TRS 3 Links of the Day

I haven't done enough linking type posts lately, so I think I'm going to change that, starting now. Previously, I usually waited until I had several links and then dumped them all out at once when I had literally nothing else to write about. That probably isn't the best way to do business in the blogosphere I've decided after frequently looking at some other sights. So instead, we're going to do our best to pump 3 links a day to timely topics every week day. Why 3? Well check the name of the site. 3 may not be a bunch of links, but it works well as a gimmick for the site. I'm still working on a better name for this though.

With Pitt in the tourney, here are three links worth checking out about our Panthers:

1. From the Sporting News Today Publication. Click over to page 17 to read it. Or you can just read it all below:
"Reason to watch: The Pitt Panthers, ousted by backyard rival West Virginia in the Big East Tournament, will be rested, focused and poised to make the deepest run in the short Jamie Dixon era. The combination of powerful center DeJuan Blair, point guard Levance Fields and leading scorer Sam Young are always worth checking out.
Pitt will win if... It just focuses on the fundamentals, with Fields keeping the game and his teammates under control and Blair dominating what should be an overwhelmed Buccaneers front line. The Panthers need to focus their defensive efforts on taking away the Bucs' three point game, as Kevin Tiggs, Courtney Pigram and Mike Smith are all prolific shooters and scorers.
ETSU will win if... It can keep up its red-hot play from the Atlantic Sun tournament, which included incredible shooting and shutdown defense in an impressive run. The problem is, the Bucs are likely to be very rusty after nearly two weeks off, and the bruising, battle-tested Panthers are a whole different big-time team from what Marty Bartow's team is used to seeing."

2. Pitt gets multiple mentions in Pat Forde's Minutes column about the tournament. Notably, as a team feeling pressure to succeed, and DeJuan Blair's biceps are named among the most important body parts. They are also one of the 9 teams Forde thinks can win it all. He does raise a point that appears to question Jamie Dixon a little bit.

3. In big-time sporting events, it's always worth checking out what the oddsmakers think. The terrific blog Vegas Watch does that for all of us to see. Click on the picture on that page to check out the initial numbers for Bodog, Greek and the numbers figured by Ken Pomeroy for each of the top 6 seeds in each region to reach the Final Four and to win the National Championship. Pomeroy gives Pitt a 31.90% chance to reach the Final Four and 8.94% to win the National Title. That is the third-highest for the Final Four, behind only Louisville and Memphis! Some really, really interesting numbers over there if you are a bit of a stat-head.