Q: Now that Pitt has gotten past the Sweet 16 hurdle and beaten everyone it was supposed to beat, do you think the team will be more relaxed and play better ball?

Matthew Mills, Granbury, Texas

Fittipaldo: That's a good thought, Matt. I think there was so much pressure on Jamie Dixon and the players to get past the Sweet 16 this year that it hurt the team's performance in the first three rounds. East Tennessee State was a good No. 16 seed, but there is no way a team like that should push Pitt to the limits. The same goes for Oklahoma State and Xavier. Now that the pressure is off I can envision the Panthers just cutting it loose and playing the way they did at the end of the regular season against Marquette and Connecticut.

Pitt's players keep saying they haven't played their best basketball in the tournament. Well, the Panthers are going to have to play their best to beat Villanova. The Wildcats, after a tough first-round game against American U., blew out UCLA and Duke. And the Wildcats have the mental edge because they beat Pitt, 67-57, in January. The Panthers must play one of their best games of the season in order to beat Villanova, which is looking like a fine pick to win the national championship right about now.