Sports Illustrated has a new look as the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket. It's incredibly early to be worrying about this stuff, obviously, and if the weirdness of looking at a bracketology post when Big East play is only starting bothers you, then maybe it's better to ignore it at this point. But for those of you who like intellectual exercises, here it is.
↵SI has Pitt as a No. 9 seed in the Midwest bracket right now, which seems about right given the way the Panthers have been playing, with losses against Long Beach State, Wagner and Notre Dame already and a schedule that won't get any easier from here. It's clear that Pitt isn't nearly as good as it was last year, but it still seems unlikely that the Panthers would miss the tournament, even if their performance in Big East play is a little uneven. Clearly, though, there's much to be determined - if the Panthers somehow end up knocking off a bunch of Big East heavyweights, they can still be a lot higher than a No. 9 seed.
↵West Virginia, meanwhile, is a No. 7 seed in the West. Other Big East schools include Georgetown (No. 5 in the East), UConn (No. 3 in the East), Syracuse (No. 1 in the West), Seton Hall (No. 8 in the South), Marquette (No. 3 in the South), and Louisville (No. 2 in the Midwest).
↵Via Pitt Script.
↵For more on the Big East, check out Big East Coast Bias.