ESPN: Pitt Clinging to NCAA Tournament Bubble Spot

The Pitt Panthers' at-large bid hopes aren't dead yet.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have suffered two tough losses down the home stretch of the regular season, fumbling Quad 1 opportunities at Wake Forest and Clemson, but that hasn't sunk their hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament - at least not yet. 

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Panthers clinging to a bubble spot as the first team outside the Next Four Out. They join James Madison, Princeton and St. John's in that category of teams clinging to the bubble. 

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— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 29, 2024

Pitt got some help from elsewhere around the bubble, with few teams picking up major wins but more than a few suffering losses. 

James Madison and St. John's - both teams being considered by Lunardi, but still beyond the Next Four Out, like Pitt - have won this week. Next Four Out teams Butler and Ole Miss both lost. So did Texas A&M and Providence, who sit in the Last Four In. Seton Hall, a Last Four Byes team, fell to Creighton on the road in a game that likely won't affect their standing much. Virginia also hung on for a tight win over Boston College to shore up their spot as a Last Four In team. 

The ACC still has five teams in Lunardi's projected field - North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Virginia and Wake Forest - tied for the fifth-most of any conference in college basketball. 

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