PItt Panthers Lead the East With First No. 1 Seed Ever

What a year it has been so far for Pitt and the Grizzly Blairs. They got their first (and second) ever No. 1 rankings in the polls. They beat a No. 1 team for the first (and second) time ever. They dominated UConn, showing that they are an elite team. DeJuan Blair won (co) BEPOY. And now they get their first ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

This truly has been a great season for Pitt.

But there are still six games left—and we want to see Pitt play in all six of those games. In a year of firsts for this program, how about a first ever NCAA Tournament Championship?

Why not? They are definitely one of the top teams in the country. They match up well with the teams they potentially face. Pitt is better than Duke. A Pitt/UNC Final Four matchup would be a great game. I would love to see what Blair can do to Tyler Hansbrough. And should they have to face UConn in the finals, we already know we can beat them.

Of course, we know from years past that there are no gimmes in this tournament. Pitt better come out focused every night. While they aren’t going to lose to a 16 seed, they better come prepared. These guys don’t want to set the wrong kind of first in the history annals.

The 8/9 matchup is a tough draw, though it isn’t really any worse than UNC’s 8/9 draw.  Pitt is better than both OSU and Tennessee, but those are both teams that are capable of coming to play any night. Focus is key.

Pitt already beat Florida St. and would likely do so again. I would probably rather see Florida St. come out to the Sweet 16 than Xavier. Who wants to play against a team coached by a Panther great?

The real annoying thing is that almost every year (just not last year), Pitt has had UCLA in their bracket. This year is no different.

Pitt is a better team than UCLA, and UCLA has a lot of work to do to get to the point where they could meet up with Pitt (and of course Pitt has a lot of work to do to get that far as well). But the selection committee apparently can’t resist such storylines, even if this year it would take multiple upsets to get that matchup.

If Pitt makes the Elite Eight, and assuming that there really is no way UCLA will get there, the real potential opponents are Duke and Villanova.

On the one hand, I think Pitt is way better than Duke this year and would love to see the Dookies go down at our hands again. But I remember a game earlier this season against Nova, and I wouldn’t mind meeting up with them for a rematch.

I do find myself hoping that there isn’t a series of upsets that leads to a matchup with seven seed Texas in the Elite Eight. Texas has underachieved all season, but they are a good and dangerous team. If they made it to the Elite Eight, they would come in with the confidence to match the talent they have. This is a team that could have easily been a two or three seed this year if not for some underperformance.

It is hard to be objective and not feel like my team got the toughest road (no matter what their road is), but it really comes down to the fact that Pitt is one of the best teams in the country, and they have a winnable bracket all the way into the Final Four. It just takes focus and determination. They can’t look ahead. If they come to each game ready for that game, then this is the year they get over the hump.

Hail to Pitt and hope to see you all in Detroit.