PITTSBURGH — It didn't take long after the University of Pittsburgh's No. 3 seeding and bracket placement were announced Sunday evening for players, coaches, fans and media to recognize the bevy of story lines in the Panthers' part of the tournament.

Start with a first-round game against Wright State, a school that had interviewed Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon for the same position four years ago.

The second round is a potential matchup against perennial national powerhouse Duke. Pitt's possible Sweet 16 opponent, UCLA, stands out the most. The No. 2-seeded Bruins, a national finalist last year, are led by former Pitt coach Ben Howland.

Dixon, understandably, downplayed talk of any of the projected later-round matchups. The Panthers (27-7) will play No. 14 Wright State (23-9) Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.

"If anyone wants to, they can create so many different story lines," Dixon said. "You can match teams up in the first round, or, if not, if you look in to the third or fourth round, you're going to find something. (The media) are the ones that have got to come up with the story line. You're going to find some matchup down the road if you work at it."

The Panthers insisted they were focused on the Raiders, who are in the tournament for the first time in 14 years. But the players also could not contain their excitement about the prospect of potential second- and third-round opponents.

"Everybody wants to play Duke," junior forward Mike Cook said. "Whether it's because you love Duke or because you hate Duke, everybody wants to play against Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski). As much tradition as there is there, right now that's probably the biggest matchup I'm excited about.

"Then again, there's also UCLA with Coach Howland and Coach Dixon (facing each other)..."

Howland took over a mediocre Pitt program in 1999 and had it in the Big East final two years later and in the NCAA tournament a year after that. Pitt won the Big East regular season and tournament titles in 2003, the year Howland departed. His then-assistant, Dixon, took over the reins and has won 103 games since.

Good friends Dixon and Howland have said they would not schedule a regular-season meeting.

"They won't schedule it, so the NCAA stepped in and said we will," said center Aaron Gray. "It's what everyone wants to see — we have an opportunity here with a 3 seed and a 2 seed, so why not?"

Still, the game will never happen if Pitt or UCLA loses this weekend in first- or second-round West Region contests.

"It's natural to see all those things when the brackets come out," forward Levon Kendall said. "That's what the challenge of the tournament is — not to look ahead. For us to get to those matchups, you have to take care of your side of things."

That starts with Wright State, which upset Butler — a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament — in the Horizon League tournament championship game. Butler came into that game ranked No. 19 in the country.

"We're definitely looking forward to the Dukes and UCLAs," guard Antonio Graves said. "But we have to take care of one game at a time. You can't look past the so-called 'mid major' teams, because every year they beat the powerhouse teams."

Notes: Another former Pitt coach, Ralph Willard, is coaching in the West Region. Willard, who coached the Panthers from 1994-99, is now the coach at Holy Cross. The Crusaders are a No. 13 seed and open up against Southern Illinois.