Pittsburgh has consistently gone away in big games over the last two months. Sure, it was the Big East season, but that is where you have to prove yourself as one of the top teams. Otherwise, come March, there may not be a chance to prove yourself. Last night, the Panthers were cold from the field and the tough defense they had against West Virginia in their first match was gone. If you look at this Panther team and move them a couple of points in the other direction from where they are now, you have Notre Dame, a team with very little chance of even making the Big East tournament (Two wins by the Irish to finish the season and they should be in but it still might take a tie breaker).

West Virginia has consistently underplayed their high RPI rating (#23 according to CollegeRPI.com) all season. Their marquis win outside of conference is Oklahoma and they already have losses on their record from Texas, Kentucky, and LSU, all teams they should be competing with in the tournament. They have beaten Villanova in their only meeting, which should look good on their resume. Otherwise, against their conference, their record should be a little suspect. They barely survived a Cincinnati team that has played well, but the Moutaineers won when the Bearcats did not have Armein Kirkland. They have just managed to squeak by Louisville and now Pittsburgh in their last two games and neither has been pretty. Outside of the Villanova victory, the best feat they can claim in conference is a sweep of Georgetown, a dangerous team, but not one that is ready to challenge for an NCAA title, let alone the Big East crown.

So where does that leave West Virginia come March? Let's wait and see, but some team will throw together a great perimeter defense to limit the Mountaineers and force them to try and come inside with the ball. Then, it will be up to Kevin Pittsnogle to try and live up to the hype he generated around himself in last year's tournament. We already saw them fail at this against Syracuse just a week ago. The Orange held West Virginia without a free throw attempt thanks to their hesitancy to go inside against the 2-3 zone defense. A combination of great guard defense and a big center in the middle should be able to take out West Virginia. Don't be surprised if the Mountaineers are gone early, perhaps by the second round.

• Big South - Leader: Winthrop, Sleeper team: Coastal Carolina (Swept Winthrop this season and winners of their last 10 games. Plus they have one of the cooler mascot logos)
• Horizon - Leader: Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Sleeper team: Butler (Need to win only two games for title. Split season series with UW-M)
• Ohio Valley - Leader: Murray State, Sleeper team: Tennessee State (Get through the first game against Samford and this team, who a few seasons ago was falling apart, will have some serious momentum. Winners of 5 of 6 going into tournament. Only loss in that time to Murray State)

• Most Final Fours in the 25 sims by a non-Top 6 conference team: tie between Bradley and George Mason with two each in the Oakland Region.


• Most surprising team to make a Final Four: Oral Roberts, a #15 seed in the Washington D.C. Bracket with Duke, who needed a string of upsets to eventually come out of that bracket


• Regions with the most teams making the Final Four: Atlanta, GA and Oakland, CA. Both had half of teams score at least one Final Four berth.


• Most dominant team in their bracket: Duke reached 11 of the 25 sim final fours (a sign of what was to come in the final 50)


• Connecticut again lost 10 Finals match-ups out of the 50 Elite Eight sims. The Huskies did manage four victories this time, showing that they are moving ever closer to the top three teams in the MRI who again dominated the numbers.