Pitt coach Jamie Dixon often uses the "nobody picked us to win" approach when motivating his team or talking to reporters after a big victory.

Unfortunately, that approach won't necessarily work as the Panthers head into the NCAA tournament as a trendy pick among many analysts. One -- ESPN analyst Bob Knight -- even picked them to win the championship.

Dixon said yesterday he doesn't pay much attention to the predictions of analysts. But he said the fact that the Panthers have received such high praise from Knight, a Hall of Fame coach, is very meaningful.

"That means a lot because there are not too many guys who have won the national championship [three times] and has his record," Dixon said yesterday, standing outside the Petersen Events Center as the team boarded the bus to go to the airport to catch a charter to Denver. "He apparently must have liked how we played, but I really think part of it is that he is a coach and as a coach he can appreciate and has been impressed by our resiliency to get through injuries and losing some kids, even if they are kids that don't play much.

"He understands what that's like, whereas others might not."

Point guard Levance Fields added: "He has like 900 wins and he is in the Hall of Fame, so it isn't just like he's some analyst. He's a coach and he really knows what this is like. At the same time, we could lose in the first game, and he'd be wrong, so we just have to take care of business and worry about winning."

Pitt (26-9) is the No. 4 seed in the South Region and will play No. 13 Oral Roberts (24-8) at about 3 p.m. tomorrow at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Oral Roberts has a balanced scoring attack, with five players averaging eight points or more.

The interesting thing, however, is that the Golden Eagles' leading scorer is Robert Jarvis, and he comes off the bench as the sixth man. Jarvis, who is a 5-foot-11 junior guard, averages 16.1 points per game and shoots 41 percent from 3-point range.

Dixon said having a scorer like Jarvis coming off the bench is a different dynamic from most teams and the Panthers will have to be aware of him as soon as he enters the game.

"He is an interesting guy. He can shoot the ball very well from long range and mid-range," Dixon said.

The Golden Eagles and the Panthers played one common opponent -- Oklahoma State -- and both teams beat the Cowboys by double digits. ... Pitt guard Keith Benjamin was asked what it will take for the Panthers to finally get past the Sweet 16. "Really I think this team is built to do well in tournaments because nobody on this team panics, we all stay calm and we all play with a lot of heart," he said. ... Dixon was asked how much of a factor NCAA tournament experience would play in the game against Oral Roberts. "This is the third time in a row they've been to the NCAA tournament and they have a number of seniors, so I don't think it is much of a factor."