It’s Selection Sunday so it’s time to really start thinking about filling out those brackets.

The group is on ESPN. You will need an ESPN account to register(which is free).

The group can be found here. The password is pittblather.

Limit of 1 entry per person. Chas will announce the prizes at a later time.

The brackets get announced tomorrow at 6pm. I’ll be tweeting and trying to digest all the information. You can treat this post as an open thread on the remaining conference championship games and for the bracket announcements.

At 7pm there will be a livechat on the brackets and seedings that I’ll be moderating. Scheduled to join the fun are bloggers from VUHoops.com (Villanova), Eers to You (WVU), Johnny Jungle (St. John’s), Cracked Sidewalks (Marquette) and FriarBlog (Providence). There might be a couple others as well.

It’s going to be a little different from game liveblogs. It’s going to start out as a panel discussion with other Big East bloggers. Getting other perspectives and thoughts. There will be some questions and comments, but it will be a bit tighter on controls over what gets through.

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Just giving a heads-up. The brackets get announced tomorrow at 6pm. I’ll be tweeting as it happens (along with nearly everyone else). But come back here around 7pm for a livechat on the brackets and seedings that I’ll be moderating.

It’s going to be a little different from game liveblogs. It’s going to be a panel discussion with other Big East bloggers, and then we well take questions and comments

Scheduled to participate are bloggers from VUHoops.com (Villanova), Eers to You (WVU), Johnny Jungle (St. John’s), Cracked Sidewalks (Marquette) and FriarBlog (Providence). There might be a couple others as well.

The other feature about this is that the liveblog will also be on these sites blogs as well, so there should be questions and comments from other fans and perspectives. Hope you stop by.

It’s 68 teams not a 96-team expansion.

The NCAA today announced a new 14-year television, internet and wireless rights agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., to present the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship beginning in 2011 through 2024 for more than $10.8 billion. As part of the agreement, all games will be shown live across four national networks beginning in 2011 – a first for the 73-year old championship.

Additionally, CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting have been licensed and will collaborate on the NCAA’s corporate marketing program.

Late Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee unanimously passed a recommendation to the Division I Board of Directors to increase tournament field size to 68 teams beginning with the 2011 Championship. The recommendation will be reviewed by the Division I Board of Directors at its April 29 meeting.

I can’t begin to say how happy I am over this. 4 play-in games is fine. That keeps things relatively stable as there will now by 37 at-large teams.

If as it says, all games will be on TV, that means saving a $65-70 every year on the Mega March Madness package I’ve been getting. That’s a plus.

The day suddenly seems a little brighter.

— I don’t know about you, but seeing Da’Sean Butler go down in an agonized heap against Duke brought back painful memories of seeing Mike Cook go down against Duke a few years back. Right down to the screams and a head coach cradling and trying to comfort and console his player.

I was not rooting for WVU, but I hated seeing Butler go down with an injury. He was a hell of a player that always scared the crap out of me. Anyone who cheered that is scum. Regardless of what name was on the front of his jersey.

— It sure will be easy to root for the Butler Bulldogs tonight. To the point where I kind of wish Billy Packer was still the analyst. Just to have him bag on Butler so it would be that much easier to root against Duke.

The other reason to root for Butler. Coach Dixon coached Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack on the US U-19 gold medal team.

“Someone asked me, ‘What did you learn from the experience with the U19 team,'” Dixon said in a phone interview. “I learned not to play Butler.”

Mack, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Lexington, KY, was named a team captain.

Hayward, a 6’9″ sophomore from Brownsburg, IN, was selected to the tournament’s All-Star team along with Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor, who played for newly minted Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Hurley at St. Anthony in Jersey City.

“Gordon was our best player by far and Mack was probably or second-best player,” Dixon said. “That gives you an idea how good they were.

“This team’s not Cinderella,” Dixon added of Butler. “The two players I know are as good as anybody in the country.”

— The Pitt Blather bracket challenge is now down to

Renato Miguel and Ontario Lets Go Pitt. Very simple. If Butler wins, RM wins. If Duke wins OLGP takes it by a point.

— Apparently former Pitt assistant and Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen is still considering the offer for more money to be an assistant at St. John’s. By all reports, though, he’s got a strong recruiting class and an excellent chance to win the MAAC. Considering he remains in demand to be an assistant (rejected an offer from Calipari to join him in Kentucky), I don’t see the point in leaving his present job. Even if he fails and gets fired, the well-paid assistant/recruiting jobs will be out there. If he succeeds, he gets a chance to move up the coaching ladder.

— I don’t know how many of you had a chance to watch the debut on your PBS station for “The Street Stops Here.” The documentary on St. Anthony’s and hall of fame basketball coach Bob Hurley, that focuses on the 2007-08 season and players — including Pitt’s Travon Woodall.

The reviews have been glowing. For some reason, PBS in Cleveland didn’t air it this past Wednesday. They waited until Saturday night — during the Final Four — to ensure that anyone who likes basketball and would be interested totally missed it. I have it on the DVR and it is on my watch list right after tonight.

This is my fault. Luke has sent me some updates, but I’ve been lousy about getting them posted. So, here’s how the final scenarios play out:

Renato leads with 293 points, but he can garner no further points with his Kansas-Kentucky championship game. He needs Duke to beat WVU, then lose to the winner of Butler-Michigan State.

Jacob actually nailed three of the four Final Four teams. If WVU wins the whole thing, he takes the prize. Presently he sits back at 229 points but WVU can carry him all the way to 325 points.

Eric has WVU in the championship game, but losing to Syracuse. If WVU beats Duke but loses the Championship, he takes the prize with 306 points.

Finally, OntarioLetsGoPitt also picked a Duke-WVU match-up, but went with Duke winning the entire thing. If Duke wins the NCAA Tournament, OLGP gets to 294 points and just edges Renato by a single point.

Not too confusing at this point.

I think I’ll spare myself (and possibly the rest of you) any big media recap of the actual game. Suffice to say, Coach Dixon put things succinctly.

But when it was over, Dixon contrasted the moods of the two teams. “They’re happy and we’re suffering,” he said. “It’s going to sting, it’s going to hurt.”

It was pointed out that Kevin Gorman and Bob Smizik see part of the problem in Pitt not having enough offensive firepower come the NCAA Tournament. Be it a take-over “man” in crunch time, or simply a need to recruit more players who are shooters even at the expense of defense.

My first thought is that both are essentially ignoring the fact that the Pitt team of the past two years has been much more of an offensive-minded team with good, but hardly transcendent defense. Who was Sam Young but an offensive force when he asserted? Who was Levance Fields, but the general who would get those last clutch shots when needed? Who was DeJuan Blair, but the force on the glass that would clean up everything and get easy putbacks on offensive rebounds? The defense was better than average, but it was Pitt’s offensive efficiency and ability to outscore teams that had them winning games the last two years.

This team was made up of the role players who had to expand their role, and young players still learning. They had to go with their strengths, which was much more emphasis on defense. The job of any coach is to win the games, and win with the talent on hand.

Looking at it a little closer, Gorman seems to be talking about some dominating two-guard or wing forward that can drive and shoot threes to be that man. Even if the defensive prowess/effort isn’t there. Or, if you want to be a little clearer — a more consistent Gilbert Brown. I mean, doesn’t Brown fit that description? When Brown is on his good days, he is exactly that. Didn’t he actually do that abruptly and unexpectedly (and yes, a little too late) at the end of Xavier? Isn’t that what Pitt may have coming in J.J. Moore? Can we agree that Dante Taylor still has big potential to be a very potent offensive force?

As for Smizik’s contention that Pitt needs 3-point specialists who can come off the bench cold and drill 3s. Um, okay. Yeah, that would be nice. Tell me a team that wouldn’t mind that. But maybe it’s because I’ve watched a bombing of 3s philosophy absolutely fail in the Big East (and most other places) — Notre Dame, Providence, Seton Hall, etc. — that it seems a bit silly. The only teams in the Big East that shoot a lot of 3s and have any success — Louisville and Syracuse. They play a completely different style than Pitt, and still they rely on having an inside presence and ability to go to the basket when the shots don’t go down.

My feeling is that that the writers are ignoring or confusing things, and really want to see Pitt play more of an up-tempo style. That’s not going to happen.

Final note. Just for fun, imagine if Pitt did change philosophies. Then imagine what would happen when Pitt hit a patch where they lost several games in a stretch because the defense was not there? Then there would be bemoaning the loss of identity for Pitt. How they are failing on the basics and fundamentals.

It’s the kind of cold, wet, rainy March in Cleveland that plain sucks. Way too much symbolism on the day after a loss.

For only one team does basketball season end as a complete good thing. For everyone else, pain. Or frustration. Or anger. That time is now for Pitt.

If you want to think Pitt choked. If you want to think that Pitt had no business losing that game, I doubt anything will convince you otherwise. Not the stats. Not the Vegas line. Not all things going into this game that screamed toss-up.

The Curse of Kelvin Sampson continues for another year (in my mind). Former Indiana recruit, Jordan Crawford, and Indiana transfer, Terrell Holloway, combined for 40 points (13-22), 9 rebounds and 4 assists. I am so sick of seeing his former assemblage of talents get dispersed then come back to bit Pitt on the ass. (And on that note, please let Devin Ebanks turn pro early.)

A 71-68 loss. Coming back more than once from double-digit deficits. It wasn’t enough. That one stretch in the first half when things went all Xavier’s way. Every ball for them found the bottom of the net, every drive and shot by Pitt wouldn’t fall, or a turnover to make it another empty possession.

This Pitt team didn’t quit. They played hard, aggressive and well throughout the second half. Strong surges and the kind of play that we have enjoyed all season. Frustratingly, like in the second loss to Notre Dame or that loss at Seton Hall, things never quite all the way there. Xavier had just enough to answer and survive.

Pitt got chances at the end. As Gil Brown spent the first half and most of the second half being fitted for goat horns for yet another on-and-off game performances. He suddenly found his stroke in the waning minutes to help Pitt comeback (5-5 including 3-3 on 3s). Xavier missed some key free throws. But this time the game-tying three would not fall from Wanamaker or Gibbs. Not like it did against WVU. Not like it did versus Louisville. No game-winning shot like Providence.

Instead we find ourselves pondering the missed chances. If Jermaine Dixon had not had a horrible night. If three more free throws would have gone down. If Gary McGhee wasn’t as ineffective, as he was assertive the previous game. If Ashton Gibbs could have made a couple shots in the second half. If Gilbert Brown could have gotten on track sooner. If some of Wanamaker’s drives to the hoop had gone in, instead of rimming out. If a couple calls had been made that went Pitt’s way. If anyone other than Wanamaker and Gibbs could have shown any offense in the first half. If the defense could have gotten a couple stops. (If someone could have taken a crowbar to Jordan Crawford’s shin.)

Nope. A tight tough loss to a team that had a strong troika in Love, Holloway and Crawford that combined to get 54 of the 71 points and 17 of the 31 rebounds to drive the Musketeers. You have to tip your cap to the way each controlled their aspect of the game and dominated their spot. Love inside, was strong and unyielding. Holloway — especially in the second half — controlled things for Xavier and directed the team to explot its one-on-one strengths.

Then there was Crawford who is making the opening weekend of the NCAA a declaration of his presence as a big time player. Not Joe Crawford’s little brother. Not the guy who got a dunk on LeBron James. A star talent that Xavier hopes to have for one more year.

The ride ended too soon — again. More was wanted. It felt like there should have been more. There’s no satisfying ending.

Then again, it never ends. Only two players leave this team. The group will work to get better. We know that they are upset and frustrated. That they want to put this behind them and not let this happen again.

The expectations return quickly. The optimism is already there. Improvement from the players throughout the season. New blood and talent on the bench and coming soon. A coach that demands strong, unselfish play — and knows how to coax it out of a team.

Next season can’t get here soon enough.

I have no clue about this game. I keep saying it, but it is true. The teams are evenly matched. I think both sides like the way they match-up with each other. I hate to say it, but I think this game comes down to which team just gets a couple more bounces and rolls. Or I could be working myself up, because I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment if I become too optimistic.

The tip-time is set for 4:50 PM ET. Looking at the way the GT-OSU game is going, I have trouble believing the actual time will be much before 5 PM.

As usual, if you need to break this out of the liveblog, Click Here.

The Xavier-Pitt game is roughly scheduled to start at 4:50 PM ET. It follows the GT-OSU game that starts at 2:20 PM in Milwaukee. Regionally, it will be Xavier-Pitt, Texas A&M-Purdue or Cal-Duke for the later games. Gonzaga-Syracuse is the early game.

Plan accordingly.

Plenty of capsule previews before any NCAA Tournament. This one stuck with me heading into the weekend.

The Panthers are all about ball movement, working the ball around to get short jumpers, layups and trips to the line. More than 2/3 of their made shots come off of a pass, and when they get out of that approach is when they have trouble. They don’t shoot well for a tournament team, getting by on second chances and foul shots. Defensively, they play as if to beat their own offense: protect the glass, don’t foul, stay in position. Strangely, five of their eight losses came against teams that missed the dance. Oakland doesn’t present a problem; Xavier does in a second-round matchup that will play like a Sweet 16 game and be decided in the last minute.

The Xavier Coach, Chris Mack, got into a rather silly pissing match with a Minneapolis columnist. Both sides look rather foolish. Mack because the columnist always can get the last word (or pixel) in. The columnist because he comes off as a self-promoting asshat.

The story for Xavier, in case you missed it, was Jordan Crawford.

On the national stage, Crawford once again became a known commodity. When he arrived at Indiana, he entered as a high-profile recruit expected to help lift the program back to prominence. After transferring to Xavier following Kelvin Sampson’s demise, he watched from the sidelines for a year. After dunking on LeBron James in a summer camp, his two days of fame faded into a season toiling off the national radar in the Atlantic 10.

After Friday’s show, his show is not going anywhere. Well, except almost certainly to the NBA. But that is a story for another day.

Well, maybe sooner if the sophomore keeps it up.

The media play-up is that this is a rematch of last year. But at least one Xavier player put it in perspective.

Xavier has a few new faces, too — and a new head coach, Mack, who took over when Sean Miller left for Arizona.

“We’re two completely different teams,” Xavier’s Jamel McLean said. “It’s not a rivalry game between us. But we do know in the back of our minds that this was the team that knocked us out last year. We’re not going to try and make it bigger than it is.”

Primary starters from last year, Derrick Brown, B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson are gone as well.

Xavier needed Crawford to go off, because they got nothing inside from their senior center Jason Love. He’s slightly undersized, but has been a solid inside guy. Should be another good match-up for Gary McGhee. Love — obviously — expects a physical game.

Q: What’s the plan for hanging with their physicality?
JL: We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing the last eight or nine games of the season. We’ve been rebounding so much better. Jamel McLean for instance, with 14 rebounds (Friday), he’s been rebounding the hell out of the ball toward the tail end of the season. Kenny Frease, (Friday), he stepped up for us. We’re physical, too. We’re not scared to bang other guys.

Q: What sticks out from playing them last year?
JL: Just that they’re the most physical team maybe in the country. They take a lot of pride in that. You have to match it. If not, they’ll punch you in the mouth, and you’re going to end up with a loss.

If you are wondering (and you probably are not), yes someone outside of Pittsburgh has noticed Gilbert Brown’s on-and-off game. I wish otherwise, but I believe Pitt needs him to somehow break the pattern for a win on Sunday.

Enjoy the moment, before moving on.

Most impressive, perhaps, was his team’s balance. Pittsburgh had six players score in double digits. The Panthers didn’t create or maintain their large lead through explosive flurries or individual brilliance. Instead, Pittsburgh slowly, methodically, and completely ground the Golden Grizzlies down.

“I liked the balanced scoring,” Jamie Dixon said. “Once we were able to get going, we could find some guys for open shots, and things started rolling.”

Defensively, the Panthers chose not to double-team Oakland center Keith Benson, who played all 40 minutes and scored 28 points. The upshot was that Oakland’s shooters didn’t get open looks outside, and it paid off — Pitt held Oakland to 4-of-21 shooting from three, and no matter what Benson did, it wasn’t enough to keep up with Pitt’s balance on the offensive end. Note to the rest of the NCAA tournament: This is how No. 3 seeds are supposed to win.

I noticed there was an undercurrent among Pitt fans. A developing big man possibly going to the NBA. Facing a Pitt big man. Shades of Patrick O’Bryant and Bradley going at Aaron Gray. Of course, unlike Bradley, Oakland didn’t have a guard that was strong, crafty and hot.

Don’t ignore that Gary McGhee did a great job on Benson.

Consider that Benson played all 40 minutes and scored 16 of his points – five in a span of 5:10 in the first half and 11 over 4:35 in the second – during stretches where McGhee was replaced by Dante Taylor and J.J. Richardson.

What was impressive, was the way McGhee used his strength, and played smart. He made sure to get position and keep Benson further from the basket. Forcing either tough shots or passing out. Benson could not go through McGhee and didn’t have good angles on shots when he tried to go around him. Great job by the coaches, but an even better job by McGhee on executing it.

Still, Benson has done very well in developing at Oakland and aside from increasing his strength it his hard to say the Summit League will challenge his game any further. So, he has to decide about the NBA.

Pitt, like so many teams in the first couple days of the NCAA Tourney started out slow.

For the first 10 minutes of its NCAA first-round game Friday against Oakland at the Bradley Center, Pitt had the look of a team that hadn’t played in more than a week. There were turnovers, ragged offense and some less-than-stellar defense that led one to believe that the Panthers might be in for a long tussle against the Golden Grizzlies of the Summit League.

But in the final 30 minutes of what turned into an 89-66 runaway victory for third-seeded Pitt, the Panthers looked like a team that made the most of their practice time after the early exit in the quarterfinals from the Big East Conference tournament.

The one thing that I was seeing that was good in that poor start, was that Pitt had energy. They were moving the ball. They were making attempts to penetrate. On defense, they were going after it. A lot more board crashing. It just was that the shots weren’t going. Rattling around. Not falling.

“We were getting to the basket, but we were missing some layups, forcing some shots and I thought we should have been dumping them off and dropping them off as their big guys rotated over,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “That’s what we did as the half progressed.”

The Panthers missed their first six shots Friday, which meant that going back to halftime of their Big East Conference quarterfinal ejection at the hands of Notre Dame, they were 6 for 26 from the floor when Gilbert Brown hit for three of his 17 points with 5:51 elapsed in the half. Even with that, Pitt would get all of one field goal in the first 7:52.

“We looked nervous out there; I was nervous — I know that,” said junior guard Brad Wanamaker, whose jumper with 6:59 left in the half gave Pitt the lead it never relinquished and ended a near nine-minute stretch that Oakland found itself on top. “Patience was a big key for us.”

The demarcation as far as most are concerned, came with blood.

Oakland coach Greg Kampe said senior Derick Nelson’s absence with a head injury was key in Pitt’s 89-66 victory in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, but so was the 10-minute delay as trainers worked on him. Oakland led, 14-10, at the time of the stoppage.

“I really thought it was going our way,” Kampe said. “I thought the 10 minutes that we stood there really hurt us. There was pressure on them (Pitt). They were missing some shots. They were struggling. I think there were some things in their mind there, and everything was going our way, and then there was that pause.”

Nelson was injured after catching an inadvertent elbow to the left temple from center Gary McGhee in the first half. Nelson, who scored 36 points in the Summit League title game, missed the final 10 minutes of the first half, and Pitt scored 29 of the next 37 points to take the lead for good. Nelson returned in the second half after getting a handful of stitches, but he was ineffective from the field, going 0 for 7 with one point and five turnovers.

There was nothing dirty about it. Nasty looking, but there was no intent or anyone even claiming that McGhee was out of control.

Moment is over. On to Xavier — again.

Take it away, Luke:

The first round is completed, and the lone survivor of yesterday’s top 3 is leader George Lesko, who has BYU over Murray State to go to the final four.

Today’s second place trailing by 5 with Ohio State as a national champion is Samuel Friedman. Other distinguishable marks in his bracket include a final four of Ohio State, Syracuse, West Virginia, and baylor, with the Hoopies advancing over Baylor. Mr. Friedman also has Texas over Kentucky, and Cornell to the Elite 8.

3rd place is Michael Meadows, who believes Kentucky will be cutting down the nets with a win over Georgetown(haha!!).

I am in 155th place, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

Pulling up the rear is Kevin Corcoran. Man, I don’t even know where to start with your bracket. Texas to the elite 8, and Utah State, Richmond to the Sweet 16.

On a side note, it looks like we have a large contingency with WVU winning it all.

Here’s to you: Todd Gack, Rob Wittig, Kevin Gagliardi, Jacob Meyer, Josh Mohl, Peter Biggs, and Samuel Friedman(has them runner ups).

Devin Ebanks. Scottie effin’ Reynolds. Tom Crean at Indiana. They all are connected by one evil thread.

Kelvin Sampson. The disgraced coach of Indiana and before that, Oklahoma has been an indirect but substantial thorn in the side of Pitt for several years. It looks to be that way until Ebanks goes pro.

He bails on Oklahoma for Indiana after NCAA trouble. That move reopened Scottie Reynolds who had committed to the Sooners. After Sampson left, Reynolds ends up at Villanova and we all know what went down last year in Boston.

He can’t stop making his excessive recruiting ph0ne calls — including to one DeJuan Blair — and everything implodes in Indiana. A outstanding recruiting glass runs away, including Devin Ebanks to West Virginia to make things that much better for Bob Huggins and the Hoopies.

That set things up for the new coach. Tom Crean can’t resist and brings his guard-heavy approach. This produces immediate recruiting success in Maurice Creek and Crean naturally beats Pitt at MSG this past year.

Now Pitt heads into a Sunday game with Xavier. A team with not only an ex-Indiana recruit in Terrell Holloway, but a transfer from Indiana after Sampson left in Jordan Crawford.

So if you have a system to disperse the negativity of the Sampson stink, do it. I’m going with giving blood. They can take the normal pint, but I’ll offer an extra if it will help.

Whatever it takes.

A feature on Gibbs in USA Today on how he has been one of the go-to guys for Pitt. For some reason it seems a surprise to reporters that Pitt wants to make a deep run. What? You think they were going to play a “happy to be here” card?

The game is scheduled for roughly 2:45. We will see if it goes that way.

If you need to break it out from the blog Click Here.

You don’t think Coach Dixon and the rest of the staff wasn’t banging that point home all day yesterday? You don’t think that was on the recorded message each kid got on their wake-up all in their hotel room?

Safe to say that while Georgetown ostensibly took some pressure off Pitt as the potentially biggest disappointment if they lose, a whole mess of pressure was added to Pitt and the other Big East teams. An absolutely disastrous day for the conference when even the lone win felt like a loss. It was ACC-esque.

That was a wild day, and it seems likely that no matter what happens today will seem like a letdown nationally compared to Thursday. My god, even Lehigh made Kansas nervous for a while in the first half.

Three of the #3 seeds played. While only one was upset, New Mexico and Baylor had tough games (Baylor tied with under 3 minutes left). There are no gimmees.

So, beware Keith Benson, another late-blooming center. Oakland actually expected to be here. Their plan is to attack Pitt the way they have played all season.

I don’t think Pitt is looking past Oakland or more than one game at a time.

After Gibbs only took four shots in the loss to Notre Dame, he is going to look for his shot a little more. Meanwhile, Oakland plans to stick one guy on Gibbs like glue.

[Johnathon] Jones, who has fared well covering some top guards this season, will be counted on to stay with Pitt sophomore Ashton Gibbs, the Big East’s Most Improved Player.

“I’ll say this, and (Gibbs) will score 30,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said, “but we’ve got a guy I think can guard him.”

He’s a small pesky guard (5-11), so that will be an interesting match-up.

Gotta say, the story on Oakland coach Greg Kampe makes him seem like a good guy.

Lots to do to clear the 12 hours or so of Tourney watching, so that’s it. Liveblog this afternoon.