AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Pitt fans love to complain about the raw deals they perceive their team has received in recent years in the NCAA basketball tournament. They grumble loudly, bitterly and almost annually about where the Panthers are seeded. If the team isn't playing in close proximity to Pittsburgh, that's added to their whine list.

Although there is some legitimacy to these grievances, in belaboring them Pitt fans seem to forget the considerable favors the Panthers have received in the tournament. These favors, with the latest being presented to them Friday night, more than cancel out any slights Pitt might have received from the selection committee.

Friday night -- March 17 -- was Christmas in March for coach Jamie Dixon.

What more could he or any coach have asked for than to be relieved of the burden of facing No. 4-seed Kansas -- historically one of the great programs in college basketball and most recently the champion of the Big 12 Conference tournament -- and instead playing Bradley, the team that tied for fifth place in the mid-major Missouri Valley Conference?

Fifth-seeded Pitt went from looking at the distinct possibility of a loss to the Jayhawks to having their ticket punched for Oakland, Calif., next weekend, which is where the Panthers will be if they beat 13th-seeded Bradley today in a second-round game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Bradley is no Kansas. For that matter, Bradley is no Wichita State, Missouri State, Southern Illinois or Creighton. Those are the four teams that finished in front of the Braves in the MVC.

Bradley is one of those schools just happy to be here. There wasn't a complaint from Bradley fans about their No. 13 seed. If the Braves had been scheduled to play in El Paso, Texas; Pullman, Wash.; or Brisbane, Australia; there would not have been a word of discontent from their followers.

Predictably, there was a lot of talk yesterday about how good Bradley is. Of course, the Braves are good. But "good" shouldn't do it against Pitt, not the way it's playing. There's no way Pitt should lose this game.

Except, of course, it has lost in a similar situation.

Who can forget 2002, when it looked like a tournament favor had given the Panthers a clear path to the Final Four?

That year, upstart Kent State, the 10th seed, opened the tournament be upsetting Oklahoma State and then dispatched second-seeded Alabama. When fifth-seeded Indiana stunned No. 1 Duke in the regional semifinal, the Panthers were the highest seeded team in its region, with only Kent State and fifth-seeded Indiana standing in their path to the Final Four.

The Panthers, who had lost to Connecticut in the final of the Big East tournament and eliminated Central Connecticut and California from the NCAA field, understood the opportunity they had when they took the floor at Rupp Arena. It was on that same floor minutes earlier that Indiana had eliminated Duke.

But Pitt couldn't handle such good fortune. It lost in overtime to Kent State, which went on to lose to Indiana in the regional final.

Given a second dose of such good fortune three years later, Pitt should be able to capitalize.

Looking past Bradley is not an option.

"We can't take anyone for granted," guard Ronald Ramon said.

Forward Levon Kendall said: "We have to look past their seeding. It's not like they made a miraculous comeback to win [over Kansas] with a buzzer beater. They had control of the game most of the time and proved they can play at this level. Seeding is irrelevant at this point."

With the possibility of overconfidence thus removed, let's consider Pitt vs. Bradley.

Pitt is 25-7 and played in what is general acknowledged to be the best basketball conference in the country this season. None of those five losses was by more than five points. That includes a four-point defeat at Connecticut, a team with a No. 1 seed in this tournament. Just last week, the Panthers decisively beat Villanova, also a No. 1 seed and at the time the No. 2 team in the nation, on a neutral floor. By contrast, Bradley has lost 10 times in 31 games. The Braves have no wins the magnitude of Pitt's against Villanova, nor a loss to a power of Connecticut's stature.

The Braves lost in the final of the MVC tournament to Southern Illinois by 13. Southern Illinois embarrassed itself Friday in a loss to West Virginia.

Of course, the team that beat Kansas could beat Pitt. As is well known, the unexpected is expected in the NCAA tournament. But Pitt has too much to play for to blow this chance. At no time in the Dixon-Ben Howland era has a Pitt team been playing this well at this point in the season.

Good fortune is smiling on the Panthers. If they can't handle 10-loss, 13th-seeded Bradley, they can only blame themselves.