One more thing

Go on ESPN.com and read the college basketball section. Peter Tiernan and a group of researchers uncovered statistical trends that refute nearly every age-old recipe for success in the NCAA tournament.

Someone who, like in those commercials on TV, is talking out of their butts, would tell you, after watching three games from November to February, that they are experts on college hoops. Then they'll tell you three things:

1) Guard play has to be great to win games in the NCAA tournament
2) Balanced scoring has to be present to win games in the NCAA tournament
3) And senior leadership is hugely important

Don't listen to them. Let them tank in your bracket pool. The key indicators for success in the tournament, as exposed in this study, are:

1) Big margins of victory (over 14 ppg)
2) 60 percent of team scoring from the frontcourt
3) Experienced coaching

Those indicators have stats to back them up. That means Pitt needs Levon Kendall and Sam Young to contribute big time.

That is a problem.

Kendall can't shoot to save his life. The old pick-and-pop doesn't work when he misses his jumpers. Teams leave him open for those and send an extra rebounder to the basket. He gives up to much room in the paint. He gets pushed around. As head coach Jamie Dixon tells us, he does all the little things. Well, maybe he could hit a shot or four, too.

Young, on the other hand, is the polar opposite when it comes to the little things. He is always, always napping on defense, out of position and undersized. Washington's Jon Brockman made Young look like his little brother trying to guard him in the post. If you concede position two feet from the basket, the battle is over. Then when you consider Young's proclivity for 15 footers, it's no wonder he takes hits with his minutes.

Will the real Sam Young please stand up? Twenty-one points against WVU wedged by nonperformances against EVERYONE ELSE. C'mon, man, are you going to try or not? No more blow-bys, please. Kendall, that goes for you, too.

If you held a gun to my head and told me to forecast Pitt's performance in the tournament, I'd say a second-round loss to a 6, 7, 10 or 11 seed. I hate to say it. And I'll hate to say I told you so.