Despite issues with COVID-19 which has resulted in many postponements in their schedule, Jeff Capel’s programming is showing vast improvement on the court and opening some peoples eyes throughout college basketball.
The latest example of that came on Saturday with their convincing 96-76 win over Syracuse. The 96 points scored were the most in a regulation conference game since 2008. The Panthers now sit with an overall record of 7-2 and 3-1 in the ACC.
Unlike in years past when teams pad their win total with easy non-conference opponents, the impact of COVID-19 hasn’t allowed programs to do that this season. The Panthers wins this season have come against Miami (70-55) on the road, Northwestern (71-70) on the road, Syracuse (63-60) on the road along with the win against the Orangeman over the weekend.
These wins have improved Pitt’s rankings in a number of major national college basketball polls. Pitt’s jumped from No. 64 up to No. 48 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and are ranked No. 66 in the updated Ken Pom Rankings. College basketball Insider Andy Katz released his Top 36 rankings and have the Panthers in at No. 35 saying “The Panthers are one of the hottest teams emerging in the ACC.”
In case you were wondering, the last time the Pitt men’s basketball team was ranked in the AP Top 25 was Jan. 27, 2016.
