It feels like a lifetime ago when former head coach Jamie Dixon was regularly taking Pittsburgh to postseason success. Across his thirteen years leading the Panthers, Dixon took this program to 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an Elite Eight run back in 2009. However, after Dixon’s departure in 2016, the Panthers would finish below .500 for six consecutive seasons.
Pittsburgh bounced back nicely under Jeff Capel III with a 3rd place finish in the ACC and a trip to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, but this team was on the wrong side of the bubble last season. The Selection Committee is not inherently influenced by past or recent decisions, but it sure looks like the Panthers are bound for the same fate.
The season got off to a solid start, with a 12-2 record, wins in their first three conference games, and a nice Quad 1 road victory at Ohio State back in late November. Pittsburgh looked like a team that could be right up there in the ACC standings, but this team just didn’t live up to that expectation.
Pitt Basketball’s falloff this season needs to be studied.
— Tennis World (@TennisWrld) February 26, 2025
I don’t care if you think they were never good. This season has still been one hell of a collapse. Definitely not helping the ACC’s cause.
The Panthers lost by 29 points at Duke on January 7th and it all started to tumble from there. Subsequent home losses to Clemson and Louisville would follow, and although those are the three best teams in the conference, the ACC losses didn’t stop. The Panthers watched their NET and other metrics tumble as the losses kept snowballing, including tough performances against teams like Notre Dame, Virginia, and Wake Forest this month.
Their situation was already dire before this week, but Tuesday night’s 6-point home loss to Georgia Tech may have been the nail in the coffin. Another disappointing defensive effort and a failure to defend their homecourt now sees the Panthers at just 7-10 in league play. Their NET has tumbled all the way to 58 after being in the Top 10 in that metric just over two months ago in December.
OH NO PITT. A wide open layup would’ve tied it, instead GT will steal a win in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/MFpE0UUAaQ
— Herald Hoops (@HeraldHoops) February 26, 2025
What has really hurt the Panthers is that that performance against Ohio State remains their only Quad 1 victory. The ACC is really weak this season and they’ve blown their chances against the stronger teams in the conference. Whether or not we’re at the point where Pittsburgh needs an ACC Tournament title, this team cannot afford further losses, and this weekend’s rematch at Louisville will be a significant challenge.
They’ve lost a flurry of games as the betting favorite and are trending in a terrible direction, but the final story may not be written on this team yet. After all, a different ACC squad in NC State ended the regular season on a bad note before catching fire in the ACC Tournament and the Big Dance. Can these Panthers turn things around before it’s too late?