Well their fans probably think so. Their team makes the Sweet 16 and in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, they get ranked 24. Behind the two teams they beat. Kansas got 22 and Pitt finishes at #18.
In the totality of the season, and if I could pretend that the highs and lows didn’t happen, it could be argued that that’s not bad for starting the season unranked. Since I can’t however, it feels a bit disappointing.
The Big East finished with 5 teams in the top 25: UConn (4), Villanova (5), WVU (15), Georgetown (16) and Pitt. No other conference had more than 3 (SEC, ACC and Big 11).
And since you know that for the next few days, there will be top-10 to -25 projections for next year, Luke Winn on his SI.com Tourney Blog gives his top-10. No he doesn’t list Pitt, but puts them amongst the “On the fringe” list.
