Many college basketball teams lose their first game in November. About 98 percent suffer a loss by the end of December. Only a fortunate few venture into January without a blemish on their record.

Pitt is one of those fortunate few this season. The Panthers are one of three remaining undefeated teams in Division I entering a game against South Florida tonight at Petersen Events Center.

Playing through mid-January during any season without losing is impressive, but one of the more improbable feats in recent years is Pitt's consistency in doing so.

For the fourth time in his six seasons as head coach, Jamie Dixon has taken the Panthers into January without losing. If No. 1 Pitt beats South Florida tonight, this team will own the third-best start in school history.

Amazingly, of the top 10 starts to a season in the 101 years of Pitt basketball, Dixon has coached six of those teams. Dixon's first team in 2003-04 started the season 18-0 before losing at Connecticut. The 1927-28 team finished the season a perfect 21-0 and will forever own, or at the very least share, the best start.

"We have the best record in the Big East over the last eight years," Dixon said. "It's not even close. And we've had the best record overall. You're going to win a few games in all of the months of the calendar that we play in."

Detractors point to the Panthers' home-dominated non-conference schedule and the team's unwillingness to play in the highly competitive early season tournaments as one of the reasons for the unblemished records.

Those criticisms have some merit, but many teams subscribe to the same stay-at-home mentality during the non-conference schedule and haven't accomplished what Pitt has under Dixon.

For example, Syracuse played all but one of its non-conference games at the Carrier Dome or a neutral site, but the Orange lost to Cleveland State at home in December. Louisville played all of its non-conference games at Freedom Hall or a neutral site, but the Cardinals lost three times before the calendar turned, including a home loss to UNLV.

The upshot is that it is difficult to go undefeated for this long, no matter where the games are played. Wake Forest and Clemson are the only other teams that have not lost yet this season.

"It shows that we put in a lot of hard work in the offseason to be here," junior guard Jermaine Dixon said. "We don't want to lose. It would be nice to go undefeated and win it all. We definitely take pride in it. We like being No. 1 and we like being undefeated. I'm pretty sure anyone in that situation, like Wake Forest and Clemson … I'm sure they feel good about it just like we do."

Dixon only has been with Pitt since the summer, but he became very familiar with Pitt's past successes during the recruiting process. He said the players on the team are constantly chasing the accomplishments of previous teams.

That drive to surpass previous players is one of the major reasons the Panthers continue to drive deep into January with a perfect record.

"Last year, even though they didn't go undefeated to this point, they won a Big East title," Jermaine Dixon said. "We want to get that. I told DeJuan [Blair] and Levance [Fields] that I want one of those rings that they got at the football game. I want to win a regular-season title and, hopefully, get a national title. We want to do what the past teams have done and more."

Matchup: South Florida (6-9, 1-2 Big East) vs. No. 1 Pitt (15-0, 3-0), 7 p.m. today, Petersen Events Center.

TV/Radio/Internet: ESPNU; WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970); www.pittsburghpanthers.com.

Pitt: Played the first game in school history as the No. 1-ranked team in Division I Sunday and defeated St. John's, 90-67. ... Sophomore C DeJuan Blair recorded his 10th double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds. ... Junior G Jermaine Dixon scored a career-high 17 points. ... Has won 12 consecutive home games and is 106-10 all time at Petersen Events Center.

South Florida: Coming off an 80-58 victory at DePaul, just its second road win since joining the Big East. ... Had dropped four of previous five games. ... Playing the No. 1-ranked team for the third time: Lost to North Carolina in 1982 and to Cincinnati in '99. ... Led by Dominique Jones (17.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Jesus Verdejo (15.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Augustus Gilchrest (9.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg).

Hidden stat: Jamie Dixon is tied with Paul Evans for third place on Pitt's all-time wins list. He has 146 victories.