Posting will be a little light today as I have business that actually takes me more than 50 feet from an internet connection. Hopefully the republic will survive.
Marquette pulled off the big win last night, and are still catching their breath before they can even turnaround to face Pitt. Marquette has done two things Pitt hasn’t this year. They’ve beaten UConn and Georgetown. Yeah, they did it on their home court, and Pitt lost in away games, but Pitt is heading to that court so it is a very tough game tomorrow night.
The team knows it needs to keep winning as it can’t help but peek to March.
“We came into this year thinking we were going to win 20 games. A lot of people didn’t,” said sophomore guard Keith Benjamin, who has scored 31 points off the bench in the Panthers’ past two games. “It’s really not that important to us right now. We know we’re in the (NCAA) tournament now, but we’re still going to come out and play hard. We want more wins, as many as we can get this season from this team.”
Benjamin hesitated, then bit his lower lip and cocked his head just slightly while fixing his eyes in reflection on the floor ahead of him.
“Right now,” he said, finally, nodding his head in confirmation, “we’ve totally come together, and it’s going to be something special for the rest of the year.”
…
A clean sweep of the team’s remaining four regular-season games would give the Panthers a 24-3 mark and place them in prime position for a first-round bye in the Big East tournament in March.“I think we’re supposed to win the rest of the games we play in,” Benjamin said. “We’re going to come out and play hard and try and get a win at Marquette.”
It’s debatable whether the Panthers will sweep their remaining games. The road ahead is tough, beginning with the rematch against Marquette, which owns a victory over No. 1 Connecticut.
Later, there are rematches with Providence at home and at No. 11 West Virginia, as well as the home finale against Seton Hall, which, like Pitt, has defeated WVU this season.
Pitt is looking to snare itself a possible 2 seed in the NCAA.
The Panthers (20-3, 9-3) are in contention for a No. 2 seed at the moment and have an outside shot at a No. 1 seed if they win their final four regular-season games and the Big East tournament. Even if they split their final four regular-season games, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Pitt would drop any lower than a No. 4 or 5 seed.
When Pitt advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2002, ’03 and ’04, the Panthers were a No. 2 or No. 3 seed. Last season, Pitt was a No. 9 seed and lost to Pacific in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“I definitely think playing for a higher seed is very important,” Benjamin said. “If you open up the tournament playing somebody from a very small conference … getting that first one is the most important thing in that tournament. We’re trying to get that first win so we can get that second win, so we can get back in the Sweet 16 and break the curse.”
I’m guessing Benjamin was made available for interviews yesterday.
I have to be honest, I doubt Pitt will get a 2 seed unless it ends up in the Big East Championship game. Even though Pitt is #6 in the RPI. Pitt will be looking at a #3 or #4 seed. Pitt will take abuse for its non-con SOS as usual unless teams like Auburn and Penn State get hot in their tournaments to push their RPIs under 100.
I don’t care if ESPN.com’s power rankings have Pitt in the 2 seed group. Look at how far over the board the ESPN.com “experts” have Pitt. Andy Katz — who has been very positive to Pitt, so let’s not have any bias claims — has somehow moved Pitt to 16 behind BC and NC State. That’s just mindboggling.
I have finally come up with a theory why Florida kept staying above Pitt in the polls and even most of the power rankings despite Pitt having as good a record and a better SOS. The people doing the rankings have a hard time putting 3 teams (not from the ACC) ahead of all teams from any one power/BCS conference. Sure the SEC is down, but to put 3 BE teams (or Big 12 or 11 for argument’s sake) ahead of the best team in the SEC just “feels” wrong. Florida can now fall below Pitt, though, because Tennessee can be subbed in their place.
