Inside The Panthers

Pitt Moving Up NCAA Tournament Bubble

The Pitt Panthers are making progress in pursuit of a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Moving Up NCAA Tournament Bubble
Pitt Moving Up NCAA Tournament Bubble /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' 2023 season is still only about one-third of the way completed but they have done enough to earn early consideration for an NCAA Tournament berth from one of the sport's leading postseason predictors. 

ESPN's Joe Lundardi still has Pitt in the "considered" category of teams, same as his last seeding projections, but the Panthers are just two spots removed from being one of the "Next Four Out," trailing Cincinnati, Texas Tech, TCU, Butler, St. John's and others. 

When push comes to shove, the Panthers appear to have a better resume than many of the teams listed in front of them do. They lack many quality wins but they have avoided bad losses to inferior competition, which boosts them into the realm of very early NCAA Tournament consideration. 

With a brutal stretch of games on deck to open ACC play, beginning with a date against rival Syracuse on the road this weekend, the Panthers will have plenty of chances to 

Four of their next eight games come against teams receiving votes in the latest AP poll and five are on the road. Dates with Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Syracuse over the next month will say a lot about just how good this team is. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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