Memphis Loss Clears NCAA Tournament Path for Pitt
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are battling for one of a limited number of at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament on the final day of the regular season for the vast majority of teams in college basketball but early in the afternoon, they got a major boost from a big loss on the bubble.
Memphis, who had been holding on to a precarious spot on the bubble over the past couple of weeks, fell on the road, 92-84, to FAU in a notoriously unfriendly gym. That loss opens an opportunity for the Panthers to move up closer to the edge of the NCAA Tournament bubble before the postseason begins.
The Tigers had won four in a row, including an 78-74 upset over those same Owls, entering their final games of the regular season. It's a crushing loss for a team that sat as one of the First Four Out, according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi.
Pitt, meanwhile, is still one of the Next Four Out according to Lunardi and a First Four Out team according to Palm. They'll try to give their resume one last boost with a home game against N.C. State this weekend before heading to the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C. next week.
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