The Steelers stunk, the Penguins stink, and the Pirates, well, you don't even want to go there. But do we have a right to complain much? I'm not so sure, the more I watch the Pitt basketball team. Everyone should be so lucky to see what we're seeing.

Do you realize Pitt has the best record in the country (77-12) the past three seasons? Better than Duke (73-12 before its game against Florida State last night). Better than Kansas (76-15). Better than everybody.

You must be aware Pitt has won 38 consecutive home games, including 32 at the Petersen Events Center, where it has never been beaten. That's not just a school record. It's the longest active home winning streak in Division I.

It almost would be enough just to go to the spectacular Petersen Center. It's the PNC Park of on-campus arenas and will be the lasting legacy of Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and former athletic director Steve Pederson. But Pitt gives us so much more. It gives us virtually an automatic win. Going back to the 2001-02 season, its final year at Fitzgerald Field House, it is 48-1 at home.

Success like that should never be taken for granted.

"If it were easy," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, "everyone would be doing it."

That's the added beauty of Pitt's streak. The Panthers make it seem easy. Thirty-one of their 38 wins have been by 10 points or more. Their average victory margin is 18.8 points. The games haven't all been against Youngstown State, Albany and Chicago State, either. The Panthers have beaten Syracuse and Notre Dame twice during the run and also defeated Connecticut.

Pitt has been seriously tested at home only a handful of times since its last home loss to Notre Dame, 56-53, Jan. 12, 2002, when it blew a 53-48 lead in the final three minutes. Georgetown played it tough until the end last season when a Julius Page free throw with 0.4 seconds was the difference in a 65-64 win. Connecticut led by 13 points in the first half last season before Emeka Okafor got in foul trouble and the Huskies crumbled in a 71-67 loss. Georgetown (Ky.) was within two points and Notre Dame within one in the final minute this season before Pitt hung on. Boston College led, 55-54, with 3:54 left Wednesday night before the Panthers scored the next 11 points and rolled to a 68-58 win.

The victory against Boston College was as impressive as any during the streak. Pitt, up to No. 6 in the ESPN coaches' poll and No. 7 in The Associated Press poll, was coming off road games against bitter rival Connecticut and Syracuse, the defending national champion. Everyone was telling the players how great they are after they beat Syracuse, 66-45. Boston College is competitive. A lesser team might have had a letdown and lost.

Not this Pitt team.

"Personally, I want to leave here without ever losing in this building," senior Jaron Brown said.

The streak has become a big deal to just about everybody at Pitt.

Before the Pitt players are introduced to the sellout crowd at the Petersen Center, the lights are dimmed and a booming voice reads this message from the huge scoreboard:

"We started this thing and now we're on top. Everybody is trying to knock us off. It's us vs. them. We must protect this house. Will you protect this house?"

Everyone then responds in unison:

"I will!"

Yes, it's a ripoff of a popular television commercial. Yes, it's corny. But it's also mesmerizing. You should have seen the Boston College players watching the scoreboard. They had no idea what they were about to face.

They found out in the next two hours.

"The streak is nice, but it's not something we really talk about unless someone asks," Dixon said. "We go into every game expecting to win. I think that's the way you have to do it ...

"I'm proud of our guys, but I don't measure it just in terms of numbers or wins. We've got great character kids. I'm proud of how they carry themselves on and off the floor. I'm proud of how they compete. I'm proud of how they keep working to improve."

Dixon wouldn't be a successful coach if he didn't take that approach. He's much too busy to take a look at what his team is accomplishing. He's already worried about the next game -- against a bad St. John's team at home Wednesday night.

It's up to us to appreciate the greatness we're seeing.

What would you give to go back to the 1970s and relive those Super Steelers years? Or to the early-1990s when the Pirates were big winners and the Penguins were two-time Stanley Cup champions?

You are watching the same kind of thing now. This always will be remembered as the Golden Era of Pitt basketball. Enjoy every minute. It won't last forever.