#First Impressions for 3-12-11 Penn State basketball;#Pitt v. #Penn State #NCAA match-up?

Penn State's Tim Frazier goes to the hoop against Wisconsin in  Big 10 quarterfinal action.

              #Penn State beat  #Wisconsin, the No. 13 team in the country, by a field goal 36-33 last night. The only thing is that it was the Big 10 basketball tourney. I have covered many high school games with higher scores than that.  Penn State advances to the semi-finals against Michigan State. This will mark first time the Nittany Lions have advanced to the conference semi-finals since joining the Big 10 in 1990. The Nittany Lions (18-13; 9-9) have had the Spartans (19-13; 9-9) number this year and have played solid against the conferences top teams. The most recent game came on Feb. 7 with MSU winning 75-57; Penn State won on it's home court 66-62 on Jan. 8. This will be the rubber match between the two teams. Both teams have have a lot to prove to the NCAA tourney selection committee. Penn State should be taken seriously, a win against MSU almost assures the Nittany Lions a spot in the tourney, while a loss may put them in the 65-68 seedings that will begin play on Tuesday, March 15. Can anyone smell a Pitt, Penn State NCAA tourney match-up?  This writer can, and if I were a Pitt fan and the way Pitt has been playing down the stretch; I would be nervous. Pitt has a history of underachieving in the "big dance."

***Any coincidence that the only team to advance to the Big East conference 2011 finals after receiving the conference's dreaded double-bye is Louisville. The Cardinals had the 3rd seed going in and will play the No. 9 seeded team in Connecticut. Either the conference is that good or the double-bye throws a team who hasn't played in days against a team that has played on back-to-back days. In my opinion it's the former.