Louisville's Rick Pitino calls Pitt game a must-win

A few weeks ago, Louisville was looking like the best team in the Big East. Now? Not so much.

The Cardinals have lost three straight games since ascending as the No. 1 team in the nation. The most recent loss, a two-point defeat on the road to Georgetown this weekend. That's got Rick Pitino in a bit of a panic as you can imagine - so much so that he's calling the Pitt game on Monday a must win:

“We have to get this win. It‘s a must game for us,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, whose Cardinals have lost three consecutive games since ascending to the top of the national rankings. “Because four (in a row), now you‘re on the verge of getting a sub-.500 record in the league, and you don‘t want to mess with that.”

I guess I get it, but a loss to Pitt wouldn't mean their season's over. Louisville lost to Syracuse, possibly the best team in the conference by two points. They lost to Georgetown on the road by two points. Those aren't bad losses by any means. The most shocking defeat was the nine-point road loss to Villanova, but they just beat Syracuse on Saturday. That loss could turn out to be not as bad as initially thought.

While Pitino may want to paint the picture that Louisville is in a dire situation, I'm not sure that's really the case. But losing four in a row isn't ideal and since Louisville doesn't exactly have a ton of great wins, I get his point.

Getting Louisville fresh off of wins than losses would have been the preferred scenario. But with three straight defeats, the Panthers will appear to have their full attention.