ESPN's college basketball guru Joe Lunardi released his latest bracket and in it, he now has the Panthers as a No. 8 seed.

In his last post, Lunardi had Pitt as a No. 9 seed even despite the loss to Louisville. The No. 8 seed also is before the Syracuse win, so the Panthers could be even higher when the next projections come out.

If Pitt gets into the tournament as a No. 8 or No. 9, I'll be happy that they made it. but that's far from an ideal situation as they'll be playing a No. 1 seed (possibly close to their own backyard) if they win their first game. But even if that's the case, at least making the tournament is a welcome situation compared to last year's disaster.

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