Pittsburgh Basketball: Matchup with Michigan most important of the non-conference
Pittsburgh Basketball now knows its opponent in the Legends Classic in the Michigan Wolverines. They instantly become the most formidable opponent in the non-con.
The non-conference schedule for Pittsburgh Basketball was released over a month ago, with the 11 opponents set outside of ACC play. Nine opponents were established, including the Backyard Brawl rivalry with West Virginia, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup with Northwestern, and a return road trip at Vanderbilt.
The other six games are viewed as “buy games”, in which the Panthers will be viewed as big favorites against inferior mid-major opponents. That left two, the matchups in the 2022 Legends Classic MTE. The three potential foes included Arizona State, Michigan, and VCU. It’s clear that the Wolverines are the toughest one of the three, potentially getting ranked in the preseason polls and returns an All-American big man in Hunter Dickinson.
Turns out, that’s who Pittsburgh will be facing in the semifinals of the event.
NEWS: Michigan will play Pitt and Arizona State will face VCU in the first round of the 2022 Legends Classic at the Barclays Center, according to multiple sources.https://t.co/KiQlLzgWwC
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 17, 2022
Michigan, by a mile, becomes the toughest non-conference opponent for Pittsburgh this upcoming season. Not only that, there’s a good chance they’ll be the only at-large team the Panthers see in the non-con. That puts a ton of pressure on the ACC program in this game alone if the postseason is anywhere in the cards.
The Wolverines matchup will be tough but a loss won’t hurt Pittsburgh. But if they fall to the loser of Arizona State or VCU in the Legends Classic and go 0-2 in the event, that would be a major setback. The issue overall is that the rest of the non-conference has more landmines than opportunities so the team would have to go 9-0 to offset the 0-2 worst-case scenario results.
Next. Strength/weakness of each top-25 team. dark
The Panthers have the pieces to make a game with Michigan interesting and a big man in John Hugley that can compete with Dickinson at the center position. Bigger upsets have occurred in college basketball and Pittsburgh will be hoping to get one of its own because a win would have massive consequences for the program’s momentum and resume.