NEW YORK, N.Y. - Pitt has taken the floor for warmups, and the Cincinnati band is blasting in my ear to the right, so that can mean only one thing: Pitt and Cinci are coming up next to open the night session at the Big East tournament.

Pitt is one of several Big East teams that will play in the NCAA tournament this year, but a couple of wins here could really help their seed. The Panthers have won three of their last four, including a 73-67 win over Cincinnati at home.

The Bearcats come in as the 10-seed. like the other lower seeds here, they are good enough to be dangerous, but are not consistent enough to get NCAA consideration. Cinci has wins at Louisville and West Virginia this season, along with a win over Pitt at home.

It will be interesting to see what the crowd is like tonight. This afternoon's crowd was smallish, but into the Syracuse game (because it was mostly Syracuse fans). With no real local interest tonight, the crowd might be down.