A short time ago, I looked the major bracket predictions for the NCAA Tournament. ESPN, which had the Panthers as a No. 9 seed, isn't ready to call Pitt definitively in.
In the site's Bubble Watch, five ACC teams are locks - North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Miami, and Notre Dame. Syracuse is shown as a team 'with work to do.'
The Panthers are not a lock, but also not listed as having work to do. Pitt, however, is depicted as a team that 'should be in.'
Pittsburgh [20-9 (9-8), RPI: 44, SOS: 35] After spending the season staying in a very confined lane -- that unremarkable yet solid lane where you beat the teams you should beat and lose to the teams you should lose to -- Pittsburgh's past week seems entirely out of character.