Pitt HC Jeff Capel Confused by ACC Disrespect

Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel sees the disrespect levied against the ACC and doesn't understand it.

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel has seen it and heard it all season. To the computers and analysts that consume, break down and ultimately govern college basketball, the ACC is no longer one of the premier conferences in the sport. 

As his Panthers climb the league standings, what he thinks are good wins against strong teams are not helping his team's resume as much as one might hope. While he wants his team to focus on simply winning the games in front of them, how the conference they play in is perceived elsewhere will affect Pitt's NCAA Tournament consideration and position in the AP top 25 poll. 

“I definitely think that it’s unfair and it’s untrue what people say about our league or what’s been said about our league," Capel said. "I think our league is really good."

Capel thinks the ACC's credentials speak for themselves. There are quality teams up and down the conference and in head-to-head competition with the Big 10 during the nonconference schedule, the ACC came out on top, with their teams winning eight of 14 intraleague contests. 

"When you look at it, we have a team that’s in the top 10 in the country," Capel said. "We have two other teams that are in the top 25. We have a team that was preseason No. 1 and spent time at No. 1. We have another team that was at one point in the top 25. We have another team in Virginia Tech that was at one point a top 20 team. So I think there’s depth in our league. I think there’s really good players. I think there’s really good coaches. I’m not sure why [the league doesn’t get respect]."

Capel has his own theories about why many think the ACC is in a "down year". He pondered whether or not the fact that North Carolina and Duke are experiencing less success relative to their history is why many don't consider this league as very competitive. 

"I don’t get the metrics and I don’t pretend to understand how they equate or how they come up with all these numbers," Capel said. "Perhaps some of it is that the two programs in our league nationally known aren’t in the top 25 right now so maybe there’s a little bit of that. All I know is that every team in this league is really good and we’re about to play one on Saturday and we respect every team in this league.” 

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