Pitt senior Keith Benjamin loves to play the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown. He said it's the unpredictability of the visit that is so appealing to him.

"It's fun," Benjamin said. "You never know what people are going to say."

Benjamin and the rest of the Panthers -- or anyone associated with Pitt for that matter -- can expect some colorful words in the wake of Pitt's treatment of the Mountaineers on the athletic fields in recent months.

It's the final home game of the season for the Mountaineers. The previous time a Pitt team was the visitor to Morgantown in a season finale the Panthers broke the hearts of Mountaineers football fans from Beckley to Wheeling.

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Scouting report

• Matchup: Pitt (21-8, 9-7 Big East) vs. West Virginia (20-9, 9-7), 7 p.m. today, WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W.Va.
• TV, radio, Internet: ESPN, WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970), www.pittsburghpanthers.com.
• Pitt: Coming off 82-77 victory at Syracuse. ... Won on the road for the first time since Jan. 23 against St. John's. ... Improved to 3-4 in Big East road games. ... Has won four consecutive games against West Virginia, including a 55-54 victory at the Petersen Events Center Feb. 7. ... Led by F Sam Young (18.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg), C DeJuan Blair (12.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg), G Levance Fields (10.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and G Keith Benjamin (9.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg).
• West Virginia: Coming off 79-71 loss at Connecticut. ... Led by F Joe Alexander (15.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg), G Alex Ruoff (14.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg), F Da'Sean Butler (12.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and G Darris Nichols (11.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg). ... 12-2 at home this season.
• Hidden stat: Pitt is 4-2 in its past six games at West Virginia.Today
• • Game: Pitt (21-8, 9-7 Big East) vs. West Virginia (20-9, 9-7).
• • When: 7 p.m.
• • TV: ESPN.

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The memories are still fresh in the minds of West Virginians when Pitt knocked West Virginia out of the Bowl Championship Series national title game with an improbable 13-9 victory Dec. 1 at Mountaineer Field.

A little more than two months later, Pitt stunned the Mountaineers on the basketball court when Ronald Ramon made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 55-54 Pitt victory Feb. 7 at Petersen Events Center.

Now, less than a month after that heartbreaking defeat, the Panthers have another chance to ruin a season for the Mountaineers.

Pitt, fresh off an 82-77 comeback victory against Syracuse Saturday, looks to spoil West Virginia's NCAA tournament hopes with a victory.

Pitt and West Virginia enter the game in a tie for sixth place in the Big East Conference standings. Pitt (21-8, 9-7) is in great shape for an NCAA tournament bid after beating Syracuse. Before games yesterday, the Panthers had an RPI of 23.

West Virginia's NCAA standing is much more tenuous. The Mountaineers (20-9, 9-7) have an RPI of 42, which is approaching the danger zone for teams hoping for an at-large berth.

A home loss to the Panthers would put the Mountaineers on the bubble and would force them to win their regular-season finale at St. John's and likely at least two games at the Big East tournament to get consideration for an NCAA bid.

For Pitt, the stakes are not as high. The Panthers probably locked up a berth with the victory at Syracuse and are now playing for seeding at the Big East tournament.

This game is probably for sixth place in the Big East. If Pitt beats West Virginia and DePaul in the regular-season finale, the Panthers will be the No. 6 seed.

The No. 6 seed in the conference standings plays the No. 11 seed in a Big East tournament first-round game at 9 p.m. March 12. Pitt cannot finish higher than sixth place and cannot finish lower than eighth.

Pitt has turned its season around with a couple of second-half comebacks the past two games. The Panthers overcame a 40-33 deficit to beat Cincinnati, 73-67, Wednesday. On Saturday, they overcame a 75-64 deficit with 3:30 remaining to defeat Syracuse.

For coach Jamie Dixon, things are going according to plan. He said the final two weeks of the season were when he wanted the Panthers to be hitting their stride. He knew Levance Fields would need time to get back into playing shape, and he knew the team would have to readjust to playing with Fields again.

The Panthers are not hitting on all cylinders -- their defense has been shoddy at best the past five games -- but Dixon believes his team is starting to round into form.

"I've been pointing to these last couple of weeks," Dixon said. "We got Levance back. We don't have [Mike Cook, Austin Wallace and Cassin Diggs]. This is who we're going to have. This is the team we're going to be.

"We need to get better down the stretch. Our goal was to be better the last four games. That's really been the goal the entire time. We've been pointing toward this stretch."