Hopefully what they read after the ETSU game will have an impact. Frankly, if I’m Coach Dixon, I scatter these throughout their locker room. I slip them under their doors tonight. Let them read some of this.

Your bracket is screwed. Yes, you. Because you picked Pittsburgh to win the East Regional, and maybe even to beat someone in the Final Four. Hell, maybe you got really ambitious and picked the Panthers, who did after all look so dominant in the almighty Big East this season, to win the whole 2009 NCAA tournament.

Well, you’re screwed. Your bracket is screwed. Because this Pittsburgh team was lucky to beat 16th-seeded East Tennessee State in the first round on Friday. Pittsburgh won 72-62, but the margin was that comfortable only in the final seconds. It was a one-possession game in the final 2½ minutes, and if ETSU could shoot at all — a weakness I highlighted Thursday after watching its dreadful shooting in practice — the Bucs would have beaten Pittsburgh.

By 20.

Pittsburgh was that bad Friday, which means your bracket is that screwed. Don’t be mad at me. Be mad at Pittsburgh, which was constructed by Jamie Scheyer-Face, er, Jamie Dixon, who coached Friday with more intensity than any of his players showed. Or any two of his players showed. Or any five of them.

Let them know the doubts aren’t just back for one game. They are questioning Pitt’s heart. They are questioning the team’s fire and if they can show up for more than one big game. Make them get that chip be about sustained quality. Not just one game.

Whether Pitt is actually favored on Sunday against Oklahoma State, it will become a trendy “upset” pick.

In describing the ETSU game, Pitt center DeJuan Blair described his team’s offense as one that’s not going to blow anyone out. They average 78 points per game. “We’re the type of team that likes to slow the game down and let the game come to us.” How well that plays against OSU remains to be seen. The Cowboys proved earlier in the day in Dayton that they can run with just about anyone, taking their up-tempo game against a more rigid offense, Tennessee’s, with a solid center presence. OSU, on the season, drops an average of 81.

The Cowboys will go right at Blair, attacking him with backdoors and pick-and-rolls to the basket, as they did against Tennessee. With any luck, they’ll lure him into foul trouble. But even if Blair keeps out of trouble (as he did against ETSU) and repeats his solid first-round effort (16 boards; 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting), he’ll need some serious assistance from his guards, who weren’t up to the task today. Fields and Jermaine Dixon combined for just six points.

“We know how good we are, but we didn’t show it today,” Fields said. “We weren’t rattled by [ETSU] or anything. We just have to execute much better next game.” Or else.

Sure.

There’s no way this is a No. 16 seed,” Dixon said of ETSU. “I watched them play.”

Fine, maybe ETSU is not a #16 seed. Even if they are a #13 seed, Pitt should not have struggled like this.  We’ve seen this Pitt team play all season. They are capable of so much more — if they want to.

I realize after a performance like that, it is hard to be optimistic. I am not even pretending to be optimistic. All I can say, is that we won. Just like Memphis survived yesterday. Like No. 1 UConn did against No. 16 Albany in 2006. At least Pitt never trailed in the second half.

It also means that there is little chance that Pitt thinks it can cruise.  There’s also this. I think back to the way Pitt blew out teams with ease the last two years then struggling and not doing as well in the second round — losing twice and needing OT to win. That’s the best I can do.

Levance Fields said this yesterday when meeting the media.

“Our goal is to survive and advance,” Fields said

In that respect Pitt did what they needed.

18, 19, 20 turnovers. Whenever the final stats come out it won’t be pretty. Lousy passing and players not coming to the ball. Not showing the energy expected or needed. It came down to Pitt’s superior talent being enough and ETSU really being a poor shooting team.

I guess, for us. Vent now. Get it out of the system. Go with the self-pity. Run with the venom and negativity. There’s a 24-hour period for this. Then just let it go.

Okay, here’s a link to another place that is streaming the game.

I have to help work the liveblog of all NCAA action over at FanHouse. Feel free to stop on by.

Lots of links to put out for Pitt.

Pitt has accomplished more than credited this decade.

A puff piece on how far Coach Dixon has come, and he’s now more intense.

Fear of being the first #1 seed to fall to a #16 seed is always present.

ETSU comes with dreams of being the first.

ETSU will try to press. Somehow I don’t think it will be the same as Louisville’s or Villanova. Or even Seton Hall’s.

Human interest story on ETSU’s Kevin Tiggs.

Is Dayton a hot ticket with both #1 seeded Pitt and Louisville? Or because Ohio State is playing there? Or is it less so, because Dayton is playing in Minneapolis today?

How do you do a story that talks about stats and psychology for Pitt in the NCAA Tournament without that many numbers?

Is Pitt already too tight for the NCAA Tournament or merely all business.

Pittsburgh had its news media availability midmorning Thursday, and the Panthers presented a serious and stoic public face.

Guard Levance Fields closed his eyes for a minute or two at the podium, as if meditating, while taking questions. Forward Sam Young did not crack a smile. And in the locker room, the rest of the Panthers were mostly quiet, watching other tournament games on television. All business, on the Pitt end.

“Our goal is to survive and advance,” Fields said.

Louisville, meanwhile, met the news media on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals were all smiles, loose and full of laughter. In the locker room, guard Edgar Sosa took over for a local television station, posing questions to his teammates while others howled in the background. The Sosa Show, he called it. Funny business, for the Cardinals.

I guess it depends on whether Pitt succeeds.

A puff piece on Levance Fields. And another piece that happens to bring up that the court is the same place where he broke his foot. Also mentions again how serious Pitt is about the whole thing.

They hope to change that this year, in large part by not overlooking their early opponents. In fact, when a reporter here asked if they would be watching Louisville, another No. 1 seed from the Big East Conference who is playing the first two rounds here, forward Sam Young cut off the question before it was finished with a hearty “No.”

“We’re way too mature to make that foolish mistake again,” he said, noting that Pittsburgh did that last year and in this month’s Big East tournament. “A lot of times when you get a high seed, you look too far ahead.”

Finally, senior Tyrell Biggs gets a little love in USA Today.

For lots of good stuff, make sure you pop over to the Cat Basket. They are actually paying attention to the football team and have some breakdowns by unit.

Sunseri is in a really bad position for a young quarterback in that he is perceived as a solution to our QB problems because he isn’t Bostick or Stull.

Sadly true.

A couple stories on Adam Gunn and his 6th year.

Kevin Gorman has a notebook dump of Pitt’s first practice — no pads, so Wannstedt is complaining. Of note, as expected Greg Cross is playing WR (sigh).

New OC Frank Cignetti is more animated than Matt Cavanaugh.

Nate Byham is on the preliminary watch list for the 2009 Rotary Lombardi Award.

Eligibility for the Rotary Lombardi Award is limited to down linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball. Linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage are also eligible.

The candidates earned a place on the preliminary watch list by earning All-American honors or by being named to their respective all-conference first team as selected by the conference’s head coaches. The Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List will be updated prior to the start of the 2009 season in order to identify those players who have been selected as preseason honors candidates.

Forty-seven players were named to the Rotary Lombardi list. Byham was one of only two tight ends selected, reinforcing his status as one of the country’s best at his position.

Byham is presently sitting out spring practice as he recovers from offseason surgery.

Shh. Make sure Pitt players don’t read this. They don’t need to feel too cocky.

How can ETSU score on Pittsburgh if it can’t even score on itself?

I just sat through the ETSU practice, where the Bucs ran up and down the court in a series of 4-on-3, 3-on-2, and even 2-on-1 scoring opportunities. And the Bucs couldn’t score. Almost ever.

Don’t get the wrong idea. ETSU doesn’t appear to have a great defense. The Bucs simply couldn’t make a shot. Mike Smith, their No. 2 scorer at 15.5 ppg, was particularly atrocious. Granted, this was practice. And maybe the Bucs are nervous. But the arena is empty and the television cameras are turned off and the players on defense are teammates, not killers from Pittsburgh.

If ETSU is nervous now … ETSU is in big trouble on Friday.

Basketball Prospectus has their log5 probability chart as to who comes out of the East. Take it for whatever it’s worth. In the same breath, they do capsules of each team.

Hopefully Pitt coaches and players are taking it one game at a time. Everyone else is already looking longer at Pitt as a storyline.

Pittsburgh: DeJuan Blair raises them from an OK defensive team to a good one, so any time he goes to the bench with foul trouble, bad things can happen. That’s the biggest reason to worry about their chances, because they need Blair to avoid foul trouble for six straight games to win the title. Their ridiculously efficient offense is also keyed by Blair, who recovers nearly one in four of their missed shots. All the Sam Young in the world won’t save them in the game Blair plays 19 minutes.

They also hit on Oklahoma State and give them a “punchers chance” against Pitt should they meet.

Not that Pitt is likely to play zone to protect Blair.

4. Can Pitt finally get past the Sweet 16?

During this decade, Pittsburgh has elbowed its way to the top of the college basketball hierarchy, only to tumble down the mountain — often earlier than expected — in the tournament. Since 2002, the Panthers have been seeded third, second, third, ninth, fifth, third and fourth, yet they have never advanced past the Sweet 16. Five times they’ve been eliminated by a lower-seeded team, most notably in 2006 when 13th-seed Bradley beat No. 4 Pitt in the second round.

This year should be different. The Panthers received a No. 1 seed for the first time, giving them the most favorable draw they’ve ever had. More significant, the Panthers rank second nationally in rebound differential and 10th in field-goal percentage. Don’t expect a Pitt stop anywhere short of the Elite Eight.

It’s the same theme here and  here.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon doesn’t shy away from the obvious: For the Panthers to be taken seriously as one of the premier programs nationally, getting to a Final Four usually helps promote the premise.

Assuming Dixon stays at Pitt, and there’s no reason why he won’t, the Panthers will have other opportunities to advance. But during Dixon’s career he has never had the pieces in place the way he does this March.

…

Pitt won’t be considered a lesser program if it bows out early, but this is Pitt’s best shot to alter its image to the mainstream fan. A major difference this season is the Panthers are a No. 1 seed. That provides them the better opportunity to at least get to the Sweet 16. Beating Oklahoma State or Tennessee won’t be a walk since both are capable of running past the Panthers. But Pitt should be favored to get at least through the second round, where it could have a rematch with Florida State, a team the Panthers already beat earlier this season. The Panthers haven’t been to the Elite Eight since 1974.

No pressure or anything.