Pitt Facing Familiar Foe in Latest ESPN Bracketology

The Pitt Panthers face a familiar foe in latest ESPN Bracketology.

Pittsburgh Panthers guard Brandin Cummings (3) celebrates with Pittsburgh Panthers forward Zack Austin (55) following the NCAA men's basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. Austin hit the game-winning three pointer to give the Panthers a 91-90 win. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers will face a familiar foe in the NCAA Tournament, according to the latest ESPN Bracketology from Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi has Pitt as a No. 6 seed going up against No. 11 seed Ohio State in the First Round of the Midwest Region. The game would take place at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., with the University of Wichita as hosts.

The winner of this matchup would face the victor of No. 3 Kansas and No. 14 South Dakota State, the automatic qualifier out of the Summit League in the Second Round.

Pitt and Ohio State faced off on Nov. 29 in Columbus, with Pitt pulling out a 91-88 victory in overtime.

The Panthers faced a 12-point deficit early in the second half, but would go on a 20-2 run and held the Buckeyes scoreless to take the lead, 63-58 at the 8:44 mark.

Ohio State battled back, but Pitt held on to force it to overtime. The home team then held a leads of five points with a minute to go and four points with 16 seconds to go, but Pitt erased it both times, with redshirt junior forward Zack Austin hitting the game-winning 3-pointer.

Redshirt freshman forward Papa Amadou Kante had a big performance for the Panthers scoring 12 points off the bench. The Panthers also got great guard play from sophomore Jaland Lowe and senior Ish Leggett, as Lowe scored a career-high 28 points, shooting 9-for-20 from the field and 10-for-11 from the free throw line and Leggett scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Pitt is 10-2 overall and finished their non-conference play 9-2. with just two losses to then ranked No. 19 Wisconsin at the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. on Nov. 24 and Mississippi State on the road in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 4.

Ohio State is 8-4, with losses to then ranked No. 23 Texas A&M on Nov. 15 on the road and No. 2 Auburn in Atlanta on Dec. 14, plus Maryland in their Big Ten opener on the road on Dec. 4.

The Buckeyes got their biggest win of the season against the then ranked No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats in the CBS Sports Classic in New York City on Dec. 21, their first ranked win.

Pitt is looking to make it back to the NCAA Tournament, after controversially missing out last season. They rank No. 11 in the latest NET Rankings, and ranked No. 9 following their latest win, an 110-75 blowout of Sam Houston at home on Dec. 21.

They will start the rest of their ACC slate, as they host conference newcomers Cal on Jan. 1 and Stanford on Jan. 4.

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