Pitt Helped by Bubble Team Losses
PITTSBURGH -- The battle for a very limited number of at-large bids is coming down to the wire and the Pitt Panthers will be sweating out their NCAA Tournament chances through the end of the regular season.
The good news is that Pitt helped themselves with a 15-point win over Florida State at the Petersen Events Center and got some help from elsewhere around the bubble. They held steady as one of the Next Four Out in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's updated projections following the win over the Seminoles but there could me some opportunities opening to move up.
Inside Pitt's own conference, Wake Forest was the victim of one of the more brutal losses of the night and possibly the season. The Demon Deacons rallied from down as many as 19 points to Georgia Tech but took a one-point lead with just seconds left. Then Tech's Baye Ndongo hit a hook shot with 0.4 seconds left and Wake Forest wasn't able to get a final shot off, fumbling the inbounds pass.
The Deacons looked like a sure lock to make the NCAA Tournament when they beat Duke just three weeks ago and now they're faltering at the wrong time.
St. John's, on the other hand, swapped spots with Wake Forest after dominating lowly DePaul, 104-77. The Johnnies are now one of Joe Lunardi's Last Four In as Wake Forest drops to become one of the First Four Out
Providence blew out another Big East bottom feeder in Georgetown and held steady atop the First Four Out.
Kansas State, who gave their at-large hopes its first big boost with a home win over their rivals, Kansas, lost the rematch with the Jayhawks, 90-58 at Phog Allen Field House. The Wildcats already sat on the far reaches of the bubble and will likely drop out of the at-large conversation entirely after their blowout loss.
Ole Miss, one of those considered on the far reaches of the bubble by Lunardi, suffered a devastating 69-66 los to Georgia that could prove fatal to their at-large odds unless they have something special in store for the NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse is in the same boat after a 90-75 loss on the road at Clemson, and so is Cincinnati, who dropped a 74-71 contest to Oklahoma on the road in overtime.
One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity and Pitt will hope to take advantage of the bubble teams that are now dropping like flies with the regular season fading.
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