Senior guard Keith Benjamin has enjoyed long winning streaks plenty of times in his career at Pitt. When he was a sophomore the Panthers won 15 consecutive games to start the season. As a freshman and junior, he played on teams that won 10 consecutive games.

But never, Benjamin said, has he been a part of a team that has a chance to end the season with a long winning streak the way the Panthers do this year.

Pitt is getting a lot of attention as a dark horse that can win the national championship because the Panthers are peaking at the right time with their improbable run to the Big East championship.

That hasn't always been the case going into the NCAA tournament. Last season the Panthers suffered bad home losses to Louisville and Seton Hall at the end of the regular season and were drilled by Georgetown, 65-42, in the Big East championship game.

In 2006, the Panthers lost three of their final four regular-season games. In 2005, they lost four of their final six before the NCAAs, including a first-round loss to Villanova in the Big East tournament.

Things are different this season. Pitt enters its first-round game against Oral Roberts having won seven of the past eight games and five in a row.

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• PDF: 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Bracket

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"We've peaked other years in January, November and December," Benjamin said. "It's not good to peak that early. Right now, it feels like we're peaking. It feels good to be playing your best basketball at this time of the year. A lot of teams aren't."

Much has been made of Pitt playing four games in four days and how that kind of fatigue can be detrimental with a quick turnaround for the NCAA tournament. But winning the Big East tournament generally has meant good things for its champion in recent years.

Four of the past six teams to win the Big East tournament have advanced at least to the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Georgetown advanced to the Final Four last season after its Big East championship. The Hoyas won 19 of 20 games before losing to Ohio State in a national semifinal game.

In 2004, after Connecticut beat Pitt in the Big East championship game, the Huskies went on to win the national championship. In '03, Big East champion Pitt advanced to the Sweet 16. And in '02, once again after beating Pitt in the Big East title game, Connecticut advanced to the Elite Eight.

The two exceptions are Syracuse in '05 and '06 when the Orange lost in the first round on both occasions.

"We're in a good situation," Benjamin said. "It was always one thing with us -- heart. I never questioned our ability to play defense or play offense. It was the guys wanting to do it. And now I think the guys want to do it. As long as we want to do it, I feel like we can't be beat.

"But you still have to want to do it every day. You can't take any plays off. I don't think we did that last week. That's what got us through the Big East tournament."

After struggling near the end of the regular season with four losses in their final seven regular-season games, Pitt rebounded and accomplished something that rarely is done in a postseason conference tournament. The Panthers beat three ranked teams in succession to win a championship.

After beating Cincinnati in the first round, Pitt beat Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown for the title. All three teams are high seeds in the NCAA tournament. Georgetown is a No. 2 seed. Louisville is a No. 3 seed and Marquette a No. 6 seed.

"At the Big East we had a chip on our shoulder," Pitt junior forward Sam Young said. "We won it. Now, on top of the chip, we have motivation, confidence and a sense of belief. So with that, I think the sky is the limit for us."

"We have peaked early my first two years," added junior point guard Levance Fields. "We're doing a better job of getting better at the right time with this team. A lot of that has to do with me being inserted when I was. Hopefully, we can stay on this roll."

Since Fields returned to the starting lineup after rehabilitating a fractured left foot for nearly seven weeks, Pitt is 6-2. In his first game back as a starter, the Panthers lost by two to Louisville. The Panthers also lost at West Virginia March 3.

That seems like a lifetime ago. The Panthers enter the NCAA tournament with renewed self-confidence and a sense that there is something special brewing. Coach Jamie Dixon said he has had good feelings about most of his teams entering the NCAA tournament but said this team is on a different path because of the timing of Fields' return.

"I don't think confidence is an issue right now," Dixon said. "To beat Cincinnati, Marquette and Louisville and Georgetown. ... No [team in the field] did that. We're ready to play. We're as healthy as we can be with three guys out for the year. We've been able to practice.

"Sometimes you have plans and wonder how it will come together. But this thing has come together as we had anticipated. But we have to play our best basketball on Thursday. It's a one-and-done tournament."