A little bit of a surprise. Bill Self at Kansas has cleaned up on coaching awards this year. Coach Jamie Dixon was named the Naismith Coach of the Year.

The award is presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and selected by a panel that includes a collection of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The other finalists were Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel, Louisiana State’s Trent Johnson and Kansas’ Bill Self.

Dixon led Pitt to its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and its most victories (three) in tourney play. He also set an NCAA Division I record for most career victories after six seasons as a head coach, with 163.

“Pittsburgh had a tremendous season and much of that success goes to Jamie and the wonderful coaching job he did with this team,” Atlanta Tipoff Club president Gary Stokan said. “During his six seasons he has built a solid program that continues to produce wonderful results, both on and off the court.”

Technically it is Coach Dixon’s second coach of the year award in 2009. He also received the Phelan mid-year coach of the year award.

Apparently there will be a 4pm presser at the Pete to announce the award. Coach Dixon was a distant second in most of the other awards to Bill Self.

Just one more thing about this season and how much Pitt ended up accomplishing.

I am highly bemused by the fact that all the stuff over Tim Floyld leaving USC for Arizona and Jamie Dixon being pursued by USC came to naught. Floyd decided to remain with the Trojans — and in the process apparently rejected Memphis as well.

It was very educational. If you needed any further evidence about how little USC fans care about basketball, this incident proved it. The reaction from the USC blog, Conquest Chronicles — which I find to be a highly rational and intelligent blog on USC — essentially was, “Ehhh, whatever.”

At USC the Galen Center is always half full and a good portion of the fan base uses basketball as hobby between football seasons. There are some die hard basketball fans at USC but they are out numbered 3-1 in comparison to football.

There was some talk about the idea of getting Jamie Dixon, but not much. Not so oddly, Bruins Nation seeemed more concerned about all of this because they have viewed Coach Dixon as their coach in waiting when Ben Howland calls it a career or heads to the NBA. He’s an LA suburb native with family there, and a close friend/protege of Howland. I never really thought about it before, but it makes some sense

Now, before anyone flies off-the-handle in righteous indignation over this, it is absolutely no different from the way most Pitt fans look at Xavier Coach Sean Miller. No one is in any hurry for this to happen, but there is a perception/belief that Pitt would get Miller if the time came. Apparently UCLA fans feel the same way about Dixon.

It’s always that way. It doesn’t necessarily happen, though. Kentucky has failed twice in the presumption that they could get Billy Donovan from Florida when they came calling. Donovan has become entrenched and at home in Florida.

That is, in my opinion, where things are heading with Coach Dixon. He is building his legacy at Pitt. He has become increasingly entrenched and sees a chance to establish his own legacy at Pitt in the long-term.

Dixon has done more than build the program at Pitt. He has worked to make it an integral part of the campus and the community. So that the basketball program is an important thing, and not an afterthought. His assistance in making the summer league in Pittsburgh, strongly encouraging the participation by Pitt players and giving what support he is able to offer (without running afoul of NCAA issues) from the inception of it. Those are the little things that will give Pitt basketball the long term growth. In the process, so has Dixon become part of the community and the university.

The support of the athletic department and chancellor has only fostered that growth. To say nothing of being proactive in rewarding Dixon with extensions and raises that keep him from feeling underappreciated. Coach Dixon may be the highest paid employee at Pitt, but he is middle-of-the-road in coaches salary in the Big East and overall in the major conferences. Thankfully, Coach Dixon does not have his ego directly tied to his salary, so he does not seek or demand to be among the top pay of coaches.

Oh, and this from Andy Katz at ESPN.com:

Dixon had already received preliminary calls from reps of USC in case Floyd had left, according to multiple sources. Dixon may not have bit on a potential offer, but the good news for Pitt fans is he doesn’t have to even think twice anymore. He’s staying put.

Not an issue.

Here’s roughly what Dixon would have to balance, assuming Tim Floyd leaves USC for Arizona and USC comes after Coach Jamie Dixon.

Money: They would have to offer at least $2.5 million and a minimum of 5 years.

Family: If they did that, the other pros would be the proximity of his sister and parents in the area. Along with his wife being a USC grad (FWIW).

Local recruiting: Let’s face it, there is more talent to mine in LA and California than there is in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania.

Here are the negatives:

Less enthusiastic fanbase;

Leaving a trusted relationships with both the AD and Chancellor;

In a comfort zone and happy in Pittsburgh;

Unknown possibilities of NCAA penalties from the O.J. Mayo matters in 2008;

Competing regularly with good friend Ben Howland on the court and off for recruits. Given their similarities in what they like to do, they would be battling regularly for the same type of recruits in the same places;

Starting over and leaving well-built and more established recruiting inroads in the east;

Bigger rebuilding/reloading job even if Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett come back. He is almost certain to lose USC’s recruiting class and DeRozan would be certain to go pro.

What else?

So, let me get this straight. The coach who ended up being trashed repeatedly in no small part because he had to follow Phil Jackson in Chicago without Michael Jordan and a completely barren rebuilding team, is going to head to Arizona to follow Lute Olson and a completely barren and rebuilding team? Really? Did someone erase this guy’s memory of how well that worked last time?

Tim Floyd is a moron, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if he does take the Arizona job. It’s not a done deal, yet. He’s mulling, apparently. The speculative reasons as to why he wants to go somewhere for at least slightly better money is that there is actual caring about the basketball program by the fans. The other is that he knows some bad crap is about to come down the pike from the O.J. Mayo stuff last year.

I don’t know, but that will re-fuel the Jamie Dixon to USC stuff.

Matt “Money” Smith during Lakers Line on AM 570 KLAC said Ben Howland protege and current Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon is rumored to replace Floyd.

Dixon, with family in LA and such, will be a popular name tossed. Of course, the Trojans tried to get him to bite a few years back and he completely rebuffed them.

Still, as I cautioned, this sort of rumor stuff will be going for a bit. In fact, if Floyd does leave expect the intensity and rumors to really hit the fan. Why? All coaches and athletic directors will be in Detroit for the next several days for the Final Four.

That will mean breathless reports of clandestine meetings. Unsubstantiated rumors, sightings and pairings.

Reports are now flying that Arizona will be making a coaching announcement in the next couple of days.

The school has narrowed down their choices and talked to four candidates, sources have told Sports 620 KTAR’s Mark Asher.

A deal is believed to be agreed upon in principle but nothing has been signed.

The names are Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel, and USC’s Tim Floyd.

The only reason I mention this is because a lot of signs are starting to point to Mark Few.

Coach Jamie Dixon has not been mentioned as a serious candidate for a while, beyond speculative wishlists. This (unsurprisingly) suggests the Chris Dokish report to be accurate, and that Dixon and/or his intermediaries had previously rejected efforts from the Arizona intermediaries.

That doesn’t end the coaching carousel. Forget Memphis. That is not a Dixon place. If the Tigers somehow got Tim Floyd from USC (which I highly doubt), that whole LA thing would begin again. Not to mention, USC has the money.

Georgia is still out there and has to be getting desperate. Couple that with a lot of money, and they have to be watched.

The Arizona thing, though, looks to be done for Pitt and Dixon.

Semi-funny, but earlier today I was writing how the coaching carousel was in a tense pause while every coach was waiting to see what would happen with Calipari, Kentucky and Memphis. Now the carousel can go back to tilt-a-whirl.

Mike Anderson appears to be staying at Mizzou — rebuffing Georgia and a bigger offer. Presumably Memphis would be out for a chance at him as well.

Memphis will be left in ruins by the way. The expectations, money and fans may be there, but not the players. That’s the danger of a coach like Calipari. They don’t actually build a program. They build a cult of personality around themselves. In addition to the loss of recruits that haven’t signed yet, along with the recruits that had specific outs in their LOI’s if Calipari left. Tyreke Evans is one-and-done (to no one’s surprise), but there are also reports that Wesley Witherspoon, Roburt Sallie and Angel Garcia may be transferring. No Calipari, no team. It will be very interesting to see how that shakes out.

So Georgia is trolling for a coach and has $2 million to toss around. Arizona is still out there getting nervous as reality starts to dawn on them that they aren’t going to get Tom Izzo or Rick Pitino. Will anyone be able to lure Jeff Capel away from Oklahoma? Tim Floyd at USC is a perennial rumor to be moving.

That of course brings us to Coach Jamie Dixon. The fact is, Coach Dixon’s name is going to be mentioned a lot. He’s a very good coach. He’s still young enough, but with experience and success. He has proven to be a capable recruiter and a guy who hires the right assistants and develops players. He is not a Pitt alum or native to the area. That means programs are going to assume that he can and will sever ties for more money and what they may believe to be the better job.

I don’t know if Coach Dixon is going anywhere. I don’t want him going anywhere. I don’t think he will go anywhere. I don’t even want to worry about the “what ifs”. He’s in a good situation. He’s got a great relationship with both the AD and the Chancellor. There’s a lot more than money to keep him at Pitt.

That said, I expect him to listen if teams call. Not go, but listen. It is still in his best interest to at least listen. The Kentucky deal is another landscape changer. Just in terms of the money. That raises a lot of other pay checks. We are talking coaches and big egos. Dixon reportedly earns around $1.6 million. How do you not at least listen if a team might be  tossing $2 million or more your way?

I also don’t expect this to be over and done in just a few days. It will drag, and annoy. It will frustrate and there is a good chance we won’t know anything certain for at least a week. That’s the only thing I feel reasonably sure of knowing.

We can get all self-righteous about how he has a contract and should honor it. We can ask about how much money is enough? We can get arrogant and insist how Pitt is different and things are or should be done differently here. We can do all of that. It’s silly and a pile of crap.

We all know that this is the business side of it. We have all seen it every year in college football and basketball. It’s why so many programs get hung-up on the idea of alum or natives to the area. They want whatever perceived ties to make it more likely that the balance of power favors the school.

It may be the chosen vocation. It may pay extremely well. It may seem like a great job. But at the end of the day, it is still the job. The coaches know it can go up in smoke in just a couple bad years and you will never see the big money again. Then, maybe, you are back to being an assistant. Maybe making good money, but no where near the millions. The travel is that much harder, the contracts that much shorter.

So, brace yourself. Pitt will at least be on the periphery of the coaching carousel.

I tried to put this off. I was fielding calls all Sunday morning from family calling to see if I was “okay,” and then proceed to talk about the game and make me relive the whole thing all over again. Whee. Then I used the excuse of watching the games yesterday, other writing elsewhere, and probably a few too many drinks. But I need to put the final stamp on the game and ultimately the season with a rundown of the stories afterwards.

Then it’s on to the off-season speculations, thoughts and spring football. Somehow that just seems completely lacking compared to being able watching Pitt continuing to play meaningful basketball in April.

I keep trying to at least keep perspective in that this goes down as one of the greatest games in the NCAA Tournament.

With a berth in the Final Four as the prize, Villanova and Pittsburgh waged a fierce, skilled, and dramatic battle that was not decided until Levance Fields’s attempt at a 75-footer hit the square above the rim and fell to the floor.

“When the ball left Levance’s hands,” said Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds, about and from whom more will be heard, “it was right on target. He gives a little less on that shot and we could be in another position right now.”

That position was a 78-76 victor. Villanova is going to the Final Four for the first time since an eerily similar Wildcats squad won it all in Lexington (the other one, silly) 24 years ago in a Final Four that featured three Big East teams. And if Louisville takes care of business today there will again be three Big East teams in the Final Four. But I can tell you right now none of them will have earned it more than Villanova.

I say this because the Wildcats had to beat Pitt, and they had to do it by making one more big play than a team that specializes in making big plays. Pitt is a team that lives famously on the edge. The Panthers had not had a smooth game in this tournament, but they had been able to out-tough and outfox the opposing team.

And the Panthers had come from 4 points down with 46.5 seconds to go, and again with 20 seconds left, tying the game on a pair of Fields free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining, having regained possession on a downcourt pass by Villanova’s Reggie Redding that went awry.

Given a second chance, Redding inbounded to Dante Cunningham, who tipped it over to a flying Reynolds, and the 6-foot-2-inch Villanova guard took off, taking it to the hoop with three Pitt players converging on him and sinking a runner with 0.5 seconds on the clock.

Somehow, that makes it sound simpler than it was.

But it wasn’t over until Fields launched his desperation shot, and, given his reputation for late-game heroics, it wasn’t surprising that what is a hopeless heave 99.9 percent of the time would actually be a very legitimate attempt to win the game.

No lesser ending would have done this game justice.

So, yeah, there were a few columns and comments on how this more than simply the best game of the Tournament this year. That it was an “instant classic,” and one of the best ever.

One shot, one play, one slight movement by a defender and maybe this doesn’t happen, maybe the game goes into overtime and the result is different. It was that close.

“We really felt like we should have won the game,” said Dixon, who continued to say how proud he was of his team, especially seniors Fields, Young and Tyrell Biggs. “We felt that we played hard, played smart, but it just didn’t go our way. … It was a split-second play.”

Coaches have said for years that the loneliest feeling in the NCAA tournament is losing in the Elite Eight. Reaching the Final Four has become the standard to which excellence is measured. Fair or not, the Final Four is what gets remembered most.

Wright lost an Elite Eight game in 2006, when the Wildcats were a favorite as a 1-seed. On Saturday they were the surprise as a No. 3 seed, beating the top-seeded Panthers. Wright said he was crushed after that Elite Eight loss to eventual champion Florida three years ago. The swing of emotion is even more dramatic when the game ends as it did for Nova on Saturday.

Tell me about it. The gut-wrenching pain of being on the wrong side of the game. The pain of being the loser.

Pittsburgh-Villanova featured 10 ties and 15 lead changes. The second half had eight ties and 13 lead changes. By the time Fields took the last, breathless shot, we no longer cared that the NCAA had stripped the building of all Celtics and Bruins banners and replaced the parquet with a generic court. By the time it was all over, we finally understood what all the fuss was about.

Villanova won.

The NCAA tourney won.

CBS won.

Boston won.

But Pittsburgh fell hard and it had to hurt.

There’s no easy way getting around the fact in the final few minutes it seemed to slip away from Pitt. Whether it was Jermaine Dixon’s turnover and foul for a 3-point play (whether still bothered by the groin pull from earlier or not), or Sam Young’s turnover, or the poor pass to Blair that resulted in a turnover.

Even then, though, Villanova made their own gaffes that appeared to even things out. And if Pitt had managed to send it to OT and won, it would have been ‘Nova that gave it away at the very end when they appeared to have it in hand — with their own mistakes. It didn’t go that way with the ‘Nova inbounds and Scottie Reynolds score. Instead, it was Pitt that gets the goat ears and Villanova that draws comparisons to their ’85 team. It sucks. It really does.

The one thing noted by many, this was on the supporting cast of Pitt — not the three primary players. DeJuan Blair and Sam Young were named to the regional team. Fields hit the key shots to keep Pitt going.  Young did plenty in the NCAA Tournament to advance his draft stock while trying to carry the team many times.

One other story to note. Another piece noting how Coaches Dixon and Wright are poised to be the faces of the Big East in the coaching front in the near future if both are not lured elsewhere.

Could Wright — who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, who said he watched teary eyed when the Wildcats beat Georgetown for the title, who was an assistant for five years under Massimino — become the Jim Boeheim of Villanova? Could he and Dixon, in his sixth year as the coach at Pitt, lead the next generation of Big East lifers along with the Hoyas legacy John Thompson III?

This is a conference that launched itself with coaching personalities that ran extra large. So it may sound strange to pose the following question about the Big East, which has Villanova and UConn going to Detroit next weekend and Louisville positioned Sunday to make it a threesome, but here goes: are the upper-tier Big East teams the generic power coach’s opportunity of a lifetime, or are they more a place to build a résumé on the way to the dream job and score?

Yes, we know how much Jim Calhoun makes at Connecticut, and how he is not giving a dime back. But Ben Howland left Pitt for U.C.L.A., opening the door for Dixon, his assistant, in April 2003. Tom Crean bolted Marquette to rebuild at Indiana. John Beilein traded his Big East post at West Virginia for the Big Ten at Michigan. Some people believe that Rick Pitino, a longtime adventurer, is about due to get restless at Louisville.

We will see with questions looming in the next few weeks.

The last word, though will go to assistant Brandin Knight (who impressed Andy Katz on the sideline) about the end.

The assistant coach bid a few somber goodbyes and walked slowly back to a quiet Pitt locker room full of shattered dreams and broken hearts.

“Anytime you see kids end their careers like this, it’s difficult,” Knight said. “Levance (Fields) has been like a little brother to me. It’s tough. The uncertainty of a guy like DeJuan Blair, what his future may hold.

“Levance, I will never get to see him wear that No. 2 jersey again. Tyrell Biggs the same way, and Sam Young. I am going to miss them dearly.”

We all will.

Okay, as usual there will be a liveblog tonight.

One thing that Pitt and Villanova share, hot coaches who have their names coming up a lot for big jobs. And we share the hope that they kick that interest to the curb. Good (and optimistic) piece on what it could mean if both stay.

If Jamie Dixon and Jay Wright stay put, if they decide to continue their run of excellence at Pitt and Villanova for the foreseeable future, then you are about to witness the beginning of the new hierarchy of the Big East.

It’s no secret that Jim Calhoun of Connecticut and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse are heading toward the end of their careers. They have been the two anchors of the conference from the ’80s until now.

Dixon and Wright have a shot to keep Pitt and Villanova as the two programs of record. One of them will earn his first Final Four berth with a win in Saturday’s Elite Eight match at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. This is Dixon’s first and Wright’s second trip to the Elite Eight.

The Panthers have been a national program under Dixon the past six seasons, reaching the Sweet 16 three times during his tenure. Villanova just made its fourth Sweet 16 appearance in Wright’s eight seasons.

Pitt might have a senior-dominated starting lineup but the Panthers continue to recruit as well as anyone in the East and show no signs of slowing down. Villanova is expected to haul in one of the top 10 recruiting classes in the country, meaning the Cats won’t miss a beat, either.

“The best thing you can say about both our programs is just the consistency at a high level over the past five years,” Wright said. “That’s hard to do. And that’s challenging.”

…

And like Wright, Dixon is passionate about and loyal to his school. Forget about Dixon being a West Coast guy who has to be back on the Left Coast because he went to high school in Cali and his wife, Jackie, was raised in Honolulu. Dixon grew up visiting his grandparents in New York and said he was the only one who ever “summered in the Bronx.” He remembers more Big East games than Pac-10 ones. His loyalty to the Pitt administration runs deep with the way the university extended itself with a private plane to shepherd his grieving family to memorial services in New York and California after Maggie’s untimely death.

Dixon said he’s proud to be a part of Pitt, through whatever small role he has played since he arrived.

“That has been the most gratifying thing for me,” Dixon said.

So, here they are: the 47-year-old Wright and the 43-year-old Dixon on the verge of a Final Four berth. No one will be surprised if it is the first of a few for each as they potentially become the standard in the Big East.

That would work.

The players want to win for their coach.

“People talk about no Final Four appearances and no national championship,” he said. “I want him to get that.”

“Him” is coach Jamie Dixon, who can guide Pitt into the Final Four for the first time in the modern era when the No. 1 seed Panthers (31-4) play Big East rival and No. 3 seed Villanova (27-8) in an East Regional final at 7:05 tonight at TD Banknorth Garden.

Fields, who helped Pitt reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 35 years with his no-fear 3-pointer against Xavier on Thursday night, said he’s driven to see Dixon get his due.

“I think he’s a coach who deserves it,” Fields said. “I know the players play the game and the coaches get their credit. But he deserves it.”

There has never been a question that players love him and throughout Dixon’s tenure the most shocking thing has been games where the players have not played hard. That is a credit to how well Dixon has gotten them to play as a team.

Oh, and Sam Young is playing up the payback angle.

Pitt has thrived in “revenge” games in recent years, going 7-1 in their past eight postseason games against a team that beat it in the regular season.

“I definitely think it’s a payback game,” Young said. “That game kind of threw us off a little bit. Now, it’s on the biggest stage, and we’ve both got a little bit more to lose. I definitely would rather have this game than the last one.”

It helped that Pitt had 3 or 4 just last year in the Big East Tournament.

Another article on how Dixon is underrated. Yes and no. I think national media does not put him in elite status — but he hasn’t gotten there. No Final Fours, not at one of the handful of elite, historical programs. Not the most glib and media friendly. At the same time, there is no doubt he his highly respected and plenty of teams would love to have him. Arizona, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky — just this year have all had some mention of Dixon being a possibility or hope to hire. I hope he stays at Pitt a long time.

Player puff pieces:

Sam Young recap.

Levance Fields as the embodiment of Pitt’s toughness.

Fields wants the pressure.

Fields and Roethlisberger comparisons continue.

Finally this made me smile a little.

I’ve spent the better part of the past two weeks thanking the hoops gods that I am not a Pitt fan. If I were, I’d be in the ICU by now. No one can beat the Panthers right now, but let it also be said that the Panthers can’t pull away from anyone either. I wonder if that’s going to work against Villanova, which has played nearly flawless basketball now for five consecutive halves. We will find out.

We’ll get to find out in large part because of the three that Levance Fields made with 53 seconds left in the game. It put his team up by one, and even as it left his hand I was thinking it was a bad shot. Maybe it was–it followed a no-pass, all-dribble sequence. Then again, it went in.

In their upcoming game, the Panthers will want DeJuan Blair have a better first half than the oddly subdued one he had against the Musketeers. In fact Pitt trailed by eight at halftime and I thought maybe their recent Sweet 16 losses were getting to them. Even after they stormed back in the second half, the Panthers played like a team aware of and defensive about their history. When Fields and Gilbert Brown got their signals crossed on a turnover with four minutes remaining, it seemed like they bickered about it for a little longer than players on a top-seeded team usually would.

It was a very thin smile.

Thank goodness Pitt and Xavier played on Sunday and get to play at 7:27 on Thursday night. It means only a few days of the most obvious storyline between all the Sweet 16 teams.

You may have heard something about it. Apparently Sean Miller used to be a point guard at Pitt in the late 8os. He was pretty good and played on some pretty good teams that underachieved like no body’s business — though still fondly remembered. Oh, and he’s a Western PA native and the son of a longtime, successful high school coach in the area. At least that’s what I’ve heard.

Of course, these days Sean Miller is one of the top “young” coaches. Actually what he is is one of the better coaches not coaching at a BCS program. And therefore, atop the list of speculation every year when openings come. Last year it was Indiana and Oklahoma State in the rumor mill for him.

This year it’s Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, Arizona and maybe Kentucky.

Of course, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has often been the subject of rumors for other programs coming after him — this year it is Arizona. That always fuels the speculation that Pitt would “bring Sean Miller home.”

That, and the always annoying segment of the Pitt fanbase, that feels it is most important that Pitt have a “Pitt guy” and a guy from Pittsburgh who “gets it.” The ones that have that touch of xenophobia.

So, yeah, for the last several years the two coaches have been interwtined in coaching speculation.

Now, they finally face each other in the Sweet Sixteen game.

Where Pitt is trying to do what no Pitt team has ever done.

Yeah, good thing there’s a relative short turn-around this week.

That game. When I got up this morning, I really had trouble believing the game went that way. That perhaps all the basketball I’ve been watching for the last couple days, and indeed the past couple weeks, had thrown me off in short term memory. Then I had my morning coffee and it all came flooding back.

In something that should surprise no one, Coach Dixon refused to publicly say anything negative. Even saying the sort of things that are patently ridiculous.

Dixon spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to put a positive spin on the win, bragging up East Tennessee State as if it were UCLA of the ’70s. “There’s no way this team is a 16 seed.” He took it to such an absurd level that he actually said, “This game went exactly how I thought it would.”

Honest to goodness, Dixon said that.

I guess it beats telling the truth and saying, “You know, we really stunk today.”

Anyone who has followed Pitt basketball and paid attention to Coach Dixon over the years can only shrug. It is always more of a stunner when he says anything that remotely looks like a public criticism of his team. That has never been his approach and anyone who expects otherwise is deluded.

That’s not to say he won’t be all over the team behind closed doors and in practice for that effort. It’s just that Dixon is not going to kill his players to the media. He’ll defend them. Protect them and take the hits for saying the insane things.

He won’t ignore some things that they did wrong.

“We just came in looking to hit the glass hard,” senior forward Greg Hamlin said. “We heard they weren’t a very good defensive rebounding team, so we just tried to attack the glass and get second chances.”

Pitt only had nine offensive rebounds, seven by Blair. All 13 of Sam Young’s rebounds came on the defensive end.

Dixon said Pitt’s effort — which comes one game after WVU outrebounded Pitt in the Big East quarterfinals — was unacceptable.

“The rebounding concerns me,” he said. “That’s our strength. We’ve got to get that done.”

The one thing Dixon did acknowledge — sort of — is that Levance Fields still is not right.

To be blunt, Fields hasn’t been the same player since injuring his groin against Connecticut in the final regular season game. After recording 10 points and 12 assists with two turnovers against UConn, Fields has totaled 12 points and 12 assists with eight turnovers in his past two games.

“Obviously, we’d like Levance to have been healthy the last couple of weeks, but that’s not the case,” Dixon said. “We’re trying to play through it. But the longer we go, the better he’ll feel. He felt better (yesterday) than he did last week.”

Right now, Fields won’t say that there is a problem. With his groin or anything.

“No [team] is a pushover in the tournament,” Fields said. “Unfortunately, we happened to be the No. 1 seed that had a scare. People will say this and that, but Pitt will be playing on Sunday. It’s the tournament. We have to play better as a collective group, but our stars stepped up today, and that’s what you need in games like that. We survived. That’s the biggest thing.”

Actually, it was really only one star that stepped up yesterday. DeJuan Blair carried the team for major stretches.

“I’m hungry,” he said. “Feed me.”

It wasn’t his stomach that was growling. It was his pride. His team looked sloppy and disinterested, and East Tennessee State wasn’t going away.

So, the Grizzly Blair ate.

Blair, playing in his third NCAA Tournament game, lifted top-seeded Pitt past a first-round scare, beating ETSU, 72-62, on Friday afternoon in an East Region game at UD Arena.

The first-team All-America sophomore center finished with 27 points and 16 rebounds, outmuscling the Atlantic Sun Conference champion.

“Either you ride or you get run over,” Blair said. “I’m not getting run over.”

Blair tied the most points by a Pitt player in an NCAA Tournament game in the past 21 years. Only one Pitt player — Jerome Lane — has ever had more rebounds in a tournament game.

Ashton Gibbs came up with timely plays off the bench.

Gibbs scored 10 points, including some clutch shots down the stretch when the game was still in doubt. Gibbs boosted the lead to eight with a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining and 21 seconds later sank two free throws after East Tennessee State cut the lead to six.

“It feels good,” Gibbs said. “Last year I was trying to skip class just to watch the tournament. It’s a great feeling to contribute in a positive way.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon played Gibbs 18 minutes because starting shooting guard Jermaine Dixon was in foul trouble and ineffective for most of the game. Gibbs was 2 for 2 from the field — both 3-pointers — and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line.

“He played very well,” Jamie Dixon said. “I think it was a couple of things. First of all, Jermaine was in some foul trouble and was a little banged up. Gilbert [Brown] has been a little banged up. We went with [Gibbs]. He’s a very good freshman, a very good player, and he made big plays throughout. We have a lot of confidence in Ashton Gibbs.”

At least a couple players acknowledged the poor effort.

At least until the final few minutes, the Panthers lacked the necessary will and wont to win a national title. On offense, they stood still instead or working for shots. On defense, they idly watched East Tennessee State, a team which couldn’t compete with Pitt’s size, get 20 offensive rebounds.

Clearly, this game was about the size of the player’s hearts. And the Panthers’ hearts didn’t appear to be in this one.

“They definitely out-hustled us,” Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon said. “We did more watching than we did boxing out. They got their hands on every ball.”

“They wanted it more than us,” teammate Brad Wanamaker said.

The Panthers weren’t the first No. 1 seed to overlook their first-round opponent, and they won’t be the last. But with the margin of their lead an eyelash away from being a single point at halftime _ a bucket by ETSU’s Mike Smith at halftime was reviewed and nullified _ one would have expected more urgency in the second half.

That is probably the thing that has most fans frustrated. The continued lack of effort in the second half.

It’s one thing for it to happen in the first half. That is almost understandable. It happens a lot, and Pitt has played more than a few games where the full effort seemed lacking in the first half. But then, Pitt would come storming out to sieze control of the game in the second half.

That didn’t happen in this game and that, more than anything else, fuels Pitt fan frustration and punditry letting loose with this sort of thing.

We’re going to go ahead and call this the worst any top seed has played in a first-round game, ever. Feel free to challenge that assertion, but the East Tennessee State Bucs shot 30.7 percent from the field, made just 4-of-22 from 3-point range, missed half of their free throws and still nearly became the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1.

Others have come closer: Western Carolina against Purdue in 1996, Princeton against Georgetown in 1989. This game will not become part of NCAA folklore. Pitt wound up beating ETSU by double digits, 72-62. Folks arriving home from work Friday afternoon might have done no more than lift an eyebrow at that margin, but those watching on television – and especially those filling UD Arena – know just what they saw.

And of course, fuels the general feeling that someday a No. 16 will beat a No. 1. Thankfully it was not yesterday.

Lots of links to put out for Pitt.

Pitt has accomplished more than credited this decade.

A puff piece on how far Coach Dixon has come, and he’s now more intense.

Fear of being the first #1 seed to fall to a #16 seed is always present.

ETSU comes with dreams of being the first.

ETSU will try to press. Somehow I don’t think it will be the same as Louisville’s or Villanova. Or even Seton Hall’s.

Human interest story on ETSU’s Kevin Tiggs.

Is Dayton a hot ticket with both #1 seeded Pitt and Louisville? Or because Ohio State is playing there? Or is it less so, because Dayton is playing in Minneapolis today?

How do you do a story that talks about stats and psychology for Pitt in the NCAA Tournament without that many numbers?

Is Pitt already too tight for the NCAA Tournament or merely all business.

Pittsburgh had its news media availability midmorning Thursday, and the Panthers presented a serious and stoic public face.

Guard Levance Fields closed his eyes for a minute or two at the podium, as if meditating, while taking questions. Forward Sam Young did not crack a smile. And in the locker room, the rest of the Panthers were mostly quiet, watching other tournament games on television. All business, on the Pitt end.

“Our goal is to survive and advance,” Fields said.

Louisville, meanwhile, met the news media on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals were all smiles, loose and full of laughter. In the locker room, guard Edgar Sosa took over for a local television station, posing questions to his teammates while others howled in the background. The Sosa Show, he called it. Funny business, for the Cardinals.

I guess it depends on whether Pitt succeeds.

A puff piece on Levance Fields. And another piece that happens to bring up that the court is the same place where he broke his foot. Also mentions again how serious Pitt is about the whole thing.

They hope to change that this year, in large part by not overlooking their early opponents. In fact, when a reporter here asked if they would be watching Louisville, another No. 1 seed from the Big East Conference who is playing the first two rounds here, forward Sam Young cut off the question before it was finished with a hearty “No.”

“We’re way too mature to make that foolish mistake again,” he said, noting that Pittsburgh did that last year and in this month’s Big East tournament. “A lot of times when you get a high seed, you look too far ahead.”

Finally, senior Tyrell Biggs gets a little love in USA Today.

Looks like the general view of the Providence loss, is indeed along the lines of, “these things happen.”

Just looking at a couple power rankings and Pitt only drops to #2 in both the FoxSports and Luke Winn’s at SI.com.

The term “consistency” gets thrown around by every coach and commentator, but there’s actually a stat to measure it on Ken Pomeroy‘s ratings site. There, consistency is determined by the standard deviation of a team’s scoring margin, and Pomeroy says, “Highly rated teams that are inconsistent [statistically] tend to look beatable more often.” While Pitt won’t hold on to No. 1 this week because of Tuesday’s loss at Providence, Panthers fans can take solace in the fact their team is at least the most consistent (or least vulnerable) of the top eight in our Power Rankings…

Kind of weird. It’s almost like the punditry might be giving Pitt some real respect or something.

And with the way the #1 ranking has been passed around like a hot potato, it seems like it is hard to hold it against Pitt this year.

Seth Davis at SI.com lists Coach Dixon as his second choice for coach of the year.

Unless both UNC and Oklahoma lose this weekend, Pitt will not be #1. I have no real problem with this. Teams keep winning, they keep rising. Add in that UNC also has Zeller back, they have added some some additional depth that makes them. Just keep winning.

Well, FoxSports Power Rankings actually moved Pitt to the top spot.

The good: Some might argue that Oklahoma deserves to be in this spot, but after the way the Panthers beat up on Connecticut Monday night in Hartford for their first-ever win over a top-ranked team, it’s too hard not to reward Jamie Dixon’s team with the No. 1 ranking. The bad: While Pitt certainly looks like a favorite to reach the Final Four, it still has another date with UConn in its regular-season finale and a meeting with Marquette prior to that game before the Big East Tournament even gets started.

Luke Winn at SI.com moves Pitt to #2. He was bemused by Gary McGhee’s performance.

ESPN.com’s power poll was more in line with expectations. Pitt at #3.

Two Big East Player of the Year candidates met last week, as well as the No. 1 and No. 4 teams in the nation. One pulled down 22 points and 23 rebounds while flipping the other over his back, as DeJuan Blair and Pitt dropped Hasheem Thabeet and UConn in Hartford.

No one had Pitt lower than #3.  A few had them #2.

And here’s Coach Jamie Dixon’t Five Good Minutes on PTI.

Robert Morris comes to the Pete tonight in a non-televised game. Robert Morris is in a stretch of a lot of games in not a lot of time.

The Colonials have taken on several Top 25 teams this season, losing 78-57 to then No. 22 Xavier and then No. 25 Miami 70-62. The Panthers, though, have been particularly vexing to Robert Morris. Pitt has won all 26 games in the series, and they have not lost any of their 64 games against the Northeast Conference.

Then there is the whole timing issue. Not only are the Colonials large underdogs to the Panthers, but the contest is the middle game of a grueling five games in ten days.

“It’s a very odd spot on the schedule,” said Robert Morris head coach Mike Rice, a former Pitt assistant. “Pitt has almost a week off after the game, whereas we have two and a half days. The timing isn’t great for us.”

The Colonials began the stretch with home wins over Bryant and Monmouth and will finish it off with road games at St. Francis (N.Y.) and Central Connecticut State. St. Francis is the only team to beat the Colonials in conference play this season.

The storyline is not that Robert Morris has never beaten Pitt. It is another assistant that worked for Pitt and Coach Dixon who moved on and coming in for a game.

Rice, in his third season at Robert Morris, was instrumental in recruiting nearly one-third of Pitt’s roster — Brad Wanamaker, Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall and, to a lesser extent, Ashton Gibbs.

“I’m excited about playing Pitt,” Rice said following Saturday’s 75-62 victory over Monmouth. “I’m a fan of Pitt just like everyone else, especially because I recruited some of those players. I spent a lot of nights with Jamie Dixon and the staff. I’m excited to see where we match up against one of the top 5 teams in the country. I’m excited to go back to a place where I worked tremendously hard for a year.”

This is the first meeting between the two schools since a 67-53 Pitt win on Nov. 29, 2006, a game in which Rice was an assistant for the Panthers.

The Rice hire, surprisingly brief, was meaningful not just for the recruiting work that Rice did to help reopen Philly area. First, it was Dixon’s first real hire for a new top assistant with Rohrssen moving on to Manhattan. It showed that Dixon could identify quality assistants and get them. The following up with Herrion and even moving up with Brandin Knight, only made that clearer. Then, Rice after only a year landed an improving mid-major job helped make the Pitt assistant position even more attractive.

This is the start of a slight decrease in Pitt’s schedule intensity.

Up next is a non-conference game tonight against Robert Morris. When the Big East schedule resumes Saturday afternoon, the Panthers travel to Rosemont, Ill., to face DePaul, which is still looking for its first conference victory. After that there are home games against Cincinnati and West Virginia.

Of the remaining nine Big East games, the Panthers will only play three games against teams that are currently ranked.

I expect a pretty good game from Robert Morris. The kids there have played Pitt in the summer leagues. They know them, and they will be hyped.

Plus, I just expect a little let down from the Panthers in at least the first half. It’s not conference. It is a clearly inferior team. It is natural.

A few stories worth noting.

A list of top candidates for coach of the year.

5. Jamie Dixon, Pitt. Nobody has done a better job of establishing a culture that focuses on the team. In the game today, this is an astonishing achievement. And that 17-1 record isn’t bad, either.

Which is also why ex-coaches like Bob Knight love the Pitt team.

In the periodic looking towards how Arizona is coping, there seems to be a growing belief that they could not get Dixon.

As for the next coach in Tucson, Greg has thrown out some pretty good names, but out of those three, only Few strikes me as realistic. I really believe Louisville will be Rick Pitino‘s last coaching job. He has moved around too many times in his life, he has plenty of money, and he has a good quality of life that includes living next to the family of his late brother-in-law Billy Minardi. Jamie Dixon is an understandably popular choice, and I would imagine if Arizona could hire him they’d do it lickety split. But even though Dixon is from California and his wife is from Hawaii, he is in a great situation at Pittsburgh, where he has built phenomenal recruiting inroads into New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Also, when Arizona State tried to hire him two years ago, Dixon renegotiated his contract with Pittsburgh, and I’m told his buyout is extremely expensive.

We’re still two months away from Arizona’s search kicking into high gear, but besides Mark Few and Dixon, the names I’m hearing come up most often are Reggie Theus, Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith. And here’s a pair of sleepers for you I just heard this week: Oliver Purnell and Frank Haith. So stay tuned, Arizona fans, and don’t lose hope.

Tubby Smith’s name is coming up more and more. Though, that may be as much wishlisting as anything else. Getting Purnell from Clemson or Haith from Miami also makes sense. Both are at schools in a basketball conference but at football schools where the fans just don’t turn out very well.

Heresy alert. In complimenting Jermaine Dixon’s work on defense. Well…

5. Pitt. The addition of junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon — brother of former Maryland great Juan Dixon — has given the Panthers perhaps their best-ever perimeter defender. Julius Page was terrific, but Dixon is quicker, has longer arms and better hands. In Syracuse’s game against Louisville, it looked as though Orange guard Jonny Flynn was still feeling the effects of the number Dixon did on him.

Is that blasphemy?

So, if Pitt could make a trade for a late season pick-up this wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Biggest deficiency: We know the Panthers are one of the toughest defensive teams in the country. They’re ranked third nationally in rebound margin (+9.9) and they lead the Big East in field goal percentage defense (38.0 percent). Even though Pitt excels at a grind-it-out style, it’s impressive that the Panthers are still managing to score more than 77 points per game. The problem is, they have to work too hard to earn those points, partly because they’re only making 6.4 threes per game. What this team needs is a sniper to come off the bench, nail a few long-range jumpers and give the defense a little more breathing room.

Missing piece: Jimmy Baron, 6-3 senior guard, Rhode Island

Ask Mike Krzyzewski whether Baron can hit long-range jumpers. (The Jigsaw Man did. Coach K said, “Yes, he can.”) The kid only made 8 for 10 from behind the arc and almost shot the Rams to a victory in Cameron Indoor Stadium in November. Baron is both a high-volume and high-percentage shooter (he’s ranked 13th nationally in three-point percentage at 45.1 percent). He’s not a great defender, but he does have good size and experience. Plus, he’s a coach’s son (his dad is the head coach at Rhode Island), so he knows how to be a good teammate.

Finally, a personal look at Pitt’s headliner for the 2009 recruiting class, Dante Taylor.

Taylor left behind the comforts of home at the age of 14, when tiny National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md., decided to gamble on the potential he displayed on and off the basketball court. Over the last four years, there has been a steady social and academic growth.

He is almost ready to move on again.

“In the beginning, coming here was hard for me,” Taylor said last week by phone. “But at the end of the day, it was the right thing.”

There were many sleepless nights in between.

“For a parent, it was a very difficult decision to make,” his mother, Lisa Sharpe, said with mixed emotions. “Especially at that age, but he just wasn’t focused. When the opportunity came to get out of here, it was for the best. It was hard to let him go, but it was a wise decision that’s paid off. He’s grown as a young man. We’re very proud of Dante.”

The next stop for Taylor is the University of Pittsburgh.

He gave an oral commitment in July and signed a letter of intent in November, and only needs a qualifying score on the SAT or ACT to continue on his newfound path.

“It was definitely worth the move,” Taylor said. “I wouldn’t be going to college otherwise.”

His intent is to get to Pitt in the summer session to get an early start. Please get that qualifying test score before enrolling.