Inside The Panthers

Jeff Capel Believes Pitt Earned NCAA Tournament Bid

Jeff Capel thinks the Pitt Panthers have done enough to earn a place on college basketball's biggest stage.

Stephen Thompson

Jeff Capel Believes Pitt Earned NCAA Tournament Bid
Jeff Capel Believes Pitt Earned NCAA Tournament Bid /
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PITTSBURGH -- Still trying to process the emotions of his team's tight loss to No. 16 Miami in a battle that would decide who shared the ACC regular season title, Jeff Capel was optimistic about what his team can accomplish in the postseason. 

"I thought we did a really good job during the first part of the season," Capel said of his Panthers. "Didn't close it the way we wanted to, but now we'll head to the second portion of the season and hopefully we can learn from all these things that we've been through and be better in the second part."

When asked if he believes they've done enough to earn a bid to college basketball's biggest stage, Capel was said in few words that he was confident this team has earned such consideration. 

"Yeah, I do," Capel said.

The Panthers have racked up 21 wins during the regular season and seven wins against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. They sat at 55th in the NET immediately following their regular season-ending defeat. Two blowout losses to Michigan at the beginning of the season, a Quad 4 loss to Florida State and the relative weakness of the ACC are some of what might hold them back. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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