Inside The Panthers

National Writers Demote Pitt in Weekly Rankings

A loss on the road to Virginia Tech didn't change how a few national writers views the Pitt Panthers.

Stephen Thompson

National Writers Demote Pitt in Weekly Rankings
National Writers Demote Pitt in Weekly Rankings /
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PITTSBURGH -- A general consensus is emerging about the Pitt Panthers' loss at Virginia Tech. The Hokies entered as 4.5-point favorites and for good reason. Pitt was outplayed thoroughly by Virginia Tech but it didn't cost them much ground in some of the power rankings that national writers. 

The Athletic's Seth Davis kept Pitt in the "Almost Famous" category of his weekly AP Poll ballot. He believes their resumes aren't enough to earn top 25 consideration after both lost over the weekend but he still respects them as dangerous tournament teams.  

"Pittsburgh and NC State are good teams in a terrible league," Davis wrote. "They lost at Virginia Tech and at Syracuse, respectively, last week, so any consideration I might have given to ranking them went out the window. Still it has been fun to see two coaches who were at the top of everybody’s hot-seat list put their teams in position to be back in the NCAA Tournament. I don’t think anyone is going to be excited to be paired with either one of these squads in the bracket."

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports slid the Panthers down two spots to No. 26 in his "Rothstein 45" rankings and highlighted their back-to-back home games this week as a significant reason why they could climb back up next week. 

Turner Sports correspondent and NCAA basketball analyst Andy Katz dropped the Panthers six spots to No. 30 in his Power 36 rankings but is optimistic they'll earn favorable seeding in the ACC Tournament. 

"The Panthers fell at Virginia Tech but are still looking at a top-four finish in the ACC," Katz wrote.

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Published
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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