Revisiting Pitt’s Scheduling Crisis
Now with only one out of conference game remaining it is time to revisit an issue facing Panther teams past and present. Again I am talking about the weak out of conference scheduling.
I wrote before the season that Dixon’s scheduling for some time has left plenty to the imagination. After all but finishing out the out of conference scheduling this season I feel like again the issue needs to be revisited.
The reason for coming back to this has a lot to do with the parity between the last two seasons of Pitt basketball. Last season, as fans will remember, saw Pitt fall victim to an early upset to Hawaii. This season they were barely able to escape the clutches of Western Carolina. That Hawaii loss was a major reason Pitt was on the outside looking in throughout the later parts of the season. Now they did go on to suffer a losing streak at the stretch run that ensured Pitt would not make the dance, but even if they had finished in average fashion there was a good chance of not making it still.
That Hawaii loss is exactly why. Since Pitt had such an easy out of conference schedule last year a slip up against a not so impressive Hawaii team hurt their resume. Pitt only had two chances in out of conference play to prove something, at Indiana and in Honolulu versus San Diego State. And when we look back on those two games neither one of them was against a top tier opponent. Indiana ended up being a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while San Diego State was not much better with an eight seed.
Pitt losing those two out of conference games left Kansas State a 15-17 as their most recognizable win. That right there put all the pressure on ACC play for their Panthers, if they were unable to grab several big wins their tournament dreams were dead and that is exactly what happened. Ultimately that Pitt was not good enough for the tournament, but this scheduling could have a similar effect to this year’s squad.
Much like last year Pitt will end out of conference play with not much when it comes to big wins. Davidson is the best with an RPI ranking of 24th, but that same Davidson team lost to North Carolina by 33 so take that with a grain of salt. If you look at the rest of the schedule no other win jumps off of the page at you. Teams like Detroit, Duquesne, and Morehead State all have solid RPI rankings, however those should not be wins you hang your hat on.
Again just like last year’s team, they had only two chances to grab a significant out of conference win. One was in Okinawa against Gonzaga and the other was at home versus Purdue. Unfortunately, the Gonzaga game was called due to poor court conditions, it really is too bad because Pitt was leading at the half. Since then though Gonzaga has fallen from their preseason number 10 ranking to out of the top 25. Purdue also looked promising at times for the Panthers, but a late run ended their chance at the upset. Purdue is still holding steady at number 14 in the AP poll, but that matters little since Pitt failed to win.
All of that is exactly why this Pitt team finds themselves in an almost identical predicament as they were a year ago. Without putting together a strong performance in conference play, a tough ACC Conference I might add, the Panthers could have their bubble burst once more.
This Pitt team is clearly better than that of a year ago, but they have had few chances to prove it. That is why the season will again come down to a slim margin, as they take on their ACC schedule upcoming. At least they still have Maryland Eastern Shore left on the out of conference schedule, not sure how much a win like that would do though.
