March Madness: Panthers awarded No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament

The Pitt men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament bracket was officially unveiled yesterday,… The Pitt men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament bracket was officially unveiled yesterday, and as many anticipated the Panthers were rewarded with a No. 1 seed.

After winning the Big East regular season championship the Panthers seemed to be a lock for a No. 1 seed, but after an early exit from the Big East Tournament, their hold on that spot was thought to have been put in jeopardy.

The team hoped its body of work would speak for itself when it came time for the selection committee to award the top seeds.

“We kind of expected it,” Brown said. “We felt that we deserved it after putting in a lot of work during the regular season and winning the Big East regular season championship.”

Pitt, the top seed in the Southeast region, will now start their quest for their ultimate goal, a national title.

“We strive to be in the National Championship,” senior forward Gilbert Brown said. “Ever since the summertime when we went over to Ireland, we’ve felt that we have a great team — the team to do it. We just want to be able to get over that hump and have that feeling of playing in a Final Four.”

The No. 1 seed is only Pitt’s second in school history with the other being in 2008, when the Panthers fell just short of advancing to the Final Four.

“I think it’s very important, just on a confidence level,” junior guard Ashton Gibbs said of the No. 1 seed. “We play some lower seeds, but that doesn’t really matter because anyone can be beaten on any given day.”

If the Panthers are fortunate enough to make it to win their first two games, they will play their Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games in New Orleans in the Louisiana Superdome.

But the Panthers’ eyes are solely focused on the first-round games being hosted in the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

“I was excited about playing in D.C.,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “I thought we’d end up in Cleveland because of proximity.”

Pitt disposed of Georgetown in January at the Verizon Center, but this time around there should be plenty more Pitt fans in attendance.

“D.C. is close by. A lot of teammates’ families will be there,” Brown said. There is definitely an advantage from playing in a familiar arena. You’re used to the atmosphere, the court, the background and everything. It should be easy for us to adjust to.”

The Panthers will face the winner of the match-up between UNC-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock, who will play on Tuesday night in a tournament play-in game.

Also in the Panthers’ Southeast bracket is last year’s national runner-up, Butler, who will face Old Dominion, a talented rebounding team that emulates Pitt’s style of play.

Fifth seeded Kansas State and No. 4 seed Wisconsin also have hopes of heading to New Orleans, and both teams could be very dangerous in a match-up with the Panthers.

In the bottom half of the Panthers’ bracket, St. John’s is the No. 6 seed. The Red Storm knocked off Pitt in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 19.

“They are playing well,” Dixon said of the Red Storm after Pitt’s loss. “They have eight seniors and it is a unique situation; They all played together and got close and gained a lot of experience.”

BYU is the third seeded Southeast team and is led by All-American Jimmer Fredette, who comes into the tournament averaging 28.5 points per game.

Perennial powers UCLA and Michigan State will tip off in a matchup of No. 7 and No. 10 seeds. UCLA is coached by Dixon’s predecessor at Pitt, Ben Howland, and Michigan State was a Final Four team in 2010.

Florida is the No. 2 seed in Pitt’s bracket. Gator’s Coach Billy Donovan has tournament experience and two National Championships under his belt.

Despite all of this talent in Pitt’s bracket, the opportunity will be there for the Panthers to proceed to their first Final Four since 1941.

“We know this team can do it, and we’re confident in this team,” Gibbs said. “Once you have the opportunity, you have to take advantage of it. That’s something we have to do.”