PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The opportunities are still there for 19-win Pitt to make the NCAA Tournament, it’s just there is little, if any, margin for error.
Panthers are home to Florida State Tuesday night, because of the struggles of the 15-14 overall, 9-9 conference Seminoles, even a victory won’t do much in this Quad 3 matchup. A loss would likely end the Panthers March Madness hopes, barring winning the ACC Tournament.
Where do they rank
Here is a look at the Panthers ranking in services that use various metrics meant to help the NCAA Tournament selection committee
· NET-44 5 in front of Pitt—TCU (19-10), Nevada (23-6), Oklahoma (19-10), Texas Tech (20-9), Nebraska (21-9)
· BPI-35 5 in front of Pitt--Florida Atlantic (22-7), Texas Tech, San Diego State (22-7), Mississippi State (19-10), Oklahoma
· RealTime RPI-50 5 in front of Pitt--Samford (20-5), VCU (17-8), Cornell (18-6), Florida (19-8), Grand Canyon (20-3)
· KenPom-43 5 in front of Pitt—New Mexico (21-8), Washington State (23-7), Florida Atlantic, Nevada (24-6), Utah State (24-5)
“You have no idea how much we don’t talk about that (NCAA rankings) because at the end of the day it comes down to winning,” said senior Blake Hinson. “The homework is hard enough, why would you be (trying to figure that out too).”
Then comes the bracketologists. Here are the top three bracketologists and their prediction for Pitt
· ESPN’s Joe Lunardi—2nd team in the Next Four Out, meaning five teams would be ahead of them on the bubble
· CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm—1st team in the Next Four Out, four teams ahead of Pitt on the bubble
· Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy—2nd team out of the tournament, so one team, Wake Forest, ahead of Pitt. The teams split the season series with the Demon Deacons winning more recently at home.
“I feel like there is nothing you can do,” said Pitt sophomore Guillermo Diaz Graham. “You can talk about it, but talking about it is going to do nothing for you. You still have to go there and win the games. We don’t talk about it because there is really no reason to talk about it. It’s people saying what they think you are and what you are going to be.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Hinson said. “It happens what happens anyway. We were a play-in last year and we competed for the ACC Championship. I don’t think anybody knows what is going to happen. It just happens.”
NCAA Tournament wasn’t even a thought in January, it was just about finding a way to win a game. The Panthers had one conference win, were 10-7 on the season and heading to number 7 Duke. Pitt hadn’t won at Cameron Indoor in decades. An upset victory starts the turn in the other direction.
“I remember being 1-5 and thinking that we are good,” Hinson said. “I always felt like we are good. With a young, new team you are new and young starting off 1-5 is not a shock.”
“You want to play better. We could have played better, but you are looking at the film and you are like ‘once he gets a couple more games under his belt’ and once we’ve got a couple more games under our belt as a team, we won’t make those mistakes.”
“That 1-5 start is the reason I feel so confident in March. That’s why I would start 1-5 again, because those lessons are still with us and we are going to play better because of it.”
A chance to have back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in a decade against Florida State Tuesday night. All they can control is winning, if they can do that, hopes are still alive.
“We are not ready to go home,” Hinson said. “We have to handle these next few games and handle the tournament. We are ready.”