Pitt's Front-Loaded ACC Schedule Opens Up Postseason Possibilities

The Pitt Panthers will face their toughest tests early.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' offseason was never going to be easy, with four of their five leading scorers expected to exhaust their final year of eligibility. Sprinkle in a couple of transfer portal losses, former five-star freshman Dior Johnson's expulsion from the university and a season-ending injury to four-star forward Papa Kante and it morphed into another offseason from hell for head coach Jeff Capel 

The good news for the Panthers, as they try to follow up on a landmark, record-setting 2022-23 campaign, is that the ACC schedule released this week is paved with what looks like, at least on paper, a much more forgiving back half than the one that greets them at the start of ACC play. 

From December through January, Pitt will play Clemson, North Carolina, Miami, Wake Forest and Duke twice among others. Six of their first ten 10 games will come against teams that finished in the top half of the ACC standings a year ago and they'll have to make a road trip to rival Syracuse. 

Clemson has reloaded a team that fell just short of the NCAA Tournament with top-tier transfer talent. Duke - ranked No. 2 in ESPN's preseason top-25 - finished 2023 as hot as anyone in the country, and returns almost the entire core of a 27-win team. North Carolina - ESPN's preseason No. 15 - brings back 2022 ACC Player of the Year runner-up in Armando Bacot, and their starting point guard, R.J. Davis and reloaded with the No. 20 transfer class in the 2023 cycle. The reigning ACC regular season champions, Miami lose their two leading scorers but return the next top four by points per game and added one of the most coveted transfers of the offseason in former Florida State forward Matthew Cleveland.

They might take their licks early, especially with four other Power 5 opponents slated for the non-conference schedule. But from February through March, they'll play just four of 10 games against teams that finished in the top half of the conference a year ago and zero preseason top-25 teams. 

Their toughest tests will come in mid-February, when they travel to NC State and Virginia for consecutive games, but get five days of rest in between them. Even a trip to Clemson comes right before a game at Boston College and two straight home games to close out the regular season. 

One of the major and lasting criticisms of Jeff Capel-led teams is that they do not finish seasons as strong as they open them. In games played in February and March over the past five seasons, the Panthers are just 19-38. They drastically improved that record this past season with a 9-5 mark down the stretch and into the postseason, but still just barely made the NCAA Tournament. 

This year, the Panthers should be able to close out their year stronger. And if they can break even coming out of a demanding start to the season, will put themselves in a position to return to college basketball's main event in March. 

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