The new rankings came out yesterday and Pitt is 19 in the AP Poll, up from 25, and 21 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, up from 23. Granted played an easy non-conference game early in the week against Robert Morris, I personally feel like Pitt was disrespected in the ESPN/USA Today Poll even after their triple overtime victory against rival West Virginia. Just looking at teams that jumped Pitt are Temple and Vanderbilt. Temple beat Rhode Island, and Vanderbilt beat then 12 Tennessee at home. One would think beating WVU is a more quality win then beating Rhode Island, but I guess the voters didn’t see it that way. I can see Vanderbilt jumping Pitt more then I can see Temple jumping them, Vandy pounded Tennessee the whole game, Pitt required triple OT to put away WVU. I figured Pitt would be about 18-19 in both polls and higher in ESPN/USA Today poll.

Joe Lunardi has Pitt listed as a 5 seed in Midwest Region this week in his Bracketology. This would put Pitt in Kansas’ bracket and a possible round two game against Gonzaga in Spokane. This seed feels right for me, right now I would call Pitt a low 5/high 6 seed. Going by Lunardi’s bracket, this would put Pitt as the 4th 5 seed. No complaints here, nice job Joe. For those wondering, Pitt has a RPI of 14 and a strength of schedule of 9.

Pitt is currently tied with West Virginia for third in the Big East, but loses in the tiebreaker and is currently 4th in the Big East. The two have two shared games in Providence and Villanova. I give a slight edge in favorable schedule to WVU for now and especially this week with their two games coming at Providence and against Seton Hall. What’s really important for Pitt is staying in the top 4 of the Big East and getting the double bye, because unless a miracle occurs, Pitt isn’t winning the regular season Big East championship.

Pitt isn’t too fortunate in scheduling this week as they have two very tough matchups in at Marquette on Thursday at 9:00 and against Villanova on Sunday at 12:00. Pitt can never seem to top Marquette no matter who is playing for Marquette or how good or bad they are. Marquette is nipping at Pitt’s heels for the 4th seed in the Big East and a win here gives Pitt a little breathing room. Sunday is all about revenge and what could have been for Pitt after last year’s Elite Eight showdown with Villanova and seeing Scottie Reynold run down the court to send Nova to the Final Four. While Pitt is not as good as last year, you know the video will be running for the players who remember the heart break.

It should be a fun week for the Panthers and Panther fans this week.

Hail To Pitt!

Editors Note: It’s my fault this showed up today. Mike_B had submitted this article yesterday, but I’m responsible for the delay.

Pitt has looked more and more like a Big East contender these past couple of games and it can be seen in the polls and Bracketology. Pitt went from being unranked two weeks ago to being ranked 15 in the AP Poll and 16 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. In Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology on ESPN.com, Pitt went from being out of the tournament two weeks ago to being a 4 seed in the latest Bracketology.

This is a game between the two winningest Big East teams of the decade and they renew their rivalry tonight. Once again, Pitt looks to end an opponent’s undefeated record at home as UConn is 11-0 at home, while Pitt is 3-0 on the road. It will be a hostile environment for the relatively young Panthers.

UConn coming off of a loss where they blew a 19 point half time lead is not good for the Panthers. Look for Jim Calhoun to have his Huskies back in line when they play the Panthers tonight. Pitt is going to need a little luck and be hot from the outside to win tonight. It’s going to be a game of UConn’s height versus Pitt’s perimeter game and speed. The only height Pitt has is in Gary McGhee at 6’10” and unless he has become or channels the spirit of DeJuan Blair tonight, there isn’t much McGhee will do. Jamie Dixon should look towards a faster lineup tonight against UConn’s tremendous transition game. Ashton Gibbs needs to stay hot tonight. The 5 men who need to get the majority of the minutes tonight have to be Gibbs, Jermaine Dixon, Gilbert Brown, Brad Wanamaker, and Travon Woodall. Tonight would be a perfect place for a breakout game from Dante Taylor.

Pitt needs to follow these keys to victory for any chance to win tonight:

1. Gibbs stays hot
2. Slow down UConn’s transition game
3. Contain Jermaine Dyson
4. Hit the makeable shots (Free Throws, the bunnies, high percentage)
5. Be aggressive

This will be another brutal test for the Panthers, a win makes them a perfect 4-0 in the conference and would make UConn 2-3 and really set them back in the conference.

Maybe I’m being a homer, but I sense another upset for the Panthers, so fans get your Colhoun Crying Towel out.

Prediction: 74-69 Pitt

AP Top 25

1. Kansas (56) 13-0 1,614
2. Texas (8) 13-0 1,550
3. Kentucky (1) 15-0 1,489
4. Purdue 13-0 1,457
5. Duke 12-1 1,348
6. Villanova 12-1 1,279
7. Syracuse 13-1 1,173
8. West Virginia 11-1 1,147
9. North Carolina 11-3 1,098
10. Michigan State 11-3 1,009
11. Kansas State 13-1 996
12. Georgetown 11-1 911
13. Connecticut 10-3 760
14. Mississippi 11-2 699
15. New Mexico 14-1 667
16. Tennessee 10-2 649
17. Wisconsin 12-2 526
18. Florida State 12-2 446
19. Gonzaga 11-3 351
20. Georgia Tech 11-2 203
21. Temple 11-3 173
22. Texas Tech 12-2 166
23. Pittsburgh 12-2 156
24. Washington 10-3 149
25. Brigham Young 14-1 145

Source: ESPN.com

Before you Pitt Blog fans get too upset, remember that the BCS Rankings mean nothing to Pitt at this point. There are three things for upset fans to consider right now. First off, there’s no way that Pitt is getting into a National Championship game this year with the NC State loss on the record. Second, if Pitt wins the Big East, they’ll get the automatic BCS Bowl bid anyway. And finally, if the Panthers finish second or third in the Big East, there’s virtually no chance that they’ll get an at-large bid. Right now, all that should concern Panther fans is the possibility of winning the Big East.

That brings us to an interesting scenario. Pitt has a good chance at the Big East title this year. The Panthers have three games left: Notre Dame, WVU, and Cincinnati. The Notre Dame game could have implications when it comes to the Gator Bowl. Notre Dame’s contract with the Gator Bowl requires the Irish to finish within 2 wins of the second place Big East team to get invited. If Pitt finishes in second place in the Big East and wants to avoid going to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, they need to beat both Notre Dame and WVU, as well as have Notre Dame drop at least one more game (to either UConn or Stanford). That would put Pitt at 10-2 and Notre Dame at 7-5. Pitt would then get an invite to the Gator Bowl.

But that doesn’t mean that Pitt must win against Notre Dame. In fact, Pitt could lose both the Notre Dame game and the WVU game and still win the Big East, thereby getting an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl Game. As long as Cincinnati beats WVU, the Cincinnati vs. Pitt game on December 5th will decide the Big East Champion.

It gets a bit more confusing when you try to map out all of the possible scenarios, but the bottom line is clear: Pitt needs to beat Cincinnati. That’s what Panther fans should be most concerned with right now. A win against Notre Dame will help Pitt, but only if Pitt loses to Cincy and Notre Dame drops another game after Pitt. Even then, it only helps the Panthers get into the Gator Bowl in an unlikely scenario. Pitt’s best shot at an exciting bowl game lies in winning the Big East.

Pitt’s loss to NC State is looking more awful by the week. NC State is now 3-5 overall and 0-4 in the ACC after losing yet again this past weekend.

The Big East had both ups and downs as far as the rankings were concerned. While Pitt moved up two spots in the BCS Rankings, Cincinnati moved up to the 5th spot (4th in the AP Poll, 7th in the USA Today Poll) after a win at Syracuse. WVU dropped from all three polls after their loss to USF. You won’t hear the Bulls complaining, however, as they climbed back into BCS Rankings at the 25th spot. USF also made its way to the 26th spot in both the AP Poll and USA Today Poll with their big win.

WVU isn’t down and out just yet. While not in the top 25, they still received a significant number of votes in both polls (30th in the AP Poll, 27th in the USA Today Poll).

Unfortunately for Panther fans, Pitt is unranked in the AP Preseason Poll as well. Pitt received only 4 votes and was listed by ESPN in the “Others Receiving Votes” category. That unofficially puts the Panthers at 47th place in the poll.

The Big East was again well represented with 5 teams making the top 25 cut in this poll as well: Villanova (5), WVU (8), UConn (12), Louisville (19), and Georgetown (20).

AP Preseason Poll:
1. Kansas
2. Michigan State
3. Texas
4. Kentucky
5. Villanova
6. North Carolina
7. Purdue
8. West Virginia
9. Duke
10. Tennessee
11. Butler
12. Connecticut
13. California
14. Washington
15. Michigan
16. Ohio State
17. Oklahoma
18. Mississippi State
19. Louisville
20. Georgetown
21. Dayton
22. Georgia Tech
23. Illinois
24. Clemson
25. Minnesota

Source: ESPN.com