PItt should move up with Ohio State and Kansas losing

written by Emily Mallon


Pitt is the Rodney Dangerfield of college basketball... they get no respect! With number 1 Kansas losing last night, Pitt should move up in the rankings next week if they continue their winning streak. Is Pitt a number 1 caliber team? Of course they are. Will they get the number 1 spot? No.


Ohio State only has one loss coming from a nationally ranked Wisconsin team. Pitt has 2 losses, so that means we'll be ranked below OSU. But if that logic works, shouldn't we be the number 2 team in the nation? Texas has 3 loses (1 coming from Pitt), so there's no way they should be ranked ahead of us. KU has the same record as us now, but they just lost to unranked Kansas State while Pitt beat WVU and Villanova on the road in one week. 

Where's the love for the Panthers? They currently sit at the top of the toughest conference in all of college basketball. The talking heads are saying the Big East will get at least 10 teams into the NCAA Tournament, so how about giving some love to the best team in that conference? 

If they're judging by record and difficulty of schedule, the Panthers could not fall below number 2 in the country. Kansas and Texas play in the cupcake Big 12 (Texas beat Baylor and Oklahoma last week, while Kansas took on Iowa State and lost to Kansas State). I'll say it again, Pitt beat WVU and number 10 Villanova on the road without their leading scorer! 

Sure, the Big 12 has Kansas, Texas, and decent Missouri and Texas A&M teams, but that's nothing compared to Notre Dame, Louisville, Georgetown, Connecticut, Syracuse, St. Johns, West Virginia, I can keep going but I'm sure you get the point. If Big 12 teams had to play in the Big East, they'd have more losses and be in the middle of the pack.

If things go as they should, the rankings should be as follows: 

1. Ohio State 24-1
2. Pittsburgh 23-2
3. Kansas 24-2
4. Texas 22-3
5. Duke 23-2