COUNTERPOINT – Is this the year the Panthers make it past the Sweet 16?

Another year has passed, another NCAA Tournament bracket released and yet another… Another year has passed, another NCAA Tournament bracket released and yet another lower-than-hoped-for seed for Pitt Panthers men’s basketball.

The NCAA Selection Committee was up to its usual antics on Sunday, and no matter how many bubble teams were snubbed or what ESPN analysts say to comfort those wrongly seeded, the bracket is a lock.

The Panthers, who recently finished second in the Big East Tournament after being McNamara-d by Syracuse, drew a No. 5 seed in the Oakland bracket, matching up against Kent State, the No. 12 seed.

This year, like the previous four, the Panthers weren’t favored by the selection committee and ended up on the lower end of their possible seed projection.

And this year, like the previous four, Pitt will not be able to advance past the Sweet 16. Nonetheless, Panther fans won’t experience the NCAA Tournament deja vu that this bracket is absolutely loaded with.

Pitt will be able to cruise past Kent State in the first round, avenging their 2002 Sweet 16 loss to Antonio Gates and the Golden Flashes. That said, the Panthers will also avoid a repeat of last year’s debacle — their first round exit at the hands of Pacific.

After that, however, the road to Indianapolis and the elusive Final Four gets a lot bumpier.

In the second round, Jamie Dixon and the Panthers will most likely draw Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks, which could prove to be a very dangerous matchup, one that could end Pitt’s NCAA Tournament run before it leaves Auburn Hills.

The Jayhawks are the fourth seed in the Oakland bracket. Their win in the Big 12 tournament — a 12-point victory over No. 9 Texas — gave the Selection Committee what it wanted to plant them one seed higher than the Panthers.

Although young, Kansas is playing their best basketball of the season at exactly the right time. Freshmen Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush have matured drastically throughout the Jayhawks’ up-and-down season to find exactly what works for their team.

Kansas likes to run the floor on offense-a lot. Chalmers, along with Julian Wright, has the ability to push the ball on any defense and either take it strong to the hoop or pull up and hit an outside jumper.

On defense, the Jayhawks are feisty, forcing turnovers and constantly flying toward the glass to get the first pass off quickly and their fast-break game flowing.

Pitt would have to take great care of the ball and force-feed the power half-court offense. They would also have to convert on high-percentage opportunities to disable the Jayhawks’ fast break opportunities.

Should the Panthers manage to down Kansas and advance to their fourth Sweet 16 in five years, they would run into another predator — the top-seeded Memphis Tigers.

Memphis, despite playing in the weakened Conference USA, has the athletes to take it to anyone in the country. The experience of high-flyer Rodney Carney and point guard Darius Washington Jr. along with the dazzling talent of freshmen Shawne Williams, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Antonio Anderson, and you’ve got a mix that could make John Calipari’s team capable of a Final Four run.

Memphis can really play any type of basketball. They can run the floor, grind the clock and play both inside and out. There is little the Tigers can’t do, which is what makes them such a tough matchup for so many teams, including Pitt in the foreseeable future.

Bottom line — the Panthers are too inconsistent to make it past the Sweet 16 this year. Pitt’s streaky outside shooting paired with their inability to convert many high-percentage opportunities won’t let the Panthers get very far.

So please Pitt, prove me wrong.