Panthers rekindle NCAA talks
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Does Jamie Dixon have Pitt lined up for one of the great turnarounds in Big East history?
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Ten days ago the only way the Pitt Panthers were going to the NCAA tournament was by scoring tickets to second- and third-round games that will be played at Consol Energy Center.
On Jan. 21, after a 73-62 home loss to Louisville, the Panthers were 0-7 in Big East Conference play and their hopes of making an 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament appeared all but dead.
Now the Panthers have been revived by three consecutive victories, including two in a three-day span that got the Panthers into better position for the NCAA tournament. They jumped in the Ratings Percentage Index after beating Georgetown and West Virginia, going from No. 103 last week to No. 64 Tuesday, according to one listing.
A couple of more victories and Pitt will be on the proverbial NCAA bubble. If the Panthers manage that they will achieve one of the all-time turnarounds in NCAA men's basketball history.
- Game: Villanova vs. Pitt, Petersen Events Center.
- When: 2 p.m. Sunday.
- TV: ESPN.
No team from the Big East has rebounded from an 0-7 start to make the NCAA tournament. The best turnaround belongs to Boston College, which started 0-4 in 1981-82 and finished 8-6 and qualified for the NCAA field.
The good news for Pitt is that plenty of opportunities remain to make up ground in the RPI -- the index the NCAA tournament selection committee relies upon heavily in its selection process.
Of the eight remaining games on Pitt's schedule, seven are against teams that are currently ranked in the RPI top 100. The first of those games is Sunday at Petersen Events Center against Villanova, which was No. 94 in the RPI.
The general assumption is that Pitt has to go 6-2 over its final eight games to give itself the best shot for an at-large NCAA bid, but that's not necessarily the case. Six victories in the final eight games would yield a 9-9 record in conference play, but five teams have qualified for the NCAA tournament with losing Big East records since the conference formed in 1979.
First Published February 1, 2012 12:00 am
