The Pitt men’s basketball team continues to play well and were impressive in an 81-69 win over Wake Forest.
The question now is that was that win and their overall solid play over the last two months, good enough to get them a bid to the NCAA Tournament? Keep in mind, at at-large bid wouldn’t be needed if they’re able to win 2 more games in the ACC Tournament.
The biggest obstacle for that will be in front of them tonight when the Panthers take on No. 1 seed North Carolina at 7 PM.
With that win on Thursday, Pitt not only kept their tournament hopes alive, but they also helped themselves by improving their tournament resume as both their NET Rankings and Ken Pom Ratings improved.
KEN POM RATINGS (March 15th):
*Pitt is within percentage points of being in the mid 30’s.
30) Nebraska +17.64
31) TCU +17.30
32) Dayton +17.27
33) Colorado State +17.23
34) Villanova +17.00
35) Clemson +16.99
36) Florida Atlantic +16.85
37) Mississippi State +16.82
38) Nevada +16.78
39) Cincinnati +16.78
40) PITT +16.41
41) Washington State +16.41
42) Boise State +16.37
43) Northwestern +16.18
44) Indiana State +16.12
45) Oklahoma +16.07
NET RANKINGS (March 15th):
30) Utah State (dropped 1 spot)
31) Colorado State (rose 6 spots)
32) St. John’s (rose 7 spots)
33) Florida Atlantic (dropped 1 spot)
34) Nevada (dropped 4 spots)
35) Florida (dropped 2 spots)
36) Clemson (dropped 1 spot)
37) Nebraska (rose 1 spot)
38) Cincinnati (dropped 4 spots)
39) Villanova (rose 1 spot)
40) PITT (rose 5 spots)
41) Mississippi State (rose 1 spot)
42) TCU (dropped 1 spot)
43) Washington State (stayed same)
44) Wake Forest (dropped 8 spots)
45) Oklahoma (dropped 1 spot)
46) Texas A&M (rose 1 spot)
47) Drake (dropped 1 spot)
48) South Carolina (rose 2 spots)
49) Princeton (stayed same)
50) Virginia (rose 2 spots)
GAMES TO WATCH TODAY:
Mississippi State vs. Tennessee
Wisconsin vs. Northwestern
Texas A&M vs. Kentucky
North Texas vs. Florida Atlantic
Indiana vs. Nebraska
NC State vs. Virginia
Colorado vs. Washington State
This is truly madness!! I hate that Clemson will probably be taken over Pitt. I hope that Pitt can match the superior playing of North Carolina which i believe they can. They can be beat, no let ups, play your game and win! Let’s go boys! H2P!
Palm at CBS has Pitt in. Lunardi at ESPN has Pitt out. Going to be close. Beat UNC for an insurance policy. At the very least don’t get blown out.
NC State beating Duke solidified them as a top 75 NET team. That gives Pitt extra quad 1 and 2 wins. 9 total quad 1 and 2 wins is pretty strong going up the resumes of teams that are considered in. blemish on the resume is 2 quad 3 losses. 7 road wins may outweigh that. It’s one of the higher road records until you get to the top 10.
I Like how this team is playing their best basketball now. Hopefully that holds true tonight and we get a huge win! They are fun to watch too.
H2P!!!
These NET ratings are a sham. You lose a Quad 1 win or a Quad 2 win at the time of the win, if that team later slips (perhaps due to losing a star player) from being a Quad 1 or 2 team. Plus when you look at some of these teams from the Mountain West, no way their schedules are tougher than playing in the ACC.
I refuse to accept this bracketolgy gobblelegoop. Every time Pitt wins, the numbers change, so if they make it to the tournament, then they can claim that the numbers add up. The record and the eye test is real indicator and they pass both impressively. If Pitt doesn’t make it, then the ACC should only have 3 teams invited to the tournament.