PITT Got Big Wins, But Were Plagued By Bad Losses

February was the best basketball the PITT Panthers played all season.

The Panthers finished off January with an upset win over No. 8 Notre Dame and took that momentum into February, defeated Syracuse twice and took down No. 12 North Carolina on Valentine's Day.

Jamie Dixon and his Panthers had been riding on the bubble for weeks. Those wins over the Irish, Orange and Tar Heels were moving them closer towards a bid. Each win brought more optimism.

Then March came.

Last Sunday's game in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest should have been the Panthers golden opportunity to beat the Demon Deacons and boost their resume coming into their final two games against Miami (FL) and Florida State.

They choked. They followed that up with a 67-63 loss on senior night against the Hurricanes, that unofficially (but very soon to be official), ended any chance of PITT getting into the NCAA Tournament, unless they were to win the ACC Tournament. Saturday afternoon, a loss to Florida State made it three straight losses to finish the regular season and set them up as a lower seed for the conference tournament. With a very top-heavy conference, the chances of that happening are slim. 

The 2014-15 season for the Panthers has been hit and miss. More miss than hit.

In the ACC, the Panthers lost to Louisville twice. They dropped games to lowly Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Throw in losses to Clemson and bubble teams N.C. State and Miami (FL).

The Panthers non-conference losses include Hawaii, San Diego State, Indiana and Oakland. PITT has taken some flack for their weak non-conference schedule, and those losses do nothing to pad the resume.

If there is any consolation to the Panthers falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid, it is that Pittsburgh started playing better as they went through conference play.

In mid-January, many were ready to give up on PITT and just hope that a C.B.I. bid came the Panthers way. At least the Panthers made the last month interesting in Pittsburgh.

Still, there's one more way to get into the tournament and possibly take away a bid from that sixth ACC team: win the ACC Tournament in Greensboro. It is a long shot, but everyone counted Connecticut out in 2011. When they entered the Big East Tournament, they never lost another game and beat Butler for the national title in Indianapolis.

Most have accepted PITT's fate will be an invite to the N.I.T. Still better than the C.B.I.

The best bet for a Pittsburgh school getting a bid would be Robert Morris. They are in the championship game in the Northeast Conference tournament and are looking for their first bid since 2010.