X Marks the Spot

The Maniac has been taking shots at the Pitt Panthers and their less-than-stellar NCAA Tourney track record. For those of you who have been with us for a while, the term "Go Pitt" has entered MM.com vernacular as a shorter, quicker way to explain "flopping early in the tourney."

Well tonight the Panthers will attempt to defeat, for the first time, a team seeded lower than a #5 in the tourney. Their opponent? None other that the Maniac's admitted bias; the Xavier Musketeers.

Less than 4% of our pool participants have X advancing tonight, your's truly in the less silent minority, of course. But is it really a possible upset in the making or just a true homer pick filled with blind optimism?

Let's take a look:

Three Reasons Xavier Can Beat Pitt:

1. Depth - Xavier has good depth in their frontcourt and has a few fould they can waste playing rough with DeJuan Blair. Jason Love is a load inside, athletic and physical. He is limited offensivly but is an excellent post defender. Matching up with Sam Young will be a bigger problem, as X will have to use a blend of the slighter Derrick Brown, the shorter CJ Anderson and the slower Jason Love (when 7'0'' freshman Kenny Frease is in the game to cover Blair).

Xavier is a solid nine deep, and a very phsyical defensive-minded club that won't be afraid to mix it up.

2. Tourney Experience - The kids from X have been here before. BJ Raymond canned two of the biggest shots in Xavier history in last year's Sweet 16 victory over West Virginia. He is back as a senior leader and has connected on over 40% of his 3's this year. Don't expect that number to slide under tourney pressure. Derrick Brown, CJ Anderson and Jason Love all played significant roles on last year's Elite 8 squad as well.

3. Officiating - In Pitt's few losses this year, there has been one constant; foul trouble on DeJuan Blair. Xavier has slashers and leapers in Brown and McLain, post players in Love and Frease and aggressive penetrating guards in Anderson and Dante Jackson. The point is, X will attack the hoop. If the game is called tight, they can pick up some fouls on Pitt inside and challenge their limited depth. If the game gets rough, I don;t think X will shy away, but a quicker whistle tonight is defintely in their favor.

All that said, does Xavier win tonight? I don't know. I picked them out of the shoot in my original bracket, and still contend their best chance to get to their first Final Four was to land in Pitt's bracket. Not that they are a "better" team than Pitt, it is just a better matchup than UNC, Louisville or UConn. Pitt is the better team, but they better play well tonight or they just might find themselves "going Pitt" once again.

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