Pitt to meet Nova Thursday

While it doesn’#39;t reach the level of intricacy found in NFL playoff stipulations like… While it doesn’#39;t reach the level of intricacy found in NFL playoff stipulations like ‘#34;the Steelers win the division with a win, tie or loss by fewer than 72 points, or a Baltimore loss, tie or win by fewer than 72 points,’#34; the Big East men’#39;s basketball tournament picture is as murky as can be with one round of games remaining.

Stuck in the middle of all the confusion is Pitt, which, with a 9-6 conference record, is tied for fifth with its opponent for Saturday’#39;s regular-season finale, Notre Dame.

The Panthers control their own destiny on Saturday, with their chance at a top-five finish resting on their performance in South Bend. A win locks up fifth place for the Panthers and a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.

‘#34;Obviously, the first thing is to win. That’#39;s the goal, and then there’#39;s some other things that come with that in the situation we’#39;re in right now,’#34; head coach Jamie Dixon said. ‘#34;Obviously, most teams would like to have a bye in the tournament.’#34;

A loss to Notre Dame would ensure that the Panthers play in the opening round on Wednesday, their seed decided by other teams’#39; performances.

Pitt will be the sixth seed with Saturday losses by Georgetown and West Virginia, who are both 8-7 in-conference. Should Pitt lose and one of those teams win, Pitt gets the seventh seed. And if Pitt loses and both the Hoyas and Mountaineers win, Pitt will fall all the way to the eighth seed.

Given that no team that has played in the opening round has ever won the Big East tournament, history says it would be in Pitt’#39;s best interest to win on Saturday.

‘#34;Well, one, everybody should want that bye, because it’#39;s going to be real hard to go in there and win four games,’#34; center Chris Taft said at a press conference. ‘#34;That doesn’#39;t mean you can’#39;t do it, but it’#39;s never been done.’#34;

‘#34;And two, if we get that bye, it means that we’#39;ll be playing on my birthday,’#34; he added. His birthday is this Thursday, which prompted him to move quickly and add, ‘#34;We’#39;re going to be playing on my birthday, regardless.’#34;

If Pitt gets the fifth seed, it would face Villanova on Thursday at 2 p.m. Villanova, as the fourth seed with a 10-5 conference record, is the only team that already knows their seed for the tournament.

The Panthers lost to the Wildcats in their only meeting this season, falling 80-72 on Feb. 20 in Philadelphia.

Should Pitt be forced to play in Wednesday’#39;s opening round, it’#39;s anyone’#39;s guess as to who their opponent would be, as the teams between ninth and 12th place are all also within a game of one another. Rutgers, Seton Hall and Providence are all potential opponents, with St. John’#39;s missing out on the tournament because of NCAA rules violations.

Pitt defeated all of the teams they might face in the opening round during the regular season, but of those teams, the Panthers beat only Providence convincingly, winning 86-66. In January, Rutgers took Pitt to overtime before the Panthers pulled out the win, 66-63, while Seton Hall stayed with Pitt for 40 minutes, losing 67-63.

But Dixon was reluctant to look beyond Saturday’#39;s game at Notre Dame, much less deep into the postseason.

‘#34;I like where we’#39;re at. I think we’#39;re the healthiest we’#39;ve been all year,’#34; Dixon said.

‘#34;Our way of looking at the tournament is to take it one game at a time, so to look at game three or four down the road is not how we’#39;ve ever looked at it, so I don’#39;t think we’#39;re going to start doing that now.’#34;