Inside The Panthers

TCU's Overtime Loss Lifts Pitt's NCAA Tournament Hopes

Another domino fell the Pitt Panthers' way in the chase for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Stephen Thompson

TCU's Overtime Loss Lifts Pitt's NCAA Tournament Hopes
TCU's Overtime Loss Lifts Pitt's NCAA Tournament Hopes /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are battling for a dwindling number of at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament and with the regular season nearing it's end, they will need help from elsewhere around the bubble if they're to make the field. 

The late afternoon slate of games this weekend didn't provide much help for them, with Colorado State and Colorado coming away victorious against Air Force and Oregon State, respecitively. But former Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon did help out his old team by dropping a home game to UCF. 

The Knights have proven to be dangerous - they knocked off then-No. 23 Texas Tech two weeks ago and gave two top-10 teams in Iowa State and Houston scares over the past week and a half. They topped the Horned Frogs in overtime, 79-77. 

Colorado State just snuck past the 9-21 Falcons by a final margin of 82-73. Meanwhile, their rivals from Boulder, the Buffalos, rolled past Oregon State by a final score of 73-57. 

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm had the Rams and Horned Frogs safely in the field as an eight and nine seed, respectively. Colorado was in his Last Four In. 

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Colorado State pegged as one of the Last Four Byes, alongside TCU, entering the day. Colorado was the top team among the the First Four Out, according to Lunardi. 

Pitt, meanwhile, is still one of the Next Four Out according to Lunardi and a First Four Out team according to Palm. They'll try to give their resume one last boost with a home game against N.C. State this weekend before heading to the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C. next week. 

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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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