Pitt & ESPN Analytics

[DC_Area_Panther]

ESPN Analytics has Pitt the underdog in 2 of 8 OOC games (Ohio State & Mississippi State). The other OOC game is the second game at the Greenbrier and there is no projection. If Pitt gets UCF it probably projects as a win; if Wisconsin a loss.

Then, it has Pitt the underdog in 10 of its 20 ACC games with a mid- season ACC stretch that suggests a possible 4-5 game losing streak.

Have to believe this team will prove to be a lot better than that forecast suggests.

 

[Pittnerski]

Those certainly aren’t promising odds as the ACC will only get 4-5 teams in the tournament

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

The pre-season ratings by KenPom, Torvik and now, ESPN Analytics are not Pitt favorable. KenPom has Pitt #37 and Torvik has Pitt #50. Should they prove accurate Pitt would barely squeeze into the NCAA tourney with an at-large bid with a #37 end of season rating--at #50 they would be clearly out; and if they were to finish with only 18-20 wins as ESPN Analytics suggests then they would not even be on the bubble.

In general, the preseason ratings are not only not Pitt favorable---they continue to reflect the prognosticators world view that the ACC is Duke and UNC top heavy and that the rest of the ACC mediocre at best.

KenPom has his ACC top 6 this way: Duke #2, UNC #15, Clemson #24, Pitt #37, Wake For #44, NCState #53

Torvik has his ACC top 6 this way: Duke#2, UNC #5, Miami #26, Wake For #31, Clemson #44, Pitt #50

Should these pre-season rating prove to hold -up; both KenPom and Torvik are suggesting the ACC would likely only get 4-NCAA tourney bids (although after Duke and UNC they disagree on which other ACC teams predict getting the remaining two bids).