After suffering a loss just one day after achieving the No. 1 ranking for the second time this… After suffering a loss just one day after achieving the No. 1 ranking for the second time this year, the Pitt men’s basketball team only slightly slipped in the national polls. The Panthers (26-3, 13-3 Big East) fell to third in the Associated Press poll, garnering one first-place vote. They dropped to fourth in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Only one week after losing to Pitt as the top-ranked team, Connecticut rose back to the top in both rankings, earning 67 of the 72 first-place votes in the AP poll, and 27 of the 31 votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll. The newest rankings set up the Panthers and the Huskies to battle once again in a top-five showdown, with Connecticut coming to the Petersen Events Center on Saturday at 12 p.m. Pitt junior guard Jermaine Dixon said the team isn’t affected by the drop in the rankings. ‘We’re in March now, so the rankings really don’t mean much,’ said Dixon. ‘When we get into the Big East and NCAA tournaments, it’s one and done. So the rankings don’t mean anything, we’ve just got to come out and play, and win these next couple games.’