ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi has resurfaced on Twitter after being hacked to release his updated bracketology predictions.
Pitt (13-7, 6-3 ACC) slots as a No. 11 seed and the No. 42 team overall in Sunday’s projection. Lunardi placed the Panthers as a No. 9 seed before a seven-point home loss to Florida State. Pitt would play Michigan State (13-7, 5-4 Big Ten) in Denver, Colorado.
The Panthers are on the bubble, according to Lunardi, one of four in the “last four byes” portion and trending downward. In this scenario, Jeff Capel’s team would not have to play a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio to reach the field of 64. Pitt is one of seven ACC teams to make the cut while Wake Forest (next four out) and Virginia Tech (considered) wait in the wings.
Recent rankings have considered Pitt between a No. 9 to No. 11 seed. With 50 days before selection Sunday, NCAA.com reporter Andy Katz also pinned Pitt a No. 11 seed and No. 43 overall.
Pitt plays Wake Forest (14-6, 6-3 ACC) in a critical conference matchup Wednesday night with five teams currently tied for third in the ACC. Miami (15-4, 6-3 ACC), North Carolina (14-6, 6-3 ACC), and Syracuse (13-7, 6-3 ACC) round out the five-way tie while Virginia (15-3, 7-2 ACC) and Clemson (16-4, 8-1 ACC) look to separate from the pack.
The Panthers have not been selected to the tournament since 2016 as a No. 10 seed, losing in the first round 57-43 to Wisconsin under head coach Jamie Dixon.
These projections will change materially over the next few weeks. A few more losses and we’ll be out and a few more wins and we’ll be higher seeded. One thing is looking more likely … we will not be 14th in the ACC as the preseason talking heads ranked us.
Keep it going guys … H2P !
As I expected everyone in the ACC is beating on each other. VT took down Duke last night. Don’t think the Big 12 is that good. Everyone discovered last year, the championship still runs thru the ACC.
“As I expected” this is complete nonsense. Kansas won last year and Baylor the year before. How exactly does “the championship run through the ACC”?
“We won’t finish 14th”. The perfect valedictory of the Capel era.