The Pittsburgh Panthers entered ACC play with a ton of hype and momentum, set to be an NCAA Tournament team. With a home blowout win over rival West Virginia and a road win over Ohio State, they were projected to be around a 5 seed for the Big Dance.
However, things have taken a bad turn for the Panthers after their 3-0 start in ACC play. They have since gone 2-6, including losses to all of the top teams in the conference, such as Duke, Louisville, Clemson, and Wake Forest, as well as a road loss at Florida State.
Just a horrendous Quad 3 home loss to NET #134 Virginia, and by margin, that will surely put a major damper on all seven metrics for Pittsburgh.
— JBR Bracketology (@JBRBracketology) February 4, 2025
Pitt goes from squarely on the bubble to at least four teams out pending other results.
Panthers had a very good non conference and… https://t.co/LTQXiZAg8z pic.twitter.com/m5ZD2hHIba
But the most disappointing defeat for Pittsburgh came on Monday night, at home to the Virginia Cavaliers. They’re an under .500 team with an interim coach after Tony Bennett retired before the start of the season. But you wouldn’t have known that in the first half versus the Panthers, up by as many as 20 points, dominating them early on.
Jeff Capel: "This is probably as bad of a performance of any team I've ever coached. And it was embarrassing and I'm sorry to the crowd, the students, the fans. It's my responsibility."
— stephen thompson (@stephenethom) February 4, 2025
Pittsburgh was lifeless throughout and had one of its worst efforts on both ends of the floor, falling 73-57 to Virginia. That was easily the worst loss of the season, causing the once-elite metrics to fall down, including its NET ranking to drop 10 spots.
Coming into the game, the Panthers were around the Last 4 Byes and Last 4 In Range. But after that Quad 3 setback, they’re now on the wrong side of the bubble in most projected Bracketology fields. The game was so bad that Coach Jeff Capel had to apologize for the team’s efforts on Monday night.
The Panthers truly picked a worst possible time to have such a dreadful performance, with its season now on the ropes. The good news is that they have a pair of Quad 1 opportunities coming up, taking on North Carolina and SMU on the road. Now, they may have to win both of those games just to have a chance in the home stretch of ACC play.