Okay, late I know.

Here is the Pitt Blather Tournament group. I’m using ESPN.com Tournament set-up.

The Group Name: Pitt Blather

This is a private group, so to join you need the Group Password: FieldsGroin

The ETSU Buccaneers, that is.

The Bucs are coached by a guy with coaching bloodlines.

Gene Bartow, the former coach at Memphis, UCLA and UAB, is Murry Bartow’s father. Gene Bartow led Memphis to the national championship game in 1973, took UCLA to the Final Four in 1976 and later led UAB to seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

“My dad has been my biggest influence as a coach,” Bartow said. “I played for him at UAB, was an assistant under him and then he was my boss when I was the head coach there. He was a great coach. He just had a great feel for the game. He was a tremendous player’s coach. I was able to watch him and learn from him.”

His apprenticeship under Knight was a big influence as well. In his only two seasons at Indiana, he got to experience a bitter disappointment in the tournament the first year and a national championship the next.

In 1986, No. 3 seed Indiana was upset by No. 14 seed Cleveland State. One year later, the Hoosiers cut down the nets after Keith Smart made a baseline jumper as the clock wound down to beat Syracuse, 74-73.

His father Gene, also started the UAB basketball program — and set his son up as the next coach. The younger Bartow lasted six season. He was fired after a sub-.500 season.

A touching profile on Courtney Pigram, ETSU’s shooting guard who had interest from top programs but injuries and grades kept him from going to a top school.

Here’s a video preview of the team.

Yes, there are still more than a few articles out there bringing up Pitt’s past disappointments and saying that this will be more of the same. The fact is, the number and breadth of punditry putting Pitt in the Final Four and even in the Championship game (and dare we say cutting down the final net) are much higher. So much so, that it really is difficult to gather all the links.

It will take some effort and a bit of denial to build up the requisite outrage and righteous indignation at being disrespected at this point. And plenty already have issued their dire warnings of the disappointment if it does not happen.

Nice feature length piece on Pitt and DeJuan Blair from Dick Weiss.

Meanwhile Sam Young took it upon himself to talk with Blair.

“The main thing,” Young said, “and I’ve talked to DeJuan about it, is making sure that he stays on the floor.

“He agreed with me 100 percent.”

Young — and the rest of college basketball — realizes the importance of Blair, the 6-foot-7 All-America center, staying out of foul trouble as No. 1 seed Pitt (28-4) prepares for a hopeful deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

…

Young’s message was clear: Don’t take any unnecessary chances. You are too valuable.

“If we can keep everybody on the floor, I don’t think we will have a problem offensively,” Young said. “I told (Blair) I feel like he can score with the best of them. If someone scores on you, you can come right back and score on them. And if you don’t score, you are going to get the rebound.

“But we need you in the game, point blank. He definitely agreed with me and he’s going to make sure he stays in the game.”

It can’t hurt.

One game at a time. One game at a time. Let’s not worry about Elite 8 or failure stuff yet (we’ve kind of talket that to death all season anyways).

Um, if you want to see the ETSU-Pitt match-up, there’s a good chance you can get tickets — cheap.

Do the UD fans who bought tickets for tourney games at the Arena use their tickets Friday afternoon to watch the Pittsburgh Panthers, a No. 1 seed, or do they find a TV and watch the Flyers play West Virginia in Minneapolis?

Both games start at about 3 p.m.

“I am angry,” said Steve Waddell, a Bellbrook resident who called the NCAA to complain about the scheduling conflict. “I can’t believe that is not part of the standard operating procedures. I think it had to be a terrible oversight or mistake on their part.”

UD Arena hosts four games Friday, two in the afternoon and two at night. Each session requires a ticket with a face value of $66.

Here’s your standard article regarding a #16 seed. They just want to play. They won’t be intimidated.

There was little sign that ETSU was four days away from facing the Pittsburgh Panthers and one of biggest first-round challenges in the NCAA Tournament. Little sign that the Bucs were intimidated or scared straight. And little sign that East Tennessee State (23-10) prepared to treat its East Region contest against the Panthers (28-4) as anything other than what it is: a game. And that’s just the way Bucs coach Murry Bartow wants it.

“All I can do for our team is get our team ready to play,” Bartow said. “We can’t get overly concerned with who we’re playing. Obviously, we’re playing one of the best teams in the country, and it’s a hard matchup because of [their] strength and size. But all we can do is keep keeping on; keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Hopefully the players mean what they say about being a #1 seed and not taking anything for granted.

“I definitely don’t want to say that having a No. 1 seed is going to make anything easier,” senior Sam Young said, “because I almost don’t believe it because we’ve been upset so many times.”

Other No. 1 seeds went to Louisville — which also is playing in Dayton — North Carolina and Connecticut. The Big East is the first conference to have three No. 1 seeds.

“(Being a No. 1 seed) is a great thing,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “But it doesn’t mean anything at this point. There are 65 teams and every one of them thinks they can win it.”

Okay, just one little look ahead. Tennessee is not happy with its draw.

“We’re not looking ahead, I can guarantee you that,’’ said Pearl who has guided the Vols to the NCAA tournament in all four years of his UT tenure. “Oklahoma State has about the 19th RPI; they’re probably the toughest No. 8 seed in the tourney.’’

The Cowboys went on a season-ending run that included wins over Big 12 powerhouses Texas (68-59) and Oklahoma (71-70) before they fell to eventual conference tourney champion Missouri (67-59) on Saturday.

“Oklahoma State won eight of its last 10 and they shoot 38 percent from three,’’ Pearl said. “They’re very guard oriented and very athletic.’’

The Cowboys run a four-guard offense — just like the Mississippi State team that defeated the Vols 64-61 in the St. Pete Times Forum on Sunday afternoon to earn the SEC’s automatic bid.

I love that everyone — player or coach– by the way, feels they have the toughest path in the NCAA Tournament. It is almost standard.

“I think we have the toughest bracket,” Jermaine Dixon said. “But it’s really not a problem for us. Pittsburgh is always in a tough bracket, so we kind of expected it.”

Pitt has not advanced to a Final Four since 1941 and has not reached the Elite Eight since ’74.

The Panthers, who are making their eighth consecutive appearance in the tournament, have experienced some bitter disappointments in the past few years, including an early exit at the hands of Michigan State in the second round last season when many predicted a deep tournament run.

The expectations are even higher this season. The Panthers are being picked as one of the favorites to win the national championship.

“We got the No. 1 seed,” sophomore center DeJuan Blair said. “It’s not over. We have a long way to go.

“This is a long march. We’re going to have fun.”

Yes. Winning is fun. To quote Ebby “Nuke” LaLoosh, “I love winning. You know what I mean? It- it’s like better than losing!”

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).

While I’m not sure Pitt or any team should feel good about the idea of having a No. 1 next their name — whether it is ranking or seeding  — this year, I still think Pitt will get a #1 seed. Of course, I can’t help but think if Pitt somehow got bumped to #2, that would put a huge chip on their shoulder that would really help.

Right now, best guess: UNC, Pitt, Louisville and Memphis/Duke.

Obviously that would change if Louisville loses tonight and/or Duke loses its semi or the ACC Championship game.

Oklahoma is done for the #1 seed. They have struggled down the stretch with and without Blake Griffin. They and plenty of other teams stumbling in the conference tournaments works really well for Pitt in that it further minimizes their importance.

Michigan State probably had the best case and played like crap against Ohio St. in the semi to cost them. Live by the argument that the way they were rolling and going through a conference tournament, die that way, Mr. Izzo.

Pitt is ranked #2. They still holds the #1 RPI. Their SOS is #8 and Pitt holds a 8-3 record against RPI top-50 competition.

Best guess, Pitt will still be going to Dayton for the first round of action. After that…

North Carolina will be in the South Region, but the Panthers could end up in the Midwest (Indianapolis), West (Phoenix) or East (Boston) regional.

Sophomore center DeJuan Blair isn’t much concerned with where and when Pitt will play in the NCAA tournament. He said Pitt’s seed in the NCAA tournament is secondary to fixing some of the problems the team faces in the next few days before its first NCAA game.

“We can’t worry about where they put us or worry about anything else,” Blair said. “We just have to worry about us. The sky is still the limit for this team. We had a little bit of a letdown, but everything is going to be all right for us.

“We’ll just keep playing, and Coach will keep motivating us. We can’t worry about anybody else, where they put us or our head won’t be on the game. … We’ll be all right.”

Hopefully.

Way to go, Robert Morris.

Back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992. Well earned.

Big congrats to Mike Rice after his coaching apprenticehip that included St. Joe’s and Pitt.

Also, thanks for providing another bump for Pitt’s RPI and now making it three non-conference opponents Pitt faced,  that will be in the NCAA Tournament (Siena and FSU).

There’s a Pitt legacy on the Wildcat’s squad.

Jason Richards of Davidson has a chance to match his father’s achievement of point-guarding a team to the Elite Eight. Tom Richards was in charge when Pitt got to the East final in 1974. His son, leading the nation in assists, kept the Wildcats’ offense viable with 20 points and five assists while All-American Stephen Curry gradually found his touch on the way to 30 points and a dismissal of No. 2 seed Georgetown.

I hate to waste time on this sort of thing, but Bob Smizik’s usual column about how unimportant the Big East Tournament is, has come out. Honestly, I have a hard time getting worked up about most of what Smizik writes. Recycling the same columns, themes and just changing names has been his M.O. for years at this point.

Let’s give Smizik props for sticking with the position he has advocated before. At least he isn’t always a weather vane. He may have not said a damn word if Pitt had gone further, but that’s just human nature. Apparently playing well in the Big East Tournament is only bad for Pitt. G-town went to the Final Four last year after winning the BET. UConn won national champs in two of the three times it won the BET.

For Pitt, though, it is overemphasized because they had nothing left for the NCAA Tournament. Really, if Smizik was going to recycle a column, I would have expected his 2006 complaint about Pitt not being a good shooting team. You know, because they were too focused on defense and rebounding. He couldn’t complain about it in 2005, because Pitt lost in the first round of the BET. Don’t worry, he doubled it up in 2004, with focus on the unimportance of the BET and the regular season title, but then complained about how flawed Pitt was after losing the BET.

His theme this time, was that Pitt should have not played the 7-man rotation so much in the BET, even if it meant losing.

Gary McGhee, for example, did not get on the floor in the Big East tournament. That’s ridiculous. McGhee, a 6 foot 10 freshman, should have been part of the rotation, giving a rest to either Sam Young or DeJuan Blair so those two valuable players would be at their best for NCAA play and not possibly fatigued. Not only does it help Young and Blair, it gives McGhee valuable playing experience.

Brad Wanamaker, a player who might be starting next season, played a total of 16 minutes in the Big East tournament and did not get on the floor in the final two games. Wanamaker should have been used to spell Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields to keep them fresh for the more important games ahead.

As it was, Ramon and Young averaged 38 minutes and Fields 36 in the four Big East tournament games. Allocating those kind of minutes to a secondary tournament is poor coaching.

No one can be certain fatigue was the reason Ramon and Fields shot a combined 1 for 9 from 3-point range against Michigan State or that Young was 4 for 12 from the field. But it might have been, and that possibility should have been enough for Dixon to keep his players fresh instead of overextending them.

So, let’s say McGhee and Wanamaker got 10 minutes in each of those two games. Here’s the problem with that idea — I mean beyond the minimal actual impact on minutes.

It assumes the substitution is an individual occurrence. That the team doesn’t make adjustments to the rotation on hand. Like, having to help more inside with McGhee who is a step slow and not as sure inside. Or the other players having to work harder on offense because there is more pressure on the other 4 while McGhee is out there. The same can be argued for Wanamaker. He’s a solid defender, but his offense has been a non-factor and turnover risk in his freshman year.

I have high hopes for both. I think both will show marked improvement next season. That doesn’t mean you put them out there in these situations, and put these games at risk. To say nothing of the possibility of damaging their confidence if they make big mistakes in these situations.

The Pitt women’s basketball team beat 11th seeded Wyoming on Saturday 63-58 to advance to the second round against 3rd see ded Baylor. They advanced this far last year but Candace Parker from Tennessee rolled right over them on their way to an NCAA title.

Baylor (25-6) limped into the tournament with three straight losses — its first three-game skid since the 2000-01 season. The Bears’ struggles were largely due to inexperience and a lack of healthy bodies. They have just one senior on the roster and haven’t played more than seven players in any game since beating Oklahoma on Feb. 17.

That one senior, however, made a big difference on Saturday, when Tisdale had 26 points and six assists in Baylor’s 88-67 first-round victory over Fresno State. “She’s the key to our offense,” junior forward Rachel Allison said of Tisdale, averaging 24.4 points in her last five games. [ESPN preview]

If they are able to beat Baylor tonight, it would be the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history. Game time is set for 7pm on ESPN2.

Women’s basketball was once a strong point of Penn State athletics, but now we have that. At least they can always fall back on their 12 NCAA men’s gymnastics championships.

And holy hell does ESPN have a lot invested in this tournament or what. After CBS picked up the exclusive rights to every game of the men’s tourney, ESPN swooped in for the women’s. I’m willing to bet if they didn’t have the women’s tournament on their networks they wouldn’t have as much of their website dedicated to the women as they do the men. Just sayin’.

Congrats to coach Agnus Berenato for putting the Pitt women’s team on the map when they weren’t relevant even two years ago. Back-to-back tourney appearances is a big deal.

I knew it was good for me to write about Pitt’s season having already been enough. Win or lose against Michigan State, it was enough. I’ve already reread that post five times – I’m positive it’s kept me from saying something I’ll regret later. I’ve had about 40 hours to digest it – I think it’s time to move on.

Having said that…ouch. That’s a tough one to lose. I can’t wait to hear the people saying Dixon still can’t win the big ones – I don’t think any coach can win when your team shoots like that. He wasn’t the one shooting 2 of freaking 17 on three pointers. Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin both played like crap and there’s no denying that. I’ve been pretty tough on both all year (especially Ramon) and this game didn’t help their cause. Still, thanks to them for giving so much to this program over the years and I hope them both the best in whatever their life takes them to next. It’s not like the seniors were the only ones to drop the ball though – everyone except for Fields played like #%@&. I’m not even mad anymore because, well, it’s over.

But hey, when Drew Neitzel is going to hit every shot he takes then you’re already fighting a losing battle. As Chas mentioned, Neitzel frustrated the hell out of everyone by both his crazy shots and his attitude. Someone I watched the game with, not a Pitt fan, commented on how much of a jerk he was and somebody from Pitt needed to foul him hard at the end of the game. I responded with some harsher words (one f-word followed by a different f-word) but whatever. Just add him to the list with Gerry McNamara and Chris Quinn – certified Panther killers.

Please don’t bring up the argument that they were worn down by the Big East Tournament. I’m not buying that excuse at all. These are 18-22 year old kids in the best shape of their lives. Sure four games in four days was tough but it was a whole week ago. The game against Oral Roberts was so easy and boring that it was like a day off anyways.

It also would have been nice for them to win for the simple fact it would have given us something to write about for another week. Blogging the offseason sucks.

Evening. I just got home a short while ago from a weekend visit to the family out east. Spent most of the 375 miles of the drive still thinking about the missed shots, and Drew Neitzel sending in those 3s.

The rational part of my brain knows Neitzel was just hyped and relieved he didn’t get the foul called on his reach-in and he didn’t realize Fields was down; but seeing him screaming and posing towards Michigan State’s end of the court as Fields was writhing on the court and called for an offensive foul still irritates the hell out of me and has me wishing him ill.

Levance Fields, though, took the high road.

On the next possession, as if to prove these guys really do make their living playing the brutish defense Tom Izzo’s teams are known for, the guards combined on the final blow. Neitzel reached in to redirect Fields — who found himself slamming directly into [Kalin] Lucas. The ref called a charge and, cruelly and almost appropriately, the play ended with Fields on the ground writhing in pain.

Pitt lost the ball on offensive fouls four times down the stretch.

“Lucas did a great job getting position,” Fields said. “He got the call. It could have gone either way, but he did a good job on defense.”

This may seem (maybe it is — it’s hard to tell right now) sour grapes, but Drew Neitzel’s game would have driven me insane if he was on Pitt. So maddeningly inconsistent at times.

It didn’t hurt that Neitzel’s here-today-gone-tomorrow offense materialized when his team needed it most. After an erratic 2-of-11 from the field against Temple in the first round, Neitzel found a degree of consistency against the Panthers. Despite a cold stretch at the start of the second half, he finished with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He hit 5-of-8 from three-point range, including a crucial pair at 6:27 and 5:03 of the second half. Those shots seemed to reestablish his swagger; Neitzel followed them by burying a jumper from just inside the arc with 4:18 remaining.

“I love the fact that he took those three shots,” Izzo beamed.

Asked about the 3-pointer he sank from in front of the Michigan State bench after he’d gone cold, Neitzel said simply, “I just stepped in and knocked it down. Throughout the year, I’ve gone through some ups and downs as far as my shooting. … No matter if I miss five, 10 shots in a row, what I’ve got to do is keep shooting.”

Far be it from Izzo to disagree: “He’s our guy. He’s the guy we have to have making shots.”

Obviously from the Pitt-perspective, it was all about how badly Pitt shot the ball. Whether it was Ramon and Benjamin not hitting open looks in their final game or Blair missing easy lay-ups even when the Spartan big men were out. Everyone not named Levance Fields couldn’t seem to connect.

Frustrating.

“This is a loss that will hurt, because we could have played better,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

Pitt, which had used its magical run through the Big East Tournament to become a darling of the tourney, missed 20 of 29 shots in the first half and mustered only one field goal in the final 9:41 to see its season end.

“I felt like a lot of shots that we normally make, we missed tonight,” said junior forward Sam Young. “I thought they played great defense, but the shots that we were able to get good looks at, we didn’t knock them down.”

Fourth-seeded Pitt, trying to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in the past seven years, ends the season at 27-10.

There’s a lot to love about this team. To be hopeful for next year. To appreciate what they did accomplish this year — when there were so many things that went wrong. So many questions early. I know that I’ll get to that point. Just not quite yet.