Looking ahead to the Big East Tournament

Following Sunday's victory over St. John's, Pitt stands at 9-6 in the conference standings, tied for 7th in the standings. Due to Connecticut's ban from the tournament and a head-to-head win over Villanova, the Panthers would be 6th if the tournament started today and would play the winner of Rutgers-USF in the second part of the night portion on Wednesday.

Here's how the tournament would look like if the season ended today:

First Round

#11 vs. #14: Rutgers (4-11) vs. USF (1-13)

#12 vs. #13: Seton Hall (3-13) vs. DePaul (2-12)

Second Round

#8 vs. #9: St. John's (8-7) vs. Providence (7-8)

#5 vs. #12/#13: Notre Dame (10-5) vs. Seton Hall/DePaul

#7 vs. #10: Villanova (9-7) vs. Cincinnati (7-8)

#6 vs. #11/#14: Pittsburgh (9-6) vs. Rutgers/USF

Quarterfinals

#1 vs. #8/#9: Georgetown (11-3) vs. St. John's/Providence

#4 vs. #5/#12/#13: Syracuse (10-5) vs. Notre Dame/Seton Hall/DePaul

#2 vs. #7/#10: Marquette (11-4) vs. Villanova/Cincinnati

#3 vs. #6/#11/#14: Louisville (10-4) vs. Pittsburgh/Rutgers/USF

So right now, Pitt would be looking at a potential quarterfinal shot against Louisville. But many of the teams ahead of Pitt play games against one another while Pitt is looking at a likely 3-0 stretch over their final three games. Georgetown still has to go to UConn and play Syracuse. The Orange still has a game with Louisville while the Golden Eagles and Cardinals still have games against Notre Dame.

What it all means is that Pitt can easily move up in the standings in the next two weeks, perhaps up to a top four seed if things go their way. We know how much Pitt has struggled with the double-bye so it might not favor them. But I'd rather see Pitt get two days off then see them play a day earlier and lose to a team below them in standings.

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