Pitt's first opponent this season is not a household name in college basketball. Houston Baptist University is perhaps best known for being the alma mater of professional golfer Colin Montgomerie, if it is known for anything at all in the athletic realm.

For the past 17 seasons the Houston Baptist men's basketball team has played in obscurity in the Red River Athletic Conference in NAIA. And although the Huskies finished the 2002-03 season the top-ranked team in NAIA, coach Ron Cottrell knows what he is up against tonight at the Petersen Events Center when his team faces the No. 22 Panthers.

---

Scouting report

• Matchup: No. 22 Pitt (0-0) vs. Houston Baptist (1-1), 7 p.m. today, Petersen Events Center.
• Radio, Internet: WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970) and www.pittsburghpanthers.com.
• Pitt: Has won its past 10 season openers. ... Is 67-33 all time in openers. ... Has won 19 consecutive non-conference games at the Petersen Events Center. ... Returns two starters from a team that was 29-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16. ... Leading returning scorers are senior G Mike Cook (10.5 ppg) and junior G Levance Fields (9.2 ppg). ... Schenley High School product DeJuan Blair will make the start at center.
• Houston Baptist: Coming off a 108-103 loss at Dallas Baptist. ... Sean Morris and Baron Sauls each scored 33 points against Dallas Baptist ... Returning to NCAA Division I after spending the past 17 years in NAIA.
• Hidden stat: Pitt coach Jamie Dixon is 18-0 in games in November.

---

Houston Baptist, which is playing its first year in Division I basketball this season, stepped up in competition every once in a while as a member of NAIA, playing the likes of Arizona State, Oklahoma State and Mississippi. The results were what one might expect.

"We got it handed to us pretty good," Cottrell said. "It's your typical pay game. You know the situation you're stepping into and you just play your best and hope they take you lightly."

Originally, Army was supposed to fill this slot on Pitt's schedule as part of the Hispanic Fund Challenge, but the Cadets backed out. It was not until late August that promoters for the tournament that Pitt is playing host to found Houston Baptist.

Pitt will play Houston Baptist tonight, North Carolina A&T tomorrow afternoon and St. Louis Sunday night. The final game of the tournament will be played when Mississippi Valley State visits Thursday night.

This is the third time in the past five years that Pitt is playing host to a tournament at the Petersen Events Center. This is an exempt tournament under NCAA rules, meaning the four games count as one for each team participating.

It is not uncommon for teams such as Houston Baptist to play in tournaments like this one. In 2003, when Pitt played host to the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Tournament, Georgetown College of Kentucky, an NAIA school, came in and gave Pitt a game before falling, 79-74.

"If you look at these tournaments [across the country], you'll see a lot of teams you haven't heard of," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "It's really hard to fill these tournaments."

Cottrell was more than happy to accept the invitation. Houston Baptist is trying to pay the bills, the price of returning to NCAA Division I while not having a conference affiliation. The Huskies are hoping to join a conference soon, but they are playing this season as an independent.

As a result, this game at Pitt is the second of 18 consecutive road games. The Huskies do not return home to Houston for a game until Jan. 15.

"It's going to be difficult," Cottrell said. "There's no way to disguise it or hide. But my players are excited about it. I've never seen guys embrace something like this the way they have. They're just looking forward to getting it going."

Cottrell started the Houston Baptist program from scratch in 1991 after the school dropped basketball for two years. The Huskies did play in NCAA Division I before that, their last season of competition being 1988-89.

Before restarting the Houston Baptist program, Cottrell spent three seasons as an assistant to Nolan Richardson at Arkansas. The Razorbacks made it to the Final Four in 1990 with their famed "40 minutes of Hell." That catchphrase characterized the full-court pressure defense that Arkansas used to force opponents into mistakes.

Cottrell is using the same philosophy with Houston Baptist.

"But being Houston Baptist, we refer to it in other terms," Cottrell said, laughing. "We play the same style of ball. We press the whole game. That's the style I like. We've been able to get those in-between guys here -- the really good athletes who maybe don't have a position. I picked that up from coach Richardson. In Houston, we have some really good athletes to pick from."

Cottrell has already begun to make the transition to NCAA Division I with his recruiting. He has two transfers who are expected to play big roles. Sean Morris, who played at Colorado State, scored 33 points in Houston Baptist's 108-103 loss Tuesday at Dallas Baptist. Emanuel Willis, who played at Auburn, started the first game and scored 10 points and had five rebounds in a 67-62 victory against Trinity. Willis did not play against Dallas Baptist.

"It's going to be a process," Cottrell said. "Everyone knows that it won't happen overnight. We won't start competing with schools like Pitt right away. It might take three, four, five years, I don't know how long. But I do know that these kids will represent us well and will bust their tails."