Pitt Feels Disrespected by NCAA Tournament Seed
PITTSBURGH -- Despite being seeded lower, the Pitt Panthers finished higher in the ACC standings than NC State, won three more games than West Virginia and ended the year with more Quad 1 wins than NCAA Tournament-bound Maryland, Auburn, Creighton, Boise State and Illinois.
Pitt is glad and grateful to be back in the Big Dance after years of mediocrity, but the players have eyes and ears and know how this tournament works. Being sent to the First Four like they did isn't exactly a compliment.
“It’s no secret we’re in the First Four so that’s something we talked about as a group," starting point guard Nelly Cummings said. "We definitely want to go out and make a point in that first game because we feel like we should have gotten a higher seed.”
Head coach Jeff Capel said he and the team felt "comfortable and confident" that they'd see "Pitt" spelled out in the bracket on Selection Sunday, but even he feels like they suffered from the fact that their league is underrated. Still, he has tried to let go of those objections and focus on proving popular perception wrong on the court.
"I don’t think our league gets the respect I think it should get, but there’s nothing I can do about that except for us to go out and hopefully play well and for all the teams in our league to perform well,” Capel said.
Starting forward Blake Hinson is trying to do the same but he also doesn't want the Panthers to forget all that they've accomplished. They're in the NCAA Tournament for a reason and should walk in with an attitude that reflects that.
“We can’t forget what we’ve done in the past," Hinson said. "We’re going to bring that swag to the court, to March Madness. We’re going to bring that same energy.”
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