SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It's right there on the first page of Pitt's game notes: The Panthers are one of only five teams to make the Sweet 16 in four of the past six years. The others are Duke, Connecticut, Kansas and Texas.
Four of those teams have something in common. Duke, Connecticut, Kansas and Texas reached at least one Final Four during that period.
Then, another impressive statistic: The Panthers also are one of only 12 teams to make the NCAA tournament six consecutive seasons. That list reads like a who's who of college basketball as well.
Of those 12 teams only three -- Pitt, Gonzaga and Southern Illinois -- have failed to get past the Sweet 16 since 2002.
When Pitt (29-7) plays UCLA (28-5) tonight in a Sweet 16 game at HP Pavilion, the Panthers will be looking to knock down the barrier that has blocked the program from truly being considered among Division I's elite.
"It's so important right now," Pitt junior Keith Benjamin said. "The last six years the only teams that have been in the win column like that with us are the Dukes and the Connecticuts. When you look at it like that, it's good, but not when you're not getting past the Sweet 16. If we do that, it will be so big for coach [Jamie] Dixon and this program, for the whole Pittsburgh nation, to finally get over the hump. It gives you more respect if you can get past that."
Since the NCAA tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Pitt has never made it past the Sweet 16. In three previous trips to the third round, the Panthers lost in 2002, '03 and '04. Pitt advanced to the Final Four in 1941, but that was when the tournament had an eight-team field and the Panthers only had to win one game to get there. In 1974, Pitt reached the Elite Eight in a 32-team field, winning two games.
Senior guard Antonio Graves said on Selection Sunday that anything short of a Final Four would be a disappointment for this team, and he was not backing off that statement yesterday. He was a freshman the previous time Pitt played a Sweet 16 game in 2004, a 63-51 loss to Oklahoma State.
"I actually felt like this day would come, the team we're playing and everything," Graves said. "We're playing UCLA, which means we're basically playing ourselves. It's kind of ironic.
"It's the perfect situation. I'm feeling great. The team's feeling great. Ever since we got here, we've been so riled up and ready to play. We feel like we have something to prove. We want to show that we have the best team."
And what better stage than tonight against UCLA, one of college basketball's most-storied programs, a school that has won 11 NCAA championships, a team that is back in the national spotlight after reaching the title game last season.
"UCLA is on a pretty big pedestal," sophomore point guard Levance Fields said. "With them going to the Final Four last year, it would be a big win for our program. We feel we can do even bigger things. Hopefully, we can do everything right and get this win first."
Just about everyone is anticipating a tight, defensive game, and the Panthers are no different. UCLA coach Ben Howland was at Pitt from 1999-2003 and installed his man-to-man defensive system that lifted the Panthers out of mediocrity and into the elite of the Big East. His successor, Dixon, has maintained the same defensive principles.
UCLA and Pitt are among the top defensive teams in Division I. UCLA gives up 59.7 points per game; Pitt 62.8.
"Most of their games are ugly and most of our games are ugly," Benjamin said. "This game will be a race to 50. Whoever hits 50 first will win this game. It has the potential to be 15-15 at halftime. No one wants to be the guy to let his guy score. I just hope the refs let us play and not call any cheap fouls."
If it is a close game, many Pitt players believe they will have an edge. In the second-round victory against Virginia Commonwealth, the Panthers blew a 19-point lead in the final 12 minutes of regulation before coming back and winning, 84-79, in overtime.
That might not seem like a confidence-building victory, but many championship teams throughout the years have had to get through one tough game early before things fell in place.
"That's the thing about this tournament, that game has to come," Graves said. "You're going to have to use everything you've got and, hopefully, you still get the win. That's what happened against VCU. I'm actually happy that game happened. We're ready for anything now."
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