Inside The Panthers

Pitt Sits on Edge of NCAA Tournament Bubble

The Pitt Panthers are fighting to get on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Sits on Edge of NCAA Tournament Bubble
Pitt Sits on Edge of NCAA Tournament Bubble /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are set to close out their non-conference schedule this week against a strong Purdue-Fort Wayne team and their body of work to this point in the season has them on the edge of NCAA Tournament consideration. 

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Pitt as one of eight teams vying for a spot on the bubble. They're just outside of the "First Four Out" and "Next Four Out" categories. 

The Panthers currently sit at 8-3 overall, with a No. 42 ranking in KenPom, No. 47 ranking in Barttorvik and No. 41 positioning in the latest NET rankings. 

They lack many marquee wins but have avoided bad losses and blown out each of the mid-major opponents who visited the Petersen Events Center for buy games, which helps keep their resume steady for now, but the road gets much more difficult from here.   

After the Panthers take on the Purdue-Ft. Wayne Mastodons (11-1 overall, No. 149 in KenPom) at the Petersen Events Center, they'll take nine days to rest for the Christmas holiday before returning to action on the second-to-last day of December, when they travel north to take on rival Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome. 

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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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