Thursday, February 21, 2013
Where will Pitt land in the tournament?
By Luke Lapinski
Pittsburgh has been a tough club to get a read on lately. First, the Panthers missed the NCAA Tournament altogether for the first time since 2001 last season. Then they bounced back by starting the 2012-13 campaign out on a 12-1 tear. They followed that up by dropping three of four, seemingly righted the ship in mid January but have now lost two straight.
ESPN's Jason King claims it's simply difficult to get too excited by what Jamie Dixon's group has to offer at the moment. Yes, they're good. In fact, they seem like a team that can beat anyone on any given night, considering two of their last three victories came at the expense of Syracuse and Cincinnati. But they could easily land in the middle of the pack when Selection Sunday rolls around if they don't pile up some more wins down the stretch.
To that end, our own Joe Lunardi has Pitt slotted in at No. 24 in his most recent bracket math. That loosely translates to a No. 6 seed if March Madness began today, meaning a matchup with a No. 11. At the moment, the likes of Baylor and Iowa State fall into that category. And that's not an easy path by any means.
