Pitt in First Four Out in Latest Bracketology

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have played poorly in the past month and they now find themselves on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Pitt suffered their worst defeat of the season against Virginia at home on Feb. 4, struggling in all aspects of the game of basketball and losing 73-57.

The loss is Quad 3 in the NET Rankings, what the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses to determine who makes it in and who doesnt. It is their lowest of the season and with only Quad 1 win, the Panthers have a lack of strong wins to save them from bad defeats.

Pitt has lost six of their past eight games as well, with a four-game losing streak. This featured a 76-47 blowout 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, a road loss, 82-70 to Florida State on Jan. 15 and an overtime home loss to Clemson, 78-75 at home on Jan. 18.

They bounced back with back-to-back wins, 77-73 over rival Syracuse on the road on Jan. 25 and 73-65 vs. North Carolina at home on Jan. 28.

The Panthers then lost a close, 76-74 contest to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Feb. 1 and the defeat to the Cavaliers caps a poor month, dropping them to 14-8 overall and 5-6 in the ACC.

Michael DeCourcy of Fox Sports released his latest bracket forecast and has Pitt in the First Four Out, along with two other ACC schools in UNC and SMU, plus Xavier. He previously had Pitt in his "Last Four In."

Could your team receive an invite to the @CBBCrown? 👑 pic.twitter.com/gRmme8slJy
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 4, 2025

Despite the loss, other bracketologists still have Pitt in their NCAA Tournament field.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN dropped Pitt down to his "Last Four In" after previously having them in his "Last Four Byes."

He has Pitt facing No. 11 seed BYU, an at-large bid out of the Big 12, in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. The winner would face No. 6 Oregon in the First Round in the West Region at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

Joe Rexrode of The Athletic dropped Pitt to his "Last Four Byes' after previously having them as a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

He put Pitt as a No. 11 seed, going up against No. 6 Ole Miss in the First Round in the East Region at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

The winner would face the victory of No. 3 Marquette, the automatic qualifier out of the Big East, vs. No. 14 Middle Tennessee State, the automatic qualifier out of Conference USA, in the Second Round.

Pitt will have another tough matchup this weekend, as they travel to face North Carolina on Feb. 8.

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt