PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh waited 60 years to be ranked No. 1.

The Panthers don't want the distinction to go away after only six days.

"It's a big thing," point guard Levance Fields said. "Everybody on campus is excited, everywhere you go somebody's saying, 'You're No. 1.' But we know we have a lot more to do and that's a good thing. We know we can get better still."

The Panthers (14-0) had better get better — nine of their 17 remaining games are against current Top 25 teams, including two against No. 5 Connecticut. However, their first two Big East Conference home games are against unranked opponents, St. John's Sunday in the school's first game as a No. 1 team, and South Florida next Wednesday.

Pitt, third a week ago, moved atop the poll two days after a dominating 70-54 win Saturday at now-No. 9 Georgetown, which had beaten then-No. 2 UConn earlier in the week. North Carolina dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 by losing to Boston College 85-78 on Sunday.

The Panthers had reached second in the poll nine times, but never No. 1 in basketball. Their last No. 1 ranking by The Associated Press came during the 1982 football season, when the Dan Marino-led Panthers finished No. 10 after losing three of their final five.

No poll will measure the success of this Pitt team. The Panthers haven't advanced to an NCAA regional final since 1974 or the Final Four since 1941, seven years before the AP poll began. Another early round exit — they went out in the second round in March — will be seen as a major disappointment for a team that has won 20 of 21 games since late last season.

"In this conference, we know we have to come out and play every night because no game is a cakewalk," leading scorer Sam Young said. "And when people consider you to be the No. 1 team, you have to come to play every day, because everybody's trying to bring you down."

Recently, Young said coach Jamie Dixon told his players this was Pitt's best team — quite a compliment given the Panthers averaged 27 wins the previous seven seasons. Dixon later clarified that, saying he told them only they had a chance to be the best.

The Panthers must win their next seven to match the best start by any Pitt team; the 1927-28 team went 21-0. They were 18-0 in Dixon's first season in 2003-04, when they lost to Oklahoma State 63-51 in a regional semifinal.

Hard to believe that 10 years ago, Pitt was in the middle of a downturn of six losing seasons in seven years from 1993-2000 that included records of 10-18 in 1994-95, 10-17 in 1995-96 and 11-16 in 1997-98.

Since then, the school hired Ben Howland, who turned around the program before going to UCLA in 2003, and Dixon, and built the on-campus Petersen Events Center, where Pitt has lost only 10 times since 2002.

Since the season before the arena was finished, Pitt has gone 29-6, 28-5, 31-5, 20-9, 25-8, 29-8 and 27-10 during the most sustained stretch of excellence since the school first fielded a team in 1905.

"We've made history and we're continuing to make history," Young said. "This is only the beginning for us. It's a long road, a long season, and I think we'll continue to make history down the stretch."