Pitt's players still have visions of contending for a Big East Conference regular-season championship. The return of point guard Levance Fields has buoyed the optimism of the fifth-place Panthers.

But a look at the remaining schedule suggests that a first-place finish might be a pipe dream. A more realistic goal would be to finish among the top four teams and earn a first-round bye at next month's Big East tournament. And that would be a monumental accomplishment taking into consideration the schedule.

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Scouting report

• Matchup: No. 22 Pitt (19-5, 7-4 Big East) vs. Marquette (17-6, 7-5), 9 p.m. today, Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wis.
• TV, Radio, Internet: ESPN, WWSW-FM (94.5), WBGG-AM (970), www.pittsburghpanthers.com.
• Pitt: Coming off 82-63 win against Providence. ... Has won consecutive games for the first time in a month. ... Junior F Sam Young, Pitt's leading scorer, has scored 20 or more points in a game nine times this season. ... A win would give Panthers seven consecutive 20-win seasons. ... 2-3 in Big East road games.
• Marquette: Coming off 89-64 victory at Seton Hall. ... Led by F Lazar Hayward (14.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg), G Dominic James (13.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg), G Jerel McNeal (12.9 ppg, 4.5) and G Wesley Matthews (11.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg).
• Hidden stat: Pitt is 11-5 against the former Conference USA schools that joined the Big East in 2005. Marquette is the only one of the five new schools that has a winning record (3-2) against Pitt.

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Pitt (19-5, 7-4) has the third-most difficult schedule in the conference the rest of the way. The Panthers have seven games remaining. Six of them are against teams that currently have a .500 record or better.

The remaining seven opponents have a 47-34 conference record. The only team on the schedule with a losing record is DePaul, which visits the Petersen Events Center for the regular-season finale March 9.

The other six -- Marquette (7-5), Notre Dame (8-3), Louisville (9-3), Cincinnati (7-5), Syracuse (6-6) and West Virginia (6-5 after beating Rutgers last night) -- are battling Pitt for position in the conference standings.

Only Providence and Syracuse have more difficult schedules among Big East teams. Syracuse's remaining opponents are 22 games over .500 and Providence's remaining foes are 18 games over.

"It's a big stretch for us," Fields said. "We still have a chance at the regular-season title."

Pitt has reached this point in large part by beating up on the weak sisters of the league. Other than the home victory against first-place Georgetown and West Virginia, none of the Panthers' other five conference victories have come against a team with a winning record in the league.

Coach Jamie Dixon said he has a team that is still in transition. When the Panthers travel to Marquette for tonight's nationally televised game they will not have one starter from last year's team that advanced to the Big East title game. Marquette, on the other hand, has all five of its starters returning.

"We're a team that's evolving," Dixon said. "When you have four freshmen in your top eight you're certainly not where you hope you're going to be. It's been about improvement. That's what we've seen. We're getting better.

"I think we're playing well. I think we could be defending better. Then again, I look and we're playing four freshmen, and I don't know of too many teams that defend well when you have four freshmen in your top eight. That's the challenge. When Levance gets back we become a new team again."

Fields is expected to play tonight for the first time since he fractured a bone in his left foot in a game Dec. 29 against Dayton. Fields will be a reserve off the bench against a Marquette team that has won five of its past seven.

The Golden Eagles will be looking to leapfrog the Panthers in the standings and re-establish themselves as one of the top teams in the conference.

"This is a big road game, two ranked teams on a Friday night, at their place, where we haven't won since they came to the Big East," Fields said.

Marquette is similar in style to the team that beat Pitt twice last season. The Golden Eagles are still a guard-oriented team led by point guard Dominic James, but James is not the leading scorer any longer. James has been playing with an injured wrist and has struggled with his shooting.

Marquette's leading scorer is forward Lazar Hayward, who is averaging 14 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. James is second on the team with a 13.3 average.

Marquette, like Pitt, has a distinct home-court advantage. The Golden Eagles are 12-1 at the Bradley Center this season. However, Marquette has just one signature Big East victory, a Jan. 12 win against Notre Dame. The only other victory since then against a team with a winning conference record came at Cincinnati.

"They have a lot of returning guys, so we're very familiar with them," Dixon said. "They return all five starters. We have none returning. We're the different team."