Pitt Basketball
Pitt Basketball Drops Out of Top-45
Pitt fell down to No. 47 in the NET rankings on Thursday.
Pitt did not play on Wednesday. This move occurred because of other results around college basketball. The Panthers, who opened at No. 5 in these rankings in early December, fell ten spots in the NET rankings when they recently lost to Virginia, which was a Quad 3 loss according to the NCAA’s NET Quadrant system.
“Really disappointed in our performance. This is probably as bad of a performance of any team I’ve ever coached. It was embarrassing. I’m sorry to the crowd, the students, the fans,” head coach Jeff Capel said after the loss to the Cavaliers.
“It’s my responsibility,” Capel continued. “I have to do a better job of making sure we’re ready to go. Thought we were, obviously we weren’t. We were bad in every aspect of the game of basketball: turnovers, rebounding, defense, offense, everything.”
Jeff Capel: ‘Probably As Bad a Performance of Any Team I’ve Ever Coached’
Pitt now owns the following records by NET quadrant.
Q1: 1-5
Q2: 5-2
Q3: 2-1
Q4: 6-0
Just over two months ago, on Dec. 2, Pitt debuted at No. 5 in the nation in the NET rankings.
Check out this article from the NCAA explaining how the NET rankings are calculated. This season is the seventh year in a row that the NCAA is using the NET rankings instead of the RPI rankings.
“The remaining factors [in the NET ranking process] include the Team Value Index (TVI), which is a result-based feature that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home, as well as an adjusted net efficiency rating,” said the NCAA. “The adjusted efficiency is a team’s net efficiency, adjusted for strength of opponent and location (home/away/neutral) across all games played. For example, a given efficiency value (net points per 100 possessions) against stronger opposition rates higher than the same efficiency against lesser opponents and having a certain efficiency on the road rates higher than the same efficiency at home.”
Pitt is 14-8 overall and 5-6 in ACC play. The Virginia loss was undoubtedly its worst loss of the season, followed by the loss to Florida State. The Panthers’ best wins have come over West Virginia and Ohio State. Pitt will now take on North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.
