Another week, another lofty ranking for Pitt. This one from Sports Illustrated, which I just got in my mailbox today. SI was also nice enough to send over the cover for this week's issue for my use, and here it is. Pitt is ranked fifth by SI and the magazine projects them just outside of the Final Four.

Pitt, as usual, doesn't mind the pressure:

"I told [the team], our commitment, our work ethic can’t change," said coach Jamie Dixon, of his team that jumped to being ranked atop the Big East, from this time last year when Pitt was ranked ninth out of 16 Big East teams. Senior center Gary McGhee says of the high expectations, "It’s good pressure. We look forward to proving everybody right this year."

Just more good publicity for the Panthers.