Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Pitt's Aaron Gray guards West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle when the two Big East teams met earlier this month. Click photo for larger image. Related Coverage: Mountaineers' class of '06 going out in style

Third place or sixth place. That, in a nutshell, is what the game against West Virginia at 7 p.m. today means for Pitt.

If the Panthers win, they will clinch third place in the Big East Conference and a bye in the conference tournament next week at Madison Square Garden in New York, provided they beat Seton Hall Friday at the Petersen Events Center in the regular-season finale.

Pitt and West Virginia are tied for third place in the Big East standings with 10-4 records. If Pitt loses, the Panthers potentially could slip to the sixth seed in the tournament because it loses most potential tiebreakers to Georgetown and Marquette, the two teams close behind the league standings who are favored to win their remaining games and finish 11-5 in Big East play.

If that happened, Pitt will play a first-round game March 8, something the Panthers want to avoid. Coincidentally, Pitt and West Virginia are the only two teams in Big East history to advance to the Big East title game by playing four games in four days; Pitt in 2001 and West Virginia last season. Neither won the championship game.

"That bye is really huge," senior guard Carl Krauser said. "No one wants to play four days in a row, playing against the top competition in the Big East. You want to have that chance to rest your legs and have your teammates watch a couple of games so they can get a feel for what the Big East tournament is like."

Pitt beat West Virginia, 57-53, at the Petersen Events Center Feb. 9. A split in the season series gives West Virginia the tiebreaker advantage. The only way Pitt could do better than a sixth seed if it loses tonight is if there is a four-way tie among the Panthers, West Virginia, Georgetown and Marquette for fourth place. Pitt would be the fifth seed in that scenario and Georgetown the sixth seed because the tiebreaker is record against the teams tied in the standings. West Virginia would be the third seed and Marquette the fourth in that scenario.

	Scouting Report SCOUTING REPORT Matchup: No. 9 Pitt (21-4, 10-4) vs. No. 14 West Virginia (19-8, 10-4), 7 p.m. today, WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W.Va. TV, Radio, Internet: ESPN, WPGB-FM (104.7), WBGG-AM (970). Pitt: Coming off 81-68 victory against Providence. ... Junior G Antonio Graves led the team with 18 points against the Friars. ... Junior C Aaron Gray had 17 points and nine rebounds. It was the fourth time in Big East play that Gray missed a double-double by one rebound. He leads the Big East with 13 double-doubles, although he only has one in the past five games. ... Bench is averaging 33.2 points per game in the past four games and has not scored fewer than 29 points in that span. ... Defeated West Virginia, 57-53, Feb. 9 at the Petersen Events Center. West Virginia: Coming off 68-64 victory against Louisville. ... Senior C Kevin Pittsnogle was 10 for 15 from the field and led the Mountaineers with 21 points against the Cardinals. ... Senior G/F Mike Gansey added 17 points. ... Has won 10 games in Big East play for the third time since joining the conference in 1995. ... Leads the league in turnover margin. The Mountaineers average fewer than eight turnovers per game in Big East play. Hidden Stat: Pitt has scored 80 points or more in each of its past four games, only the second time the Panthers have scored 80 points or more in four consecutive Big East games. The Panthers scored 110 points against Boston College, 94 points against Villanova, 81 against Georgetown and 117 against Providence in four consecutive games in 1990.

Boiled down, Pitt has to beat West Virginia to give itself a realistic chance at winning the Big East tournament.

"It's definitely important," junior center Aaron Gray said of the bye. "That's what the emphasis is now. We only want to have to play three games up there."

If Pitt is to earn the bye, the Panthers must duplicate their defensive performance against Kevin Pittsnogle in the first game. Pittsnogle, West Virginia's leading scorer, did not score against Pitt in the first game. He was 0 for 12 from the field, had four turnovers and fouled out.

Since the Pitt game, Pittsnogle has regrouped, scoring 25 points against Georgetown, 24 against Seton Hall, 15 against Connecticut, 20 against Syracuse and 21 Saturday against Louisville.

"We just kept throwing guys at him," said Gray, who was chiefly responsible for mirroring Pittsnogle in Pitt's victory at the Petersen Events Center. "We never left him. We gave up a lot of layups that game just to take away Kevin Pittsnogle and the 3. He's a great player and the type of player that can win a game for his team. We knew if we did a good job of containing him and taking away his 3-ball we had a great chance of winning the game."

West Virginia uses the 3-point shot to fuel its offense, but Pittsnogle and the Mountaineers have been off the mark lately. In the past 10 games, the Mountaineers are shooting 30 percent from 3-point range and have a 5-5 record. Pittsnogle, who is shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point range for the season, is 28 for 80 from behind the arc (35 percent) in that span.

Mike Gansey, West Virginia's second-leading scorer who averages 17.7 points per game, has scored more than 17 points just once in the past six games.

"We just have to play a solid defensive game and cut down on transition buckets," Krauser said. "We have to rebound the ball hard and keep Pittsnogle from making a lot of 3s. If we hold Pittsnogle down, I don't think Gansey can affect us too much unless he scores 50 points."

If there is one thing missing from Pitt's NCAA resume this season, it's a signature road win. The Panthers are 3-4 away from home in Big East play. In years past, the Panthers have recorded some impressive road wins, including wins at Connecticut, Boston College and Syracuse last season and at Providence and Syracuse the year before that. All of those teams were ranked.

Pitt is winless against top echelon teams on the road this season. The Panthers' most impressive road win? How about South Carolina?

Coach Jamie Dixon downplayed Pitt's lack of road success.

"We want to win every game," Dixon said. "We're 21-4 and playing well right now. To have the kind of success we've had this season, you have to be good both home and away. It's going to be a battle [tonight], but I don't think the game being on the road makes us want to win it any more than otherwise."

Maybe not. But now would be the perfect time to break through, considering the Big East tournament implications.