‘ ‘ ‘ Looking at the East region in this year’s NCAA Tournament, it doesn’t feature as much of… ‘ ‘ ‘ Looking at the East region in this year’s NCAA Tournament, it doesn’t feature as much of the nation’s top talent as the Big East tournament. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But still, that’s no reason for Pitt, the No. 1 seed in the East, to think it can waltz toward its first Final Four appearance. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ There are plenty of teams, some familiar and some not, that can give the Panthers a tough game and possibly pull out an upset. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 2 Duke- The ACC tournament champs are led by Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson, the team’s top two scorers and rebounders. The Blue Devils are a more athletic team than the one Pitt narrowly edged out last season at Madison Square Garden, thanks to the much-improved play from Henderson, as well as Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer. Plus, Duke can flop with the best of them, so if the Panthers play Duke in an Elite Eight matchup, the Blue Devils can get Pitt in foul trouble. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 3 Villanova- The Wildcats get to play their first two matches at home in Philadelphia, which could help them reach the Sweet 16. They also handed Pitt its second loss of the season on Jan. 28, holding DeJuan Blair to only eight points, as well as causing the Panthers to have 17 turnovers to only 15 assists. Dante Cunningham and Scottie Reynolds average 16 and 15.5 points per game, respectively, but Villanova isn’t a necessarily offensive threat, instead winning by forcing teams to turn the ball over and shoot poorly. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 4 Xavier- Although it didn’t win the Atlantic 10 tournament, Xavier was widely regarded as the conference’s top team throughout the year. The Musketeers finished the year in the top 20 in both rebounding and 3-point shooting. B.J. Raymond, Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson all averaged more than 10 points per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 5 Florida State- The Seminoles showed promise during the season, defeating Clemson twice, and a then-ranked Florida. But they couldn’t take down any of the ACC elite until the conference tournament, when they upset North Carolina. The Panthers went on the road and beat Florida State, 56-48, on Dec. 21. Toney Douglas led the ACC in scoring this year with 21.1 points per game, and Solomon Alabi finished in the top 30 in blocks per game, averaging a little more than two. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 6 UCLA- The Bruins started the year ranked in the top 5, but inconsistency in Pac-10 play brought on a few more losses than expected. UCLA has the second-best shooting percentage in the nation, at 49 percent, and is 14th at 3-point shooting at 39.8 percent. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 7 Texas- The Longhorns, ranked No. 8 in the preseason, feature four players who averaged more than 10 points in A.J. Abrams, Damion Jones, Gary Johnson and Dexter Pittman. Jones also averages a little more than 9 rebounds per game. Early in the year, Texas defeated UCLA and Villanova. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 8 Oklahoma State- The Cowboys’ best shot at winning is to pour on the offense. They finished sixth in the nation in scoring, averaging 81.1 points per game. James Anderson, Byron Eaton, Terrel Harris and Obi Muonelo all average more than 12 points per game, and Keiton Page and Ibrahima Thomas both average a little more than eight. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 9 Tennessee- Oklahoma State’s first-round opponent, and possible second-round opponent for Pitt, also likes to score, averaging 79 points per game. Tyler Smith could be a matchup problem on defense, as the 6-foot-7-inch forward averages more than 17 points per game, but also brings up the ball and is the team’s leading assist man at 3.4 per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 10 Minnesota- The Golden Gophers spread around the offense, with only Lawrence Westbrook netting more than 10 points per game. Minnesota has an additional seven players that average more than five points per game. The Gophers started off the season with 12 wins, including a win against Louisville. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth- Two years ago, Virginia Commonwealth upset Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Pitt. It’s back to the same bracket for these two teams again, but this time the Rams look to upset UCLA. The Rams are led by Eric Maynor, who averages 22.4 points per game, good for 12th in the country. Larry Sanders scores 11.3 points per game to go with 8.5 rebounds per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 12 Wisconsin- The Badgers began the year ranked No. 21, but had a rough time in Big-10 play, at one point dropping six straight games. Marcus Landry, Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon all average more than 10 points per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 13 Portland State- The Vikings come to the Tournament in exciting fashion, winning the Big Sky tournament on a dunk by Dominic Waters with 3.5 seconds to go in the game. They also scored a big victory early in the year by going to Gonzaga and upsetting the Bulldogs. They have four players averaging more than 10 points per game, and three more scoring at least six per contest. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 14 American University- The Patriot League champs are led by Garrison Carr, a dangerous shooter who nets 17.8 per game and connects on 39 percent of his 3-pointers. Derrick Mercer is also a player to keep an eye on, as he leads the team with 4.4 assists per game to go with 11.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 15 Binghamton- The Bearcats have five scorers who average more than 10 points per game, including D.J. Rivera. The junior leads the team with 20 points per game and is also the team’s best rebounder, hauling in 6.5 rebounds. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ No. 16 East Tennessee State- For Pitt, the road to the Final Four starts with the Atlantic Sun Conference champs. The Buccaneers have their own Big Three in Kevin Tiggs, Courtney Pigram and Mike Smith. They all average more than 15 points per game, Smith is the team’s leading rebounder at 7.7 boards per game and Pigram is the team’s best assist man with 4.2 per game. It’s the Buccaneers’ first Tournament appearance since 2004, when as a No. 13 seed, they lost to No. 4 Cincinnati by only three points in the first round. The previous year, they almost knocked off No. 2 Wake Forest in the first round as a No. 15 seed, once again losing by only three.