Pitt Continues Fall in NET Rankings

The Pitt Panthers suffered another drop in the NET Rankings after yet another loss.
Jan 18, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts on the sidelines against the Clemson Tigers during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Jan 18, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts on the sidelines against the Clemson Tigers during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers lost their last matchup this past weekend, continuing their descent down the NET Rankings.

The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) uses a Team Value Index (TVI), that rewards teams for winning tough matches, especially away from home. It also uses an adjusted net efficiency that values facing tougher opponents, getting wins on the road and defeating lower-ranking opponents by large margins.

This replaced the RPI ahead of the 2018-19 season, as the NCAA wanted a way to simplify how they look at teams' performances heading into the NCAA Tournament. The RPI used five-components, compared to the NET's two.

The NET breaks down wins and losses in four quadrants, with the best wins are in Quad 1 and the worst losses are in Quad 4.

Quad 1
Home: 1-30
Netural: 1-50
Away: 1-75

Quad 2
Home: 31-75
Neutral: 51-100
Away: 76-135

Quad 3
Home: 76-160
Neutral: 101-200
Away: 136-240

Quad 4
Home: 161+
Neutral: 201+
Away: 241+

Pitt battled hard with Clemson, but would fall in overtime, 78-73 at home on Jan. 18, marking their fourth straight defeat, all coming in ACC play.

They suffered a blowout 76-47 defeat to then ranked No. 4 Duke on the road on Jan. 7, a close 82-78 defeat to Louisville at home on Jan. 11, ending a 15-game winning streak at the Petersen Events Center and a road loss, 82-70 to Florida State on Jan. 15

The loss to the Tigers (No. 31) is just outside Quad 1 for a Quad 2 home loss. It also dropped the Panthers two spots to No. 33, which keeps them as a Quad 2 home matchup going forward.

Pitt has dropped 23 spots in the NET Rankings since the start of 2025, falling three spots to No. 13 after their 86-74 win over Cal (No. 128) on New Year's Day and moving down two spots to No. 15 after the 83-68 win over Stanford (No. 78) on Jan. 4, both home Quad 3 victories.

The Panthers also dropped five spots from No. 15 to No. 20, following their defeat to the Blue Devils (No. 2), a Quad 1 road loss, seven spots after their Quad 1 home loss to the Cardinals (No. 29) to No. 27 and four spots to No. 31 after their loss to the Seminoles (No. 66), a Quad 1 road defeat,

Pitt is 2-5 in Quad 1 matches, with their two other losses coming vs. then ranked No. 19 Wisconsin (No. 21) in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Championship on Nov. 24, 81-75, and a 90-57 road blowout vs. Mississippi State (No. 17) on Dec. 4 in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The blowout win over rival West Virginia (No. 30), 86-62 at home in the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 15 and the comeback 91-90 overtime road win over Ohio State (No. 36) on Nov. 29 are their two victories.

A win against LSU (No. 69) in the Greenbrier Tip-Off, 74-63 on Nov. 22 is their other Quad 2 game, along with the Clemson defeat.

The Panthers are 12-6 overall and 3-4 in the ACC, the fourth highest ranked team in the NET Rankings in their conference.

They have three other Quad 3 wins as well, vs. Murray State (No. 143) on Nov. 8, 83-68, on the road vs. Virginia Tech (No. 184) in their ACC opener on Dec. 7, 64-59 and moved up from Quad 4 to Quad 3.

The five other victories they have are against Quad 4 teams. This includes Radford (No. 159) in the season opener on Nov. 4, 96-56, Gardner-Webb (No. 227) on Nov. 11, 83-64, VMI (No. 314) on Nov. 18, 93-48, Eastern Kentucky (No. 232) on Dec. 11, 96-56, and Sam Houston State (No. 186) on Dec. 21, 110-78.

They'll look to use their strong non-conference showing and get back to winning ways in the ACC, as they fight for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, after just missing out last season.

Pitt won't play midweek, but will hit the road this weekend, facing rival Syracuse on Jan. 25 for a 12:30 p.m. tip-off. This is a Quad 3 matchup for Pitt, a must win if they want to stay on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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