Pitt Earns Top 5 NET Ranking

The Pitt Panthers earned a top 5 initial Net Ranking.

Nov 29, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel III reacts to a play during the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have had a fantastic start to the season and they hold a high placement in the initial NET Rankings.

Pitt comes in at No. 5 in the country in the initial NET Rankings, which will play a massive role, come NCAA Tournament time. They are the second highest ranked ACC team, with Duke at No. 4.

The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) uses a Team Value Index (TVI), that rewards teams for winning tough matches, especially away from home. It also uses an adjusted net efficiency that values facing tougher opponents, getting wins on the road and defeating lower-ranking opponents by large margins.

This replaced the RPI ahead of the 2018-19 season, as the NCAA wanted a way to simplify how they look at teams' performances heading into the NCAA Tournament. The RPI used five-components, compared to the NET's two.

The NET breaks down wins and losses in four quadrants, with the best wins are in Quad 1 and the worst losses are in Quad 4.

Quad 1
Home: 1-30
Netural: 1-50
Away: 1-75

Quad 2
Home: 31-75
Neutral: 51-100
Away: 76-135

Quad 3
Home: 76-160
Neutral: 101-200
Away: 136-240

Quad 4
Home: 161+
Neutral: 201+
Away: 241+

Pitt currently has played four Quad 1 games and is 3-1 in those matchups. This includes the 86-62 blowout vs. rival West Virginia (No. 29) in the Backyard Brawl at home on Nov. 15, both neutral site games at the Greenbrier Tip-Off, a 74-63 win vs. LSU (No. 50) on Nov. 22 and a 81-75 loss to Wisconsin (No. 17) on Nov. 24, and the 91-88 overtime road win vs. Ohio State on Nov. 29.

They also have three Quad 3 wins, all at home, including the 96-56 win vs. Radford (No. 101) in the season opener on Nov. 4, an 83-68 victory over Murray State (No. 88) on Nov. 8 and the 83-64 win over Gardner-Webb (No. 108) on Nov. 11.

Pitt has just one Quad 4 win, which came against VMI (No. 274), with sophomore guard Jaland Lowe recording a triple-double in the 93-48 victory on Nov. 18.

These wins also aren't set for the rest of the season. If a team improves, their net ranking will do the same and so will the quality of the win/loss. If a team gets worse, then their net ranking will also get worse and the quality of the win/loss.

Panthers head coach Jeff Capel wanted a strong non-conference schedule, with returners in Lowe and senior guard Ish Leggett and he's gotten that this season, which has benefitted them greatly.

Pitt missed out on the NCAA Tournament last season, despite finishing fourth in the ACC and making the ACC Tournament Semifinals.

Their NET Ranking, which suffered due to a poor non-conference strength of schedule, plus a bad loss to a terrible Missouri team, led the Selection Committee to keep them out.

Pitt will face another Quad 1 matchup this week in Mississippi State (No. 28) on the road on Dec. 4 in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

They also have three Quad 3 matchups aftewards, including the ACC opener vs. Virginia Tech (No. 233) on the road and both Eastern Kentucky (No. 136) on Dec. 11 and Sam Houston State (No. 159) on Dec. 21 at home to end the calendar year.

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