed read when you talk about the bubble (trust me, the most commented most read stuff I did for NCAA Basketball FanHouse outside of the NCAA Tournament was “bubble” posts). It’s a big reason why you see these discussions happening earlier and earlier.

The importance of the NCAA Tournament and interest in it continues to thrive, and so all talk of who is in or out gets more attention/discussion. And following the Super Bowl on Sunday, you can bet that there will be even more of it.

Now here’s the reality. It’s too soon. It’s all theoretical. Is Pitt on the bubble? Are they outside the bubble? What do they have to do to make the Tournament? There are 8 games left for Pitt plus the Big East Tournament. That goes for all the other teams that you already hear being discussed in terms of “can they get in, get in the conversation, get on the bubble, etc.”

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I’m pulling for VCU at this point. Probably the kiss of death, but what the hell. Least evil team at this point for me.

About the only way I can find myself pulling for Butler is if they play Kentucky on Monday.

Kentucky is one of those teams I find easy to actively root against.

UConn. Well, there is the whole Big East solidarity thing, but we aren’t in the SEC, and those ridiculous S-E-C chants.

I hate destiny, fate and all that other crap. The fact that Butler and UConn could very well end up with those stories written if they win it all would render Pitt merely a footnote in those stories. I may be drinking hard(er) tonight.