Over the long history of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, there surely have been No. 3 seeds with less pressure than Pitt will be facing when it plays Oakland Friday in Milwaukee.

I'll be darned if I can think of one, though.

A No. 3 seed is supposed to win its first two games, maybe even handily. Then, depending on the matchup, it is expected to play tough in its third game for the right to advance to the final eight. Anything less generally is regarded as a failure.

Not so for this Pitt team.

A lot of people around here will tell you that the Panthers don't have to beat Oakland for this to be regarded as a successful season. They will point out, quite correctly, that Pitt didn't look much like a tournament team at the start of the season after losing four starters to the pros from a team that went 31-5 and made it to the final eight in 2009. They will argue that its marvelous regular-season success -- including a tie for second place in the powerful Big East Conference and wins against then-Top 5 opponents Syracuse, West Virginia and Villanova -- assures that this will be remembered as a great year.

Sorry, I'm not among those people.

It will be hard for me to think about all of the good times if Pitt gets bounced by Oakland, an 11-point underdog. That would mean a continuation of the Panthers' late-season struggles. They beat Providence at home only because guard Ashton Gibbs made a 25-foot 3-point shot at the buzzer, then, after blowing out Rutgers, looked horrible in a 50-45 loss to Notre Dame in its first game at the Big East tournament Thursday night. A loss to Oakland would make for an embarrassing finish.

But a win in that game?

Now, we're talking gravy.

Certainly, there won't be any shame in losing to Xavier or Minnesota in the second round.

Don't tell that to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and his players, though.

"I'll definitely be disappointed if we don't have a long run," senior guard Jermaine Dixon said, "and I won't be surprised if -- I'm going to say when -- we make that run. It's wide open this year. We feel like we can play with anybody."

Added Jamie Dixon: "I have higher expectations for us than most people. I'll be disappointed if we lose in the championship game."

The man was dead serious.

And why not? Why shouldn't Dixon & Dixon feel that way? Would you really be so surprised if Syracuse or West Virginia or Villanova won the national title? Syracuse is a No. 1 seed, West Virginia and Villanova No. 2s.

Pitt beat 'em all.

Heck, it beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

The Panthers have earned the right to be confident.

Jamie Dixon has said this is a special bunch because of its willingness to work hard to get better. He has said it has improved more than any team he has had. Just a week ago, he said it improved more than any team in the country from November to March.

What?

You have a problem with that?

Don't you remember where Pitt was in early-December when, playing without Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown, it scored 15 first-half points against New Hampshire? Don't you remember where it was in late-December when it played like a mediocre team in beating DePaul in its Big East opener?

Pitt has come a million miles.

Still, it is hard to believe the Panthers are going to make that long run in the tournament. Too often, they have trouble scoring, to such a degree that their defense, rebounding and heart aren't enough to carry them. That's especially true when Gibbs is off or takes only four shots, as he did in that loss against Notre Dame last week.

That's why I'm thinking anything beyond a win against Oakland will be a bonus.

Of course, it should be noted here that I've already been badly wrong about this Pitt team. I remember writing after that DePaul game that it would be hard for the Panthers to get to 10 wins in the Big East and make the NCAA tournament for a ninth consecutive year. Talk about underestimating them. All they did was go 13-5 in the league and get a No. 3 seed.

It was great fun watching Pitt overachieve.

Won't it be great fun again if it happens this weekend in Milwaukee and perhaps the following weekend in Salt Lake City?