Pitt Earns Early Top 20 Ranking

College Basketball analytics website Bart Torvik has Pitt Panthers at 16th in its 2024-25 predictive metrics.

Mar 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers forward Zack Austin (55) takes part / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- Following a disappoint end to their season, Pitt men's basketball has been at work since then, landing two recruits and preparing for next season.

Many fans who wish to look ahead to the coming season will turn their eyes to sites such as EvanMiya, KenPom and Haslametrics for predictions about the upcoming men's basketball season. One site, however, is very optimistic on Pitt.

BartTorvik, a metrics site founded by a Wisconsin graduate, placed Pitt 16th in his 2025 predictive metrics. This ranking would place Pitt third in the ACC, trailing behind a second-ranked Duke team and No. 9 Miami.

What stands out for Pitt in this ranking that has led them to such a high placement is their predicted offensive ranking, where Torvik has placed them in 9th in the country. He assigns his offensive ranking by highest adjusted offensive efficiency. Torvik, and other sites like KenPom, define this statstic as the number of points the team is expected to score per 100 possesions adjusted by opponent strentgh. Pitt's number comes out to 117.4, while the highest number belongs to Gonzaga with 121.8 points.

On the defensive side of the ball, however, Torvik predicts the Panthers to rank 51st, a stark contrast from the top ten ranking on offense. Their adjusted defensive efficiency is projected as a 96.8, whereas Iowa State leads the country at 87.3

Torvik believes that three of Pitt's top contributors next year will be from this past year's lineup, with Ishmael Leggett, Jaland Lowe and Zack Austin occupying the top three spots. On the other hand, the 4th and 5th projected contributors according to Torvik are transfers Cameron Corhen and Damien Dunn, respectively.

Torvik's metrics already liked Pitt, as they finished the 2023-24 campaign in 33rd place despite missing the tournament. However, their 27th offensive effciency ranking and 53rd defensive efficiency ranking both fall behind Torvik's 2025 predictions, so an offensive resurgence has been predicted by Torvik.

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