Jamie Dixon has been coaching in the Big East for a decade now and has prepared for many nationally ranked opponents. But during his tenure as a Pitt assistant or as head coach he never has prepared for a stretch like the one the Panthers are about to encounter.

No. 1 Pitt is about to embark on a five-game stretch that will feature four ranked teams. And the one opponent that is not among the nation's top 25 dropped out last week after losing to another of the Big East's ranked teams.

The Panthers will begin running that gantlet tomorrow at No. 20 Louisville. That will be followed by games against No. 8 Syracuse, West Virginia, No. 23 Villanova and No. 12 Notre Dame. Three of those games are on the road.

For Pitt, the most consecutive games against ranked teams was four in 1990. If West Virginia rejoins the ranks next week, a record could be set.

"Everyone is talking about this stretch and that stretch for different teams," Dixon said. "We can't spend all preseason talking about it like it's the toughest conference in history and all the great teams … and then when it comes up, you have to play them. You can't talk about it. You have to play them.

"I think it's a great thing. It's great to be mentioned among the best like the No. 1 ranking and the best conference in college basketball history. You want your university to be in those positions. To complain about what teams you're playing or how tough it is really defeats the purpose. It's good. You want to play against the best. And that's who we're going against."

With half of the Big East currently ranked among the nation's top 25, almost every team in the conference will go through a similar stretch.

For Louisville, the Pitt game is the final one of a three-game stretch that also included games against Villanova and Notre Dame. Notre Dame is currently in the midst of playing five ranked teams in a six-game stretch.

"You have to do it one game at a time," senior point guard Levance Fields said. "You can't get ahead of yourself. We have to make sure we're mentally prepared to do what we have to do."

Fields even suggested that the team's uneven performances against St. John's and South Florida in the past two games had to do with the fact that Pitt did not take those two foes as seriously as the better teams in the conference.

"I hate to admit it, but, yeah, we do have more focus for the ranked teams," Fields said. "We have a tendency to play down to our competition. Sometimes, it hurts us. It doesn't look pretty.

"When you go into a game against a team like Louisville, you just know that any slippage and you can be blown out. Obviously, it's natural to get up more for a game like that. It's on ESPN. Guys love to play on TV and once again to prove to the country and ourselves how good we are."

On their way to a 16-0 record, the Panthers have defeated only one ranked foe -- Georgetown two weeks ago. This stretch of games will be telling for a team that has its sights set on competing for a spot in the Final Four.

"We go out and play every game whether they're ranked or not," sophomore guard Brad Wanamaker said.

"It's the Big East. We know it's going to be a challenge. When it's a ranked team, it's going to be even bigger. We just come out and do what we have to do and handle our business."

Pitt has done that relatively well the past several years under Dixon. In his first five seasons as head coach, the Panthers owned a .500 record or better against ranked teams in four of those seasons. The Panthers are 19-20 against ranked teams under Dixon, but seven of those losses came in the 2006-07 season.

"I feel as though we're always mentally focused," Wanamaker said. "Now we have to be even more focused. We just have to keep it up."