The national media has begun to recognize the abilities of the Pitt basketball team, but not enough for a Top 25 spot in the AP Poll.
Pitt (18-7, 11-3 ACC) received 82 votes to place No. 29 on the rankings, behind Virginia (No. 7, 1,212 points), Miami (No. 15, 693 points), and NC State (No. 23, 140 points). No other ACC team received a vote. UConn (358), San Diego State (271), TCU (204), NC State, Providence (136), and Florida Atlantic (117) round out the Top 25. The Panthers have not been ranked since the 2015-16 season, sitting as high as No. 20 under head coach Jamie Dixon.
It also marked the last time Pitt reached the NCAA tournament. The Panthers lost 47-43 to No. 7 seed Wisconsin, entering March Madness a No. 10 seed following a 21-12 overall record and a 9-9 ACC mark.
Pitt tied its program record for most wins in ACC play following an 83-75 win against Florida State. The Panthers are tied with Virginia (19-4, 11-3) for first place in the ACC and have six opportunities to pad the program crown with three games at home and on the road entering the ACC Tournament.Â
The Panthers rank No. 24 on Andy Katz’s Power 36. Virginia (No. 7) and Miami (No. 10) are the only ACC teams slotted higher than Pitt. Jeff Capel’s team fell three spots from No. 21 last week despite defeating Louisville and Florida State. Wake Forest (No. 31) and NC State (No. 36) round out the list as four ACC teams are represented. Pitt places the same spot on the ROTHSTEIN 45, posted weekly by CBS Sports Reporter Jon Rothstein. He ranks Virginia (No. 8), Miami (No. 15), and NC State (No. 20) ahead of the Panthers and Duke (No. 28), North Carolina (No. 34), and Clemson (No. 35) behind Pitt.Â
The Panthers host Boston College Tuesday inside the Petersen Events Center at 9 p.m.Â
Pitt Can’t afford a let down. Boston college is a solid team, although they seem to play much better basketball on their home court.
Complete crap! We are in 1st place in the ACC. We don’t play in the Big Sky conference. I just don’t get it. What else do we have to do? We should be in the 4-6 seed conversation…not consistently stuck at 8 or 9. I’m noticing other teams moving up after wins, but not Pitt. Why? Infuriating stuff.
I’m in agreement with you but it’s bc of bad losses to a mediocre WVU team, not good FSU team, and another mediocre team in Vandy…that’s why unfortunately.
If that’s the case, that’s ludicrous. Everyone loses a few they shouldn’t in college basketball, and those losses were a lifetime ago (except for FSU). Also, you can’t tell me that all the big-time wins we have this season shouldn’t supercede those losses from the beginning of the season. Pure BS to me.
Vandy just beat #2 or 3 Tennessee. Northwestern ( a huge Pitt blowout win) just beat #1 Purdue. Pitt has beat 3 current Top 25 teams in UVA, Miami & NC State. This is a total crock. They just vaulted Northwestern ahead of Pitt, even though Pitt mauled them at NW.
Keep grinding guys .. we’ll get there by the end of the season. Unfortunately, looking at the schedule ahead, other than Miami, most teams are “deemed” pretty weak so we may not move up that much unless everyone above us loses. H2P !
Good! Let’s not get caught up in what the mean nothing polls say and just keep winning.
I love this team of selfless players!!!
H2P
Top 25 polls mean nothing.
To 16 and 17 year old kids, it means something.
Exactly. It matters with recruiting and it matters with seeding for March Madness. Politics and misleading analytics are getting in the way of a more accurate ranking system. These players deserve to be ranked with the body of work they’ve showed this year.
Sports politics sux. No way a 1st place team in the ACC, this late in the season, should not be in the Top 25. Heck Miami is up to #15 in AP & #13 in Coaches. Pitt beat them. UVA is #7, Pitt beat them. NC State is ranked, Pitt beat them at NCSU. There are several teams with more losses(8) than Pitt that are ranked. 4 to be exact. Another 3 teams have 7 losses like Pitt. 6 teams have 6 losses. So 7 that Pitt has, is not an outlier.