California, here we come

In a matchup that already has produced more pre-game drama than a TNT series, Pitt head… In a matchup that already has produced more pre-game drama than a TNT series, Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon gave his two cents on the upcoming Sweet 16 contest between his Panthers and UCLA.

“We are playing UCLA,” Dixon said on pittsburghpanthers.com. “There are five guys on the floor on their team and five guys on the floor on our team. That is what it is.”

As much as Dixon would like his team to believe it is that simple, the third-seeded Panthers will be competing against second-seeded UCLA for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight.

Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday night at 9:40 p.m. ET in San Jose, Calif.

The Bruins (28-5, 15-3) are only a season removed from playing in the national championship game and are three-point favorites heading into Thursday’s contest.

Pitt advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in six years, yet it has never advanced past that round.

The only thing standing between Pitt and its first ever Elite Eight appearance is UCLA and head coach Ben Howland, whose personal ties to Pitt have created a fascinating story line.

Thursday’s game marks the first time in school history that a former Pitt coach will face his old team.

Before coming to Pitt, Howland coached Northern Arizona from 1994 to 1999, where he hired Dixon as an assistant.

One of Pitt’s most successful instructors, Howland coached at Pitt from 1999-2003 and rebuilt a declining program into a national power, winning 89 games while making two appearances in the Sweet 16.

But UCLA offered Howland the head-coaching job in 2003, and he bolted to California. He still insists it was a difficult decision.

“Leaving was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Howland said on ESPN.com. “As I said many times, the only job I would have ever left Pitt for was this job and this job period.”

His departure opened the door for Jamie Dixon, who has been even more successful at Pitt than Howland, going 105-29 in four seasons while becoming the first coach to lead Pitt to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons.

Yet, like Howland, Dixon never has gotten Pitt past the Sweet 16.

Though they will be opposing each other later this week, Howland and Dixon are best friends, and they talk almost daily. In fact, Howland’s daughter Meredith, a Pitt student, initially moved in with the Dixons after her father left town.

“If you’re working until midnight every day with someone, you’d better be friends,” said Dixon. “You’ve got to realize the whole situation – this didn’t start at Pitt.”

Because of their friendship, both coaches made a deal that they would never face each other unless it occurred in the NCAA Tournament.

Always in search of a good story, many believe that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee created the potential matchup on purpose, a suggestion both coaches dismissed.

Yet, the matchup could have even occurred in last year’s tournament as well, if Pitt hadn’t been upset in the second round by Bradley.

“This is how it all worked out,” Howland said in the Houston Chronicle. “Everyone thinks the idea was to match Pitt and UCLA up because of my connection to Pitt, but it wasn’t.”

Dixon agreed.

“This was inevitable,” Dixon said. “We both said we weren’t going to play against each other in the regular season, but we hoped it happened in the NCAA because you hope they win and you hope we win.”

Former Pitt star and current assistant Brandin Knight noted Howland’s old players were waiting for the matchup.

“Julius (Page), Jaron (Brown), all those guys who are playing overseas or elsewhere, they’ve been dying for this matchup,” Knight said. “I don’t know how much coach Howland and Dixon were looking forward to playing, but I know all of us were.”

And current player Mike Cook also weighed in on the matchup.

“We know Coach Dixon coached under Coach Howland, and we wanted to get this win for him,” Cook said. “He might try to downplay it, but we know it’s important to him and to the university.”

Pitt advanced to this year’s Sweet 16 after defeating Wright State and Virginia Commonwealth. In its game against VCU, Pitt was on the brink of making NCAA history by blowing a 19-point lead with 12 minutes remaining, yet the Panthers managed to squeak out a win in overtime.

UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 by burying Weber State in round one, and getting by Indiana in the second.

Jamie Dixon revealed in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that one of the reasons Howland left was because he didn’t feel like the success he had achieved at Pitt could be sustained, despite earlier comments to the contrary.

“To be honest, Ben didn’t think we could sustain it,” Dixon said. “I’ve always seen more in Pitt than other people did. I have higher expectations than anybody for this job.”

And so it is: legendary powerhouse vs. the rising power, head coach vs. former assistant, best friend vs. best friend. It’s a game Pitt fans have waited long to see.