Pitt loses to St.Johns in disappointing fashion.

written by Emily Mallon


Pitt's loss to St. John's on Saturday afternoon caused them to drop in the ESPN coaches poll from #4 for #6. The AP poll (voted on by sports writers) has the Panthers at #4. The good news is Pitt received 12 first place votes in the AP and 4 in the Coaches poll. The bad news is Duke is now the number 1 team in both polls.


Duke is a team that will get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to NCAA tournament seeding. If you look at the top 5 teams fighting for 4 number 1 seeds, Duke is not going to get bumped. The ACC is weak this year, so the Blue Devils will probably end the regular season without anymore losses. Texas and Kansas will play each other again so one of those teams will get at least one more loss. Ohio St. is likely to only lose 1 more and that's if they have another awful day as they did yesterday. 

Pitt's remaining schedule is the toughest by far. They still have to play West Virginia, Villanova, and Louisville in the regular season. Then, it's time for the heavyweight Big East Tournament. The likelihood of Pittsburgh winning every game from now until the NCAA tournament committee picks their number 1 seeds is slim. The Panthers body of work is worthy of the number 1 spot in the polls this week. (Seth Davis, Doug Gottlieb, and Dana O'Neil agree). Joe Lunardi, ESPN's bracketologist, still has Pitt as the number 2 team in the country and a 1 seed in the Tournament. 

If things worked like Joe Lunardi's braketology system, Pitt wouldn't have to worry. He bases it on record, SOS (strength of schedule), and RPI. Unfortunately, the committee doesn't follow Lunardi's formula. They seem to favor teams that have won the Championship before. Duke and Kansas will always get the benefit of the doubt and be a number 1 seed. The Big 10 has a lot of pull in the selection room, so don't expect Ohio St. to be left out either. 

I expect Pitt to be a 2 seed. It's not what they wanted, but Pitt's goal from the beginning of the season was to make it to the Final Four. No matter what seed, or who they have to play, the Panthers need to get to the Final Four. Maybe then, Pitt will finally get respect and rewarded for their body of work. 

Things I took away from the St. John's game:

Ashton Gibbs is ready to go - He scored 26 points and looked unstoppable in his return from a knee injury

Panthers can't only rely on Gibbs - Gibbs had a career high 26 points and the next leading scorer for Pitt had 7 (McGhee). Brad Wanamaker needs to be more aggressive and look to score each game. He creates offense and problems for opposing D. 

Out of bounds is not out of bounds at the Garden - Pitt fans were crying foul when Hardy scored on Gilbert Brown with  1.2 seconds left. He looked out of bounds from most angles but the ref didn't call him out although he was standing right there. Soon after, national media from ESPN and CBS stated what we all knew. Both feet went out of bounds therefore the basket should not have counted. The refs were horrible the entire game. No wonder St. John's has won against tough teams at the Garden... the opposing team is facing both the Red Storm and the referees.