The Big East schedule mandates 18 games for all conference teams. At season's end, the wins and losses will be tallied and teams will be seeded for the conference tournament according to their record.

Each game, of course, counts once toward the standings, but Pitt's players understand that the upcoming stretch of tough games could go a long way in defining how the season might unfold for the team.

Pitt, which opened the Big East schedule with a 65-52 victory Monday night against DePaul, is about to embark on a five-game stretch facing not only the top teams in the Big East but the top teams in the country.

Three of the next five opponents are ranked and the next three will be played on the road. This is the first time in 21 years Pitt has played three of its first four Big East games on the road.

The gauntlet begins Saturday afternoon at No. 5 Syracuse. It continues two days later at Cincinnati with games to follow against No. 10 Connecticut, Louisville and No. 13 Georgetown.

"This stretch is definitely big for us," senior guard Jermaine Dixon said. "This is going to tell a lot of people where we are as a team playing in the Big East Conference. We knew all of those teams were going to be good this year. I don't know how they set the schedule up, but I'm sure everyone has to go through a tough stretch like that. We're ready for it. This is what we came to school for."

The Big East last season was perhaps the best conference in the history of college basketball. At one point last season, Pitt played four ranked teams in a seven-game stretch. That team was one of the best in school history and could only manage to go 5-2, with losses to No. 20 Louisville and No. 21 Villanova.

The differences between this season and last for the Panthers are stark. Coach Jamie Dixon lost two players to the NBA and two others to professional teams overseas. This is one of Pitt's most inexperienced teams in a decade.

History indicates that young, inexperienced and impressionable teams can be damaged psychologically by difficult stretches in the schedule.

Last season, Georgetown, playing young players for the first time in key positions much in the same way Pitt is this season, went through a brutal stretch of games against the Big East and nation's elite. The Hoyas played a 10-game stretch that included six ranked teams in a month. They lost seven of those games, ended the season with a 7-11 conference record and missed the NCAA tournament.

"The Big East is one of the best conferences in the country," said sophomore Ashton Gibbs. "You'll be playing great teams each and every day. We just have to come prepared each and every game. Coach Dixon is doing a great job of that."

Jamie Dixon said the one saving grace in the schedule is that there is some time to prepare for most of the games. The coaching staff has four days to prepare for Syracuse. After a one-day turnaround for Cincinnati, there are nine days before the Panthers face 10th-ranked Connecticut.

That only makes the upcoming stretch slightly less difficult.

"Everyone will have their tough stretch," Dixon said. "It is the Big East."

Twelve Big East games remain after the next five, but if history is any indication what happens over the next three weeks could determine what kind of season it will be for the Panthers.

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