PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – One of college basketball’s leading bracketologists says if Pitt just wins the remaining games they are favored in-they’ll be back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years.
“This stretch run is very important for them,” said Sporting News basketball expert Mike DeCourcy on 93.7 The Fan. “It’s set up for them to do well. I’ve said, they have to win the games they are supposed to win. These guys know now what games they are supposed to win. It’s pretty obvious from the schedule. If they do that, they’ll get in.”
“That carries over into the ACC Tournament, they got to win those too. If they win those six games, they’ll be fine.”
The games he’s referring to begin Tuesday hosting Louisville, Saturday at Florida State, February 14 home to Boston College, the following Tuesday hosting Georgia Tech, February 25 home against Syracuse and at Notre Dame on March 1. That would give the Panthers 22 wins. There are two other games where DeCourcy does not believe they will be favored, February 18 at Virginia Tech and the regular-season finale March 4 at Miami.
Pitt has a Top 25 recruiting class for next season and already the verbal commitment from Nelly Cummings’ brother, who likely will be a four-star prospect. DeCourcy, who is in his fourth decade of covering college basketball, is impressed with the quality of the younger players as well. But for Pitt to keep the momentum going forward they must capitalize on this year and play in March Madness.
“If they can finish this off and get into the tournament, they will be more of a destination for transfer players,” DeCourcy told 93.7 The Fan. “They have really terrific transfer players throughout this roster. If you show that you can get those guys to the tournament. What often happens to those players at the mid-major level, they are in league that will only get one bid. They’ve been trying that for three years and they want to play in the tournament before they are done. They might be close to their degrees or already have it. Let me take a chance at the big time.”
“You want to be one of those programs where you say we’ve done that. We’ve gotten guys to the tournament because they’ve transferred here.”
As for watching Pitt, he’s loved what he’s seen. The Hall of Fame basketball writer said it’s rare for a team to have multiple players who can score 20 or 25 points in a given night and do it either from the outside or in the paint. Pitt is much better at their versatility than most teams which makes them tougher to defend, especially in the limited preparation time associated with tournament play.
There is also something a little extra about Pitt basketball this year. A quality that hasn’t been part of a Panthers team in years and it’s the toughness that showed itself in the win over the nationally-ranked Hurricanes.
“What stood out in the Miami game, was how easily they could have buckled under the pressure of needing that game to be a NCAA-relevant team and because it was at home,” DeCourcy said on 93.7 The Fan. “Not playing particularly well for a lot of that game, but then when they got the lead and they had the opportunity to defend it late.”
“They made a mistake and hit the end-line with the inbounds pass (with five seconds left). Those are the types of mistakes that beat you almost every single time. Instead, they just went right back and got another steal. I was impressed by the guts it took to go back in there and take the ball away. They just did it.”
It won’t be easy, DeCourcy called the ACC ‘disappointingly poor’ this season. Likely they won’t get a lot of teams in the NCAA Tournament so it will almost assuredly take more than just reaching 20 wins.
It’s right there for them. Can Pitt finish?