The almost-Cinderella from last season's NCAA tournament is paying a visit to the Petersen Events Center tonight in hopes of upsetting Pitt.

Belmont University was 11.9 seconds away from pulling off one of the greatest upsets in NCAA tournament history in March. The No. 15 seed Bruins had No. 2 seed Duke on the ropes throughout the game, but a couple of late stumbles and a coast-to-coast layup from Gerald Henderson ended the dream in a 71-70 heartbreaker in a first-round game in Washington, D.C.

Belmont, a tiny school of 5,000 students in Nashville, was this close to joining Richmond, Santa Clara, Coppin State and Hampton as No. 15 seeds that won NCAA tournament games.

In the ensuing eight months, not one day has gone by that coach Rick Byrd has not thought about that devastating game.

"I think about it every day," Byrd said. "I don't know if hurt is the right word to describe it. But the further away that I get from it the more I am realizing the magnitude of the game. Some people said it would have been the greatest upset in the history of the NCAA tournament because it was Duke. Those other No. 15 seeds didn't beat a team with the name of Duke.

"The odds are you'll never have that chance again. We hope we do, but the odds are against you. That night was just a phenomenal experience. Playing toe to toe with Duke on the biggest stage in a 40-minute battle... It was an exhilarating experience. It was already an experience of a lifetime, but it could have been so much more."

The loss to Duke was the third in as many seasons for Belmont in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins also lost first-round games to Georgetown and UCLA in the two seasons prior.

Those games give Byrd's experienced team the confidence to play in games such as the one tonight against the fourth-ranked Panthers. Last regular season, the Bruins won at Cincinnati and Alabama.

"In any endeavor, the more times you're there the better your chances are," Byrd said. "Being in two tournaments in a row gave us the opportunity to win at Cincinnati and Alabama and to play the game we did against Duke. If you're a first-year tournament team your chances aren't very good. I don't care what people say, but you're just happy to be there."

The team Byrd will coach against the Panthers will not be intimidated by the atmosphere or daunted by the task of playing a top-five team. The Bruins return nine of the top 11 players from last season, although they likely will be without their best player, senior guard/forward Shane Dansby.

Dansby has a sprained ankle and was able to play only two minutes in Belmont's 86-84 loss to Austin Peay last week. Byrd called him "very doubtful."

Nonetheless, the Bruins play a style that gives its opponents fits. They spread the floor and shoot 3-pointers. Last season, they averaged 29 3-pointers per game, making 36 percent of them.

Byrd has four 3-point shooters on the floor at almost all times.

"I've never been afraid to schedule anybody," Byrd said. "I think you get better when you play good people. I don't expect we'll win the game. I didn't expect to win when I scheduled the game. But we're a team that has to earn our way into the NCAA tournament."

NOTE -- Belmont trainer Paul Malloy, a Pittsburgh native, earned his master's in exercise physiology and athletic training from Pitt.