Butler guard Ronald Nored maneuvers to make a play against Old Dominion's Darius James in Southeast Regional action Thursday. The Bulldogs advanced with a thrilling last second tip just before the buzzer to stay alive and move on to play No. 1 seeded Pittsburgh.
It's the wanna-bes' verses the has-beens, It's about Final Four experience verses early exits. It's about playing like a No. 1 seed verses underachieving. And, it's about setting the new standard. In a way, it's about NOT losing just as much as it is about winning. The amount of pressure the Pitt Panthers (28-5) have going in to today's third round game verses Butler is as about as heavy as it's ever been for any No. 1 seed- ever. I truly believe that Pitt's No.1 seed was a gift from the selection committee for the great regular season success and tourney appearances Pitt has been able to establish over the last decade. There were slightly better or hotter teams out there to choose from and I have to ask myself-why Pitt? Because, Pitt is on the cusp of establishing themselves as national program with a winning tradition. The only thing missing- a Final Four appearance. Pitt will begin part two of the 2011 NCAA tourney journey when they take the court against an experienced Butler team at 7:10 p.m. on TBS.
After a blow-out win over UNC Asheville, the NCAA Selection Committee assumed that last year's runner-up, No. 8 Butler Bulldogs (24-9), would have taken care of business over No. 9 Old Dominion and apply the pressure right away with a quality tourney team from last year. Butler lost to Duke in the final seconds of last year's national championship game, 61-59. Butler is a formidable opponent that Pitt should not take lightly. Butler will be facing a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year. Last year the Bulldogs pulled off a second round upset over another Big East power and No.1 seed-Syracuse. Butler also has 6-foot-11 sophomore Andrew Smith to clog the lane. The Bulldogs are also winners of their last ten while Pitt are winner's of nine of their last 12. The Panthers and the Bulldogs will meet for the first time in 65 years with the Bulldogs holding a 7-5 edge over the Panthers. The Bulldogs have a 14-16 all-time record verses ranked teams and were the first team ever to play a No. 1 and No. 2 seed in a tournament when they pulled it off in last year's tourney. The number of Pitt's Sweet Sixteen appearances is beginning to put them alongside the elite company of top programs as Duke (7) and Kansas (6), and, a win today would make six for the Panthers. It's all there for the taking.
The year's squad looks a little more polished than teams of years past. Ashton Gibbs, the perimeter shooter, and Brad Wannamaker, the "court" general, make for a potentially great but at times cold shooting back court. There's not a team in the land that can hang with the Panther's for 40 minutes when Pitt play's to their potential. It's that simple. Pitt, on more than a few occasions, has allowed to teams to look better than they are because of the lack of focus. The identity of this year's Pitt squad has been to play a close first half, then take over the second halves of games. In game's Pitt has lost, teams that are able to withstand Pitt's second half surge were able to put runs together, hang in there and got relatively lucky (see St. John's) at the end to win. Hopefully Pitt will draw the same officials they had when they played UNC Asheville. Those officials allowed the teams to bang it around a bit and didn't call a close game. By doing so, Pitt was able to avoid foul trouble. But at the end of the day, It's about living up to that No. 1 seed and playing like a No 1 seed. All Pitt has to do is win-"Just Win Baby!"
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