I’ll understand if you were wringing your hands over Pitt’s non-con schedule again after this past weekend. The non-con has not gotten better looking. Not after Cinci went down big to Xavier. Penn State showed why it doesn’t get basketball respect after losing to Princeton at home — by blowing an 18 point lead with 6:34 left. Duquesne lost to Robert Morris. Heck, Fresno State and Albany lost over the weekend.
So no matter what computer metric you use (KenPom, RPI, Sagarin…), Pitt’s non-con strength of schedule is down near the bottom.
It’s the reason why Pitt is still unranked despite piling up a 10-0 record. Stanford is presently the best win, and while nice, provides no boost. And thanks to getting blown out by Xavier, the same can be said for today’s game with Cinci as far as potential impact — assuming a win.
Jamie Dixon was overly cautious in his scheduling this year, following all the departures from the program. Coupled with some teams being worse than expected. Not a good mix. I’m not debating that.
Then there were the items that were not controlled. The B1G/ACC Challenge gave Pitt a “meh” game with Penn State. But that shouldn’t have been a big surprise. When set up no one knew what Pitt would be like this year. A Pitt-PSU game was at least a storyline for ESPN to sell.
Per this report from Andy Katz, it seems that the Legends Classic was not originally going to be such a dog. Ohio State was supposed to be in the Legends, but Kentucky made a late decision to pull out of the Gotham Classic. The Gazelle Group runs both tournaments so they shifted Ohio State to the Gotham Classic.
The Andy Katz bit is definitely done with a pro-Dixon/Pitt slant — even hitting on the goal of playing in NYC regularly — but the tidbits are there. Pitt has been trying to set up home-and-homes with Georgetown and Villanova. In what should surprise no one, neither seems that interested. They don’t want Pitt to come to their turf to recruit, and playing in Pittsburgh doesn’t offer a similar benefit.
All that said, I just don’t get that worked up over the non-con. From an entertainment perspective, of course I would like some better games. From the point-of-view that it helps Pitt get ready for the NCAA Tournament. That a team is “battle-tested.” Well, that just strikes me as absurd. A conference slate with teams that vary in style from Virginia to UNC will do more for that than a game played in December or November.
The issue is really that one game. One game that justifies all the dreck of the non-con. Would it surprise you that Louisville has a schedule played to this point that is considered to be worse than Pitt’s? Even though they played and lost to UNC in a neutral site game? Defending national champs. Bringing back a bunch of players, plus a top recruiting class and a top-5 pre-season ranking. Yet, outside of UNC and their Commonwealth game at Kentucky, nothing else. But that UNC game with all the attention and name recognition. That is what shapes the narrative. Though, I’m sure their fans hated that home schedule.
Ohio State is up to #3 in the rankings. They looked to have a few good games on the slate but it isn’t working out that way with Marquette down to 6-4. Maryland is injured. And their finish in the Gotham Classic this Saturday against Notre Dame may or may not help given the up-and-down showing by the Irish in the non-con.
One final misconception that needs clearing is how Pitt got seeded so low in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. That was not about the non-con schedule. That had to do with the NCAA mandate on avoiding early rematches — Pitt got bumped down two seed lines to avoid playing any other Big East teams and Michigan in the first couple of rounds. Where it used to be a matter of simply sending a team further away geographically. When you now regularly have conferences getting 6 to 9 bids yearly, the only way to avoid early rematches is to play with the seeding.
That rule has been removed because it became harder and harder to manipulate without major games with the seed lines. It created ridiculous movement for teams like Pitt and Cal with the Big East, SEC and Pac-12 all too big. It would have been absolutely impossible by next year following year when the Big 10 goes to 14 teams as well as the ACC at 16 to go with the SEC at 14.
Non-conference games are used to prepare the team for
the grueling conference schedule. As you mentioned before
criticizing Pitt’s non-conference scheule peruse the schedules
of other major programs. With a few exceptions most majors
follow Pitt’s template. Practices can’t totally replicate game experience. Game experience is needed to build chemistry and in game strategy. Support your coach. He is one the best!
On FB like the pedigree of James Folston. Athletic oriented
family. Father was an NFL player. The kid’s vertical, speed, etc
are highly competitive. Also, he has a frame that will allow
weight gain and increase in strength.
Welcome James!
If Pitt beats quality teams in the ACC, the rankings will come soon enough.
I want some performance in the spring.
I’m a big JD and Pitt hoops supporter, both with my attendance and my dollars. We’re lucky to have him.
But his teams have gotta stop crapping the bed at tourney time.
Sorry to be negative after a nice and unexpected start to the year.
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What happens when we lose our first one, we will drop like a rock.
Especially this year, when the Big 10 is strong and there are good teams in all conferences.
We will have to beat Syracuse, Duke or NC convincingly to make a decent jump.
Until then, take them one at a time and stay unbeaten.
However, Pitt will be properly ranked in March when it cvunts the most.
One more thought … the Top 10 rankings this week has Cuse, LVille, Nova, UConn and Duke (which is automatically ranked of course.
Now, nobody here is going to insult my intelligence by saying how the ACC measures up to the recent Big East. (Pitt’s non-con isn’t the only thing that blows.)
Note that I’m not saying that Pitt made a bad move or that the ACC (espeically with LVille) eventually will become a top onference … but I currently would rank them behind the B10, BE and PAC12.
It’s also true that Pitt fans make too big of a deal out of not being ranked at this point. And, I believe many have acted obnoxiously as a result. At this stage of the game, it really means nothing.
If we win in the ACC portion of the schedule, we will be ranked and get the respect that we deserve.
Next year, hopefully we meet Arizona or K -State in Maui. And have one or two more interesting games before the ACC portion of the schedule begins.
Back to FB. Huge week for Pitt. Signing
Brookster, Montae, and Shai would elevate
Pitt to Top 40 class ( just guessing)?
The weak non-con’s affect on Pitt’s tourney performance is debatable, but I have always felt that at the very least, Pitt needs to leave the Eastern time zone more in the non-con, even if not vs. a top tier opponent. A tough road loss is better than a 40 point home win in preparing a team for the post season. Do a home and home with a mid major like a St. Louis or San Diego St. Hell, we should have scheduled Wichita St. this year!
Lastly, I think we can all agree it sucks for the fans. Every year, the blue bloods face off during the non-con, generate buzz for their programs, and every year, Pitt is on the sidelines. Just looking at the top tier of the ACC, UNC plays Louisville, MSU, Kentucky. Duke plays Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, Michigan. Syracuse plays Baylor, Villanova, Indiana. We play…well, you know, Stanford is ok and we’re all practically drooling to play somebody as mediocre as Cincy.
Every year there are excuses for why a tougher schedule didn’t materialize. Those arguments wear thin after so many years. I don’t expect Pitt to play 4 traditional top 20 opponents in the non-con, but one would be nice. Or how about a rivalry game (insert Hoopies here)? To paraphrase Dr. Evil, throw us a frickin’ bone here!
I’ve come to the conclusion that it ain’t gonna change. This is how Jamie wants it and who am I to judge? But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Well, for the next hour or so anyhow! LOL
At my city office today- one block from MSG. Looking forward to beers and seeing the boys in person!
The later one will be harder to do, but there’s no excuse for the first one, but Dixon needs to undo both perceptions ASAP. Fortunately Pitt is perceived as an annual BB power and one that’s really tough to beat at home, and that’s most important.
Article quotes, “Donald wins with anticipation at the line of scrimmage. He worked all season with defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield to break down offenses, offensive lineman tendencies, offensive schemes. They would hole up for hours, either in defensive line meetings or one-on-one, to assess what Donald would face on Saturdays.”
Maybe all of the Pitt’s defensive coaches aren’t moronic one eyed cretines after all.
Notrocketscience – I like it! The Ditka helmet. I would take it as an annual throwback, or over the fighting groundhog any day.
The Panthers are 10-0 and outscoring opponents by an average of 21 points per game. Wow. Impressive, right? Not really. No one knows how good this team truly is because the nonconference slate is loaded with home games and cupcakes — the Panthers’ wins have come against Savannah State, Fresno State, Howard, Lehigh, Texas Tech, Stanford, Duquesne, Penn State, Loyola Marymount and Youngstown State. Seven have been in their own building, one more in Pittsburgh and the other two in Brooklyn against teams from west of the Mississippi.
I’m impressed with Lamar Patterson’s production. He leads the team in scoring at 16.4 points and is also averaging 4.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists, but the only possible tournament team these guys have played is Stanford — and the Cardinal could well wind up in the NIT.
Pittsburgh faces Cincinnati at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in the Jimmy V event, but the Bearcats are also a fringe NCAA tournament team, and that game is followed by two more cupcakes at the Pete, against Cal Poly and Albany, before ACC play gets underway.
