PITTSBURGH — Ashton Gibbs isn’t trying to be insensitive to his younger Pittsburgh teammates, but the senior guard really doesn’t care all that much what conference the Panthers play in next year.

Big East? ACC? To Gibbs, it doesn’t matter. He’ll be long gone.

“I want us to do well wherever we are,” Gibbs said. “But I can’t control it. All I know is my goal this year is to win the Big East. That’s what we do here.”

Few teams have done it better in the Big East than the Panthers, who won the regular season title last winter and been to the conference tournament championship game on seven occasions in the past decade.

Whether the Panthers have to wait until 2014 to move to the ACC or are allowed to make the switch sooner, Gibbs knows the school’s legacy in the Big East is certain.

He’s just hoping to pen one more successful chapter.

Pitt certainly has the tools even with a young roster littered with 10 underclassmen. Coach Jamie Dixon gives credit to Gibbs, who flirted with going to the NBA last spring before opting to return for his senior season.

Gibbs heard his stock wasn’t quite high enough to make the leap, and to be honest he felt like there was some unfinished business.

For all the success the Panthers have from November through early March, something happens in the NCAA tournament. Typically, something bad.