COACH: Jamie Dixon, eight years at Pittsburgh, eight years in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: At-large bid.
GO-TO GUYS: Ashton Gibbs is a deadly shooter, leading the Panthers at 16.7 points per game and making 48 percent of his 3-point attempts. Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown can also score, and know how to pick their spots. Gary McGhee and Dante Taylor don't score a ton, but each makes well over 50% of their attempts and are deadly when they get the ball down low with a path to the basket.
X FACTOR: What frame of mind are the Panthers going to be in? Pitt is one of those teams that frequently seem to be one of the best in the country, but doesn't get the results it hopes for in the NCAA tournament. An early loss to Connecticut in the Big East tournament quarterfinals -- Pitt was the top seed in that tournament -- won't do much for the Panthers confidence, all protestations about how the NCAA tournament is the only one that counts aside.
STRENGTHS: Pittsburgh is again an excellent defensive team, allowing an average of 61 points per game. That's in large part because the Panthers crash the boards in a way that few others can match -- they outrebound their foes by more than 10 per game. Pitt shoots 47.4 percent from the floor, and 39 percent from 3-point range, and is a veteran team with a backcourt that has played together for four years, and works as well together as any unit in the tournament.
WEAKNESSES: The Panthers don't always take care of the basketball, and commit more turnovers than they force. It can go through scoring lulls that keep it from pulling away from teams, which in a one-and-done situation can prove especially costly. Pitt has played well enough in the regular season in previous years to have had their NCAA trips judged a disappointment, a weight of expectations that could prove difficult to manage.
