The Big East's top team went down Saturday.
The league was extremely deep all year long, but it was Pittsburgh that was widely regarded as the conference’s best shot at going to the Final Four.
Now the top-seeded Panthers are gone — and coach Jamie Dixon will have to wait another season to get a chance to take the program to its first Final Four.
The Big East could have just two teams in the Sweet 16.
If Notre Dame loses to Florida State, all that will be left is UConn and the winner of the Syracuse-Marquette game.
The Mountain West already has a pair: BYU and San Diego State.
Game of the Day: Butler’s crazy win over top-seeded Pittsburgh. The Bulldogs won it on a Matt Howard free throw with 0.8 left on the clock. Here’s how it went down: Shawn Vanzant put Butler ahead, then Gilbert Brown was fouled at midcourt on a miscue from Shelvin Mack with 1.4 seconds left. Brown hit the first, missed the second and then Pitt’s Nasir Robinson committed an ill-advised foul on Howard, who won the game at the free throw line.
Big Shot: Erving Walker — Florida’s junior guard drilled a huge trifecta with 1:14 remaining in the game that was critical in the Gators' win over UCLA. He also made all four of his free throws down the stretch in the final minute of play.
The Savior: Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin — Just seconds after committing a foul on Jake Pullen, the Badgers guard came up with the defensive play of the day — a block of Pullen in the closing seconds that would have tied the game.
More Studs
1. Jimmer Fredette, BYU — The Jimmer scored 34 points and was 7-of-12 from beyond the arc and also dished out six assists in the easy win over No. 11 Gonzaga.
2. Erving Walker, Florida — The diminutive Gators point guard scored 21 points — including a huge 3-pointer in the final couple of minutes and also four free throws in the final minute — to beat UCLA.
3. Brandon Knight, Kentucky — The Wildcats freshman guard went for 30 points in the victory over West Virginia.
4. Jake Pullen, Kansas State — Even in the losing effort, the Wildcats senior scored 38 points against Wisconsin.
5. Kemba Walker, UConn — The Huskies point guard finished with 33 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win over Cincinnati.
Story of the Day: Four teams that aren’t in one of the Big Six leagues advanced to the Sweet 16: BYU and San Diego State moved on from the Mountain West, Butler advanced out of the Horizon, and Richmond got in from the A-10.
Biggest Upset: No. 8 Butler knocking off No. 1 Pittsburgh. We’ve already covered it, but this is a huge win for Brad Stevens’ club.
Most Impressive: BYU — The Jimmer had 34 points, but the Cougars pulled away and beat Gonzaga with ease. Jackson Emery had 16 and BYU wound up winning by 22 points.
Most Unimpressive: Gonzaga — I figured the ‘Zags would give The Jimmer & Co. more of a fight, but Mark Few just didn’t get enough defensively from his group and also didn’t get enough from anyone outside of Elias Harris, Steven Gray and Robert Sacre.
Under the Radar: Richmond — The 12th-seeded Spiders took care of Morehead State, holding Kenneth Faried to just 11 points. Kevin Anderson had 14 points, four assists and no turnovers for Richmond while Justin Harper had 19 points and six boards for Chris Mooney’s team.
Best Sweet 16 matchup: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 3 BYU — This is a rematch of last year’s first-round matchup in which The Jimmer went for 37 points and the Cougars came out with the victory.
Biggest disappointment: West Virginia — We can’t put Joe Mazzulla in this class, but the rest of the Mountaineers didn’t give him enough help. Kevin Jones struggled, John Flowers was in foul trouble and was ineffective, and Casey Mitchell went cold down the stretch.
We’ll miss you: Where do we start? How about with Jake Pullen, who became Kansas State’s all-time scoring leader in K-State’s loss to Wisconsin; Pittsburgh’s Brad Wanamaker, Gonzaga’s Steven Gray, West Virginia’s Joe Mazzulla and Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried.
Never would have thought: That Wisconsin would have knocked off Kansas State with Jordan Taylor going 2-of-16 from the field. Taylor finished with 12 points, but did have six assists and didn’t have a turnover.
Stat of the Day: San Diego State’s senior guard D.J. Gay played all 50 minutes in the double-overtime win over Temple.
Quote of the Day: "I've been playing basketball my whole life and I know I shouldn't have done that. It was a stupid play. It wasn't the ref's fault. It was my fault." — Pittsburgh’s Nasir Robinson
Can’t wait till tomorrow:
1) No. 1 Duke vs. No. 8 Michigan, 2:45 p.m. ET (CBS) — Kyrie Irving has a game under his belt; how will the freshman do in his second game back from the toe injury?
2) No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Washington, 12:15 p.m. ET (CBS) — The Tar Heels' frontline may get a test from the Huskies — who have plenty of size and bulk up front.
3) No. 4 Texas vs. No. 5 Arizona, 6:10 p.m. ET (TNT) — The Longhorns have more overall talent, but the Wildcats have Derrick Williams.
4) No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 11 VCU, 7:10 p.m. ET (TBS) — Can Shaka Smart and the Rams — the team that many say shouldn’t have been in the Big Dance in the first place — pull off another win?
5) No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 8 George Mason, 5:15 p.m. ET (CBS) — The No. 1 overall seed in the tourney against the Cinderella story from a few years ago.
