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The preseason USA Today NCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Poll was released yesterday afternoon, and Pitt was 4th in the "Others Receiving Votes" category putting them at #29.
Other ACC schools also joined the poll with Duke (#3), UNC (#6), UVA (#8), Louisville (#9), and Syracuse (#24) making appearances. Notre Dame, FSU, and Miami also received votes. The ACC should be a deep league this year, and have a lot of top flight teams. Pitt will have to beat some good teams both at home and away to finish in the top half of the ACC standings this year.
Considering Pitt didn't add any 5-star blue chip prospects in this year's recruiting class, I take it as a sign of respect for Dixon that Pitt's getting attention after an average season last year. After the down year in 2011-2012, it seems other coaches and the media have Dixon back to his consistent tournament appearances. While I do agree with them that this team will likely find a way into the NCAA tournament, it will be interesting to see how they do it this year. Just like every year.