Pitt Can Make Another Leap in ACC Standings

The Pitt Panthers can make another massive leap in the ACC standings this week.

Author:
Stephen Thompson
Feb 6, 2024 1:24 PM EST

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PITTSBURGH -- With multiple teams around the ACC sliding as the calendar turns from January to February, the Pitt Panthers are all of a sudden in position to make another huge leap in

By beating Miami at home to earn their seventh win in a row and move up to second place in the conference, Virginia opened the door for Pitt to leapfrog the Hurricanes into seventh place in the ACC standings should they beat NC State tomorrow night in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Pitt already made a major leap in the standings over the weekend, when they beat Notre Dame and moved from a three-way tie for the No. 10 spot into another three-way tie for eighth with Syracuse and Virginia Tech, thanks in part to losses from both those teams on the same day.

After starting 1-5 in ACC play, the Panthers have rattled off four wins in their last five games, including road wins over Duke and Georgia Tech and a comeback victory at home against Wake Forest.

While the Panthers have only the slimmest of chances to win the regular season conference title outright, they can continue to climb the ladder and better their seeding for the ACC Tournament. Stay in ninth place or higher, and Pitt would get at least a first-round bye and if they can climb to seventh, a shot at the fourth seed and a double-bye is within reach.

11th place Clemson could move into eighth place if they knock off league-leading North Carolina on the road tonight. So can Boston College, who is tied with the Tigers and hosts fifth-place Florida State tonight.

If the Eagles and Tigers win, they - alongside Pitt, Virginia Tech and Syracuse - would be tied with identical 5-6 records in eighth place and sit just two games back of fourth place NC State, who if the season ended today, would get a double-bye in the ACC Tournament.

The conference slate started slow for Pitt but they have rallied in a massive way to make themselves competitive in a crowded ACC.

The full ACC standings as of right now are below: