NCAA Tournament Bubble Watch: The Pitt Panthers Have Done Enough

While they are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Pittsburgh Panthers have assembled a quality body of work with time still to add on.

Pitt has seen its status as a national basketball power dwindle since moving from the Big East to the ACC, but head coach Jeff Capel has the program moving in a positive direction after things bottomed out several years back.

The Panthers are led this season by a talented group, with forward Blake Hinson establishing himself as one of the league's top scorers this season at 18.8 points per game.

Guards Ishmael Leggett and Carlton Carrington score and handle the ball well also, and post Federiko Federiko is a daunting presence at the rim on defense.

Overall, they make up a talented group that is capable of going on the road and beating some of the top teams in the country, but will they get the chance to prove their worth in the NCAA Tournament?

NCAA Tournament Resume: Pitt Panthers

KenPom Ranking: 46
NET Ranking: 44
Record vs. Quads: 2-6 vs. Q1, 5-2 vs. Q2, 7-2 vs. Q3, 7-0 vs. Q4

Pitt's resume is marred by two losses in quad 3, as most at-large tournament teams don't lose there at all or limit it to one. The Panthers lost a home game to hapless Missouri and another to Syracuse to put their status in jeopardy.

But of the power conference bubble teams, it's arguable that Pitt boasts the most impressive win. The Panthers went on the road to Durham earlier this season and beat the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

They also went to Charlottesville and beat Virginia at a point in the season when Virginia was ranked higher than it is right now. Most teams get their signature wins at home, that Pitt got two quad 1 victories on the road over top 25 NET teams is a huge point of quality in its favor.

Still, those bad losses and a failure to secure a third quad 1 win in several opportunities have Pitt currently on the outside looking in in the latest bracketology projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

As the four seed in the ACC Tournament, Pittsburgh will likely be presented with a win-and-in to the NCAA Tournament game when the Panthers take on five-seed Wake Forest, assuming Wake Forest defeats Notre Dame.

Both the Demon Deacons and Panthers are on the bubble, and the committee could be looking at that showdown as a play-in game.

Of course, the winner of that game would have another huge opportunity to really lock themselves into the field the next day with a matchup against top-seeded North Carolina.