And so does the ranting over it when it goes wrong.
There was a question about Pitt’s seeding if in a hypothetical, Pitt finished 14-4 in the Big East and won the Big East Tournament.
Honestly, I don’t like to worry or think too much about seeding until the end of the regular season. Oh, I look at some of the projections. It’s just that things can change too quickly. Not just for Pitt, but the teams around them.
Really all Pitt can do is take care of business around them. They have one loss that haunts them.
The Hoyas are appearing in brackets as a three-seed, which one could suggest is generous for a team with the Big East’s sixth-best offense and, what do you know, its sixth-best defense. Meanwhile a team like Pitt, two full games ahead of Georgetown in the standings and equal to the Hoyas in per-possession terms, is popping up as a four-seed. Maybe that little “4” next to the Panthers’ name should be replaced with something more honest and direct: “They lost to Indiana!”
More specifically, “They lost to Indiana on national TV!” These are strange days when losing to Northwestern, Miami or *ahem* South Florida would be a better loss.
Honestly, if Pitt runs things, I think they will be no better than a #2 seed. Kentycky and Kansas look like locks. Syracuse would have to really stumble. As would Purdue and a few others. Really #2 or #3 would be amazing regardless.
One game at a time, though.
You’re right though. The Indiana loss and the two back-to-back loss strings in conference will hurt us regardless of how the rest of the way goes.
Just like they would “bias” our seeding lower if a major injury happened in the next couple of weeks to a key player (read: Kenyon Martin for UC)
The string of wins early in the BE slate (on the road mind you) wiped away the Indiana loss, IMHO.
I hope we can assume this was because someone on the Pitt staff was a source.?.?..
As for Seth Davis, I don’t know what to tell you. This is what I wrote him directly via Twitter when he continued to push Calipari for Coach of the Year:
Worrying about ranking or seeding is fruitless, but in my opinion, we’re ranked too low in the polls based on results alone. That leads me to believe we’ll be disappointed in our NCAA seed as well.
Tough luck. We’ll just have to battle through the perceived slight and prove our worth on the court.
PS – A .500 or better Big East record and 20 wins should earn you an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If that means there are 10+ teams selected, so be it.
Apparently Jamie Dixon was on the Stephen A Smith show this morning as well, but missed it (stupid job…)
Hail. To. Pitt.
Damn blackberry keypad!
That said, you still have to play the games on the court, and there are always surprises. I like Pitt’s chances anywhere between #1-#4. Below that they’ll play tougher teams in every round making an extended run more difficult.
Therefore, we need to close out the season strong starting with tonight. Let’s go Panthers!
Hail to PITT!
This may be a brutal game to win!
