I don’t have either Kenpom or RPI data in front of me, but why does New Mexico warrant a #2 seed? I know they beat BYU, but do they have any other signature wins? Are they really a #2-caliber team?

Lou,

NM is ranked 8th in polls. They have beaten Cal, Tex A&M, Dayton.

RPI #7, KenPom #40

I could see them more as a 3 seed, but which present 3 seed is a legit 2 seed at this point?

there is also an enormous lack of quality teams out West so that will only help New Mexico

If Pitt is blownout in the 1st round of the BE tourney (like the ND game) they will drop to a number 4, if they win their 1st round game they will be a solid #3!!

I agree with Yogay. If they lose badly in the quarterfinal game and one or a few teams in the 4 seed range make runs in their tourneys, Pitt could drop to a 4 seed.

Is it strange that I would be somewhat nervous about a potential first round rematch with Wofford in the NCAA tourney?

I think New Mexico gets no more than a 3. Their SoS isn’t all that impressive.

Actual question…why is WVU seeded higher than Pitt? aren’t there profiles identical? If Pitt wins why couldn’t they be a 2 or even a 1 seed?

if pitt wins the big east they will jump wvu and be a 2 seed. if by some miracle syracuse or duke lose in the quarters and pitt wins the big east, i dont see why pitt cant be a 1 seed with a road win at cuse and a big east number 2 regular season finish

CB, the Pitt team that barely beat Wofford is very different than the Pitt team that takes the floor now. You could say that Wofford’s improved as well, but I wouldn’t be too concerned if we played them in the first round.

Here’s a question. Which teams would you prefer that Pitt did NOT have in their bracket?

Obviously, you have to play a good team eventually, but who DON’T we want to see before the Elite Eight?

Texas and Butler are potential 5 or 6 seeds that I would not like to play in second round games.

skn, to answer your question about WVU’s higher seeding:

As much as I hate to say it, they beat us in almost every measure that counts in seeding. Their RPI, SOS and Pomeroy rating are all higher. Their bad losses were Notre Dame (by 2) and Connecticut. We had ND (by 15), Seton Hall, USF and Indiana. Head to head we were even but they beat us by 19 while we beat them by 3 in triple OT. You could make a case that we had more quality wins but it’s by a slim margin. On the subjective side, they’re ranked higher in both polls, and they get better “eye test” reviews from the so-called experts.

Winning the BET could help us leap-frog WVU, if they lose on Thursday. But I agree with Chas that it looks like we’re locked in as a 3 seed.

If we stay as a 3, I don’t see any problems in the first round based on projections for the 14 seeds. I agree with CB on Butler in round 2. Some have Maryland as a 6 seed. Wouldn’t want to face them either.

If we fall to a 4 seed, I wouldn’t want to face Kent St. in round 1 for two reasons: 1) Bad memory from the 2002 tourney. 2) One of my golf buddies is a Kent St. grad and I’d never hear the end of it if we lost.

Why is Ohio State ahead of Pitt in the polls and potential seeding, that is the question i would like answered……?????? Looking forward to your comments.

That one is more subjective, DRGAGS. Their RPI and SOS is certainly lower, but they do top us in the Pomeroy ratings. They’re being given a pass on a number of losses because Evan Turner was out, which is fair. Turner is a POY candidate and has my vote if I had one. Since he’s been back, at full strength, they’ve been on a tear, so they’re ranked higher in the polls and “eye test” areas.

I agree with Adrian Branch in that they may have one of the best starting 5 in the country, but they are short and have no depth. I doubt they get past the Sweet 16 as does Branch. By that point they’ll have run into a team that either wears them down or beats them up.

Posting this here because it’s basketball related:

I was reading the local sports section today and on the front they were celebrating USF’s win over DePaul yesterday and how far they’ve come under Heath. Two things struck me: 1) It was their FIRST BET win. 2) It marked their third 20-win season in their 39-year basketball history!

It just emphasizes what Chas said in an earlier post: We should relish this Golden Age of Pitt basketball. Heck, we’ve had two BET championships, seven trips to the BET final, and NINE STRAIGHT >20-win seasons, including two 31-win and two 29-win years.

Pitt and USF have a lot of similarities in that we compete for fan dollars with 3 pro teams, we have formidable in-state competition for recruits, and local media often gives more attention to the other state team that’s not even in the city.

Glad I’m a Panther and not a Bull. Hail to PITT!

This just may be my Pitt Paranoia setting in, but I am worried about one thing as it pertains to our seeding: Our performance in the Providence game. Yes, we won. But I’ve got to believe if the committee has to make some tough decisions — splitting hairs so to speak — on teams who have nearly identical bodies of work, does that game hurt us? It could certainly serve as a reminder to the Selection Committee to not get too carried away with how high an overachieving Pitt team is seeded. Let’s face it. Providence is a bad team and we almost lost to them in our house if not for a miracle (thank you, Gibbsy). I hope I’m over-analyzing this, but I’ve sat in front of the TV on far too many Selection Sundays trying to figure out why Pitt just got screwed for seeding. It’s the main reason why I’d like to see Pitt make a nice run in the BET against the quality teams.

Thanks TampaT. I was thinking the RPI and SOS were very the close enough to not be the issue (the Indiana loss is likely to be forgotten given injuries, and ND has been beating everyone lately). I still think a Pitt run which could involve victories over Notre Dame, WVU, and Syracuse should give Pitt at least a 2, and put them in discussion for the last 1. Those are huge ifs,and I am biased -but I dream big.

BTW, isn’t amazing that I could write the above paragraph with a straight face – who would have thought that in December after the Indiana loss…

You’re welcome, skn. Winning the BET championship may get us a 2-seed, but a 1 is a huge dream. Too many “bad” losses and too many close games against lesser teams = poor marks on the eye test. Even though we should get a no-Brown/recovering-Dixon pass on Indiana, the fact that they lost 11 straight in conference may have the committee thinking we should have beaten them anyway. Ohio St. beat them at OSU by 25 without Turner and again at IU by 17 when he was just coming back from injury (a la Dixon). It remains an ugly non-con loss.

First things first though. We need to beat ND tonight. They looked pretty strong last night, and Gody seems to be buying into a new role of coming off the bench, playing defense and not forcing his offense. If our guys don’t come out ON FIRE, we could end up losing ugly. I sure hope not.

Correction: Turner had already been back for a while the second time they met IU. Forgot he played against WVU in that loss. His minutes at IU were limited by foul trouble. Don’t want to give out bad info.

Turner’s first game back was that 25 pt. win against Indiana (a la Dixon). Knew it was against IU and he was the inspiration for the win. Got those two games confused (getting old). Doesn’t change the fact that Indiana sucked this year and it will be viewed as a bad loss by Pitt regardless of our personnel. We were favored by 9, I think, and lost by 10.

Posting here because it’s basketball and seeding related:

Georgetown beat Syracuse in the BET, but more importantly Onuaku went down with a knee injury. Didn’t look good.

Shades of Cincinnati and Kenyon Martin. Could it cost Syracuse a #1 seed?

No, I don’t think so. Cuse still has a resume better than any of the 2 seeds out there. K State may be the one exception if they can win the Big 12 but I don’t see that happening.

Losing Onuaku could very well cost Cuse their title hopes though considering they usually play about 7 guys with him.

What does Pitt need to do to beat ND tonight? Not that they needed to when they played at ND a couple weeks ago, can they slow down Harangody inside, while defending their perimeter shooters?

ND had a good night last night, and has some confidence. Pitt has risen to the occasion all season–they need to be on fire tonight, on both offense and defense.