ShareThisPitt coach Jamie Dixon didn't blink last week when he told a national TV audience, "We need to win a national championship."
Not much room for misinterpretation there.
Man, I love that attitude.
Pitt returned to the No. 1 spot in the national polls Monday, but don't expect a Super Bowl-like celebration on campus. It was a big deal when it happened in early January for the first time in school history. The first time in anything is always terrific. But it doesn't seem quite so important now even if it still is a tremendous accomplishment.
Pitt has bigger plans.
It wants to be No. 1 on April 6, the night the confetti falls from the Ford Field rafters in Detroit and "One Shining Moment" is played after the national championship game.
It realizes it has to get to the Final Four not only to have a chance to be champions, but to make this marvelous season unforgettable.
"Everybody on the team knows it's going to come down to March for us," point guard extraordinaire Levance Fields said.
"I love those expectations. I love that pressure. That's why we came to the University of Pittsburgh. We want to put Pitt where it belongs."
Everything is in place for it to happen. It's not just that No. 1 ranking, though that helps. Because Pitt beat then-No. 1 Connecticut in Hartford last week and because No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 North Carolina lost Saturday, Pitt will get a precious No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as long as it takes care of business in the next two weeks. If it wins the games it is supposed to win -- at Providence tomorrow night, at Seton Hall Saturday night and home against Marquette March 4 before the home rematch with Connecticut March 7 -- it probably won't have to win the Big East Conference tournament to get a top seed. Its body of work for the season will be that strong.
"We've definitely put ourselves in a great position," Fields said. "But we know we can still get better. That's exciting."
For all of us.
This Pitt team is different than those that came before it and broke our hearts in the NCAA tournament after playing so well in the regular season and the Big East tournament. That doesn't mean it can't lose before that magical trip to Detroit. A one-and-done tournament can be so cruel, so unforgiving. Ask Michael Jordan. His great North Carolina teams didn't make it to the Final Four in 1983 or '84.
But this Pitt bunch is better and deeper than those that failed to get past the Round of 16 in any season in this golden era of Pitt hoops. There's just no way it shouldn't make it to at least the Round of 8. To not do so would be an incredible disappointment because of the team's talent and toughness.
Pitt has DeJuan Blair, a monster rebounder and a national player of the year candidate. It has Fields, whom DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright called "a consummate field general ... a wonderful point guard" after Pitt beat his team, 80-61, Saturday night. It has senior Sam Young, who is good for at least 20 points in most big games. It has a solid defender and fine 3-point shooter in Jermaine Dixon. It has senior Tyrell Biggs, who has tournament experience. It has a strong and long bench. And it has Jamie Dixon, who will receive national coach of the year consideration and probably should win the award.
Then, there's that team toughness. Don't underestimate it. There's a physical toughness, to be sure. You've watched Blair, right? But there's also a mental toughness that starts with Jamie Dixon and is passed on through Fields, one of the great leaders in Pitt history.
"This team doesn't waver," Fields said.
Certainly, it doesn't panic when it's behind. It showed that at Connecticut when it trailed, 56-51, in the second half and fought back to win, 76-68. For sure, it doesn't overlook opponents. In some ways, Pitt's 85-69 win against the Bearcats Feb. 14 was its most impressive of the season because it came after a big win against rival West Virginia and two days before the Big Monday showdown at Connecticut.
"Calling us a tough team is a great description of us," Fields said. "We have a lot of hard-nosed players."
And a hard-nosed coach.
This could be the year.
This should be the year.
"We can go to Detroit," Blair said.
"We want to give this university and this city what it's been waiting so long to get," Fields said.
It's OK to say it, OK to dream it.
The national championship.
"That separates you. That puts you on a different level," Jamie Dixon said. "We've been very successful over the last several years, but we haven't won one. We need to win one to put ourselves on the same level with those schools that have."
(Contact Ron Cook at rcook@post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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