I had a feeling the Pitt Panthers weren't going to reach the Final Four. I mentioned in a column three weeks ago that I would settle for a spot in the Elite 8, something the program hadn't earned since 1974.

To prove it, I just couldn't pencil Pitt into the Final Four in either bracket I filled out.

The team's play bore that out, including a Big East Tournament quarterfinal loss to West Virginia.

Pitt went down to the wire in defeating East Tennessee State, Oklahoma State and Xavier in the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament, then came their 78-76 heartbreaking loss to Villanova, the one team Pitt had trouble matching up against among the final eight teams in the tournament.

Those tight games were either going to make or break the Panthers.

It appeared that their luck was due to run out with several tournament-tested teams waiting in the wings: UConn (which Pitt had beaten twice), Louisville, North Carolina, Michigan State (which knocked Pitt out of the tournament last year in the second round) and Villanova (which also beat the Panthers this year).

The weird thing is I was down in Virginia and happened to catch the Pitt-Xavier game at my sister's house.

I don't know if it was watching the game with her family that kept me calm, but I didn't seem as anxious as I might have been.

Maybe if I had watched it alone, it would have driven me nuts. But Pitt held on and it was no big deal. I guess I was expecting the worst or figured Pitt would eke it out.

Unfortunately, Villanova knocked off Duke and that was a big concern. Pitt would have defeated Duke, I believe, and the Panthers would be in for a battle against the Wildcats. But I had an uneasy feeling about that game.

Still, when the game was on the line against Villanova, I didn't panic, idn't worry, didn't complain. Again, I watched it with my sister's family and there was a calmness I didn't expect and when Pitt lost, it was like "Oh, well."

Getting back to the weird thing, it was another trip to Virginia that might have produced my blase attitude.

The night the Pirates lost to the Atlanta Braves 3-0 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series, Oct. 14, 1992 — the Braves rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning to advance to the World Series — my brother-in-law returned home from work in time for the bottom of the ninth inning. We were the only two still up and we were livid after the game.

That game sat with me for a day or so. Then, I made the life-altering decision that I wasn't going to let something I had no control over eat away at me.

Since then, I just learned to let it go. The Pirates, of course have not had a winning season since then. Coincidence, I tell myself. For Pitt, well, the Panthers have built the program to a point that they'll give themselves a good chance to be strong and maybe someday push for the Final Four.

I just accepted the fact that this year was not that year.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.