Unranked still, Pitt's climb toward 1st place in the ACC started in August

Back in late August, Jeff Capel first realized, “OK, we have something,” when the last of the new players finished checking into Petersen Events Center.

“As I started watching us as we started workouts,” he said Monday on the ACC coaches conference call, “we started seeing the camaraderie, just how it organically happened. Started seeing some things on the court, seeing how they wanted to share the basketball, how they wanted to move the ball, just seeing the connections.”

Capel interacts with that “something” every day. He knows it better than anyone. But it remains largely lost nationally after Pitt (18-7, 11-3) — now sharing first place in the ACC with Virginia after nearly 75% of the regular season has been played — was ignored by 42 of the 62 voters in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

My AP poll: Alabama, Houston, Purdue, UCLA, Kansas, Arizona, Virginia, Texas, Baylor, Saint Mary's, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Indiana, Miami, Xavier, Marquette, Kansas State, UConn, Iowa State, San Diego State, Pitt, N.C. State, TCU, Missouri, Northwestern

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) February 13, 2023

Pitt received 82 voting points, including a No. 12 ranking from PennLive columnist David Jones and various other mentions ranging from No. 16 (Mark Berman of the Roanoke, Va., Times) to No. 25 (six voters). The Panthers are fourth among other teams receiving votes (29th overall). Also, Pitt is 51st in the NCAA Net rankings and 59th in KenPom. While they prepare to meet Boston College on Tuesday at the Pete, the Panthers remain a serious contender for their first NCAA Tournament berth in seven years.

Capel would like to see his players recognized. He said Monday it would be “a cool thing.” But he only mentions the poll publicly when reporters ask about it.

Fans, however, want answers immediately.

While Pitt has impressive home victories against ranked teams Virginia (No. 7) and Miami (No. 15) and N.C. State on the road (No. 23), it also started the season 1-3.

The games that damage Pitt’s resume include:

• A 25-point home loss to West Virginia (15-10).

• A 31-point loss to Michigan (14-11) in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.

• A one-point loss at Vanderbilt (13-12).

• A seven-point loss to Florida State at home. Pitt avenged that one Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla., 83-75, to boost its record in true road games to 7-2, best in the ACC.

• You would think voters — and, more importantly, the NCAA Tournament committee — wouldn’t excessively penalize Pitt for its 71-67 Legends loss to VCU (18-7 and the Atlantic 10’s first-place team).

But seven losses — Pitt also lost to currently slumping and unranked ACC teams Clemson and Duke — might be a heavy load to carry, even at this late date in the season.

Nonetheless, Capel next saw something special in his players when they first won five in a row after losing to VCU.

“I thought it probably even more after we got punched in the mouth, and we lost those three games and how we came back from that,” he said. “That’s a time when it really can become disjointed. In that moment, when that didn’t happen and we just kind of hunkered down and believed in each other more and worked a little bit harder, that’s when I thought, ‘OK, we have something.’ ”

Also during the conference call, Capel chose to dwell upon a victory 2 ½ months ago that he labeled as a turning point in the season. That was an impressive 87-58 rout of Northwestern on Nov. 28 in Evanston, Ill.

“I think Northwestern is a really, really good basketball team,” he said. “When we went there as our first true road game, you started to see that. That was maybe the best game we’ve played all year. That’s when I knew, ‘OK, this is different.’ We have something here. We really, really have to fight to protect it.”

In an odd twist, Pitt and Northwestern are on similar paths.

Both have defeated first-place teams in their conferences (Virginia and No. 3 Purdue), are coached by Duke men (Capel and former teammate Chris Collins) and are barely out of the top 25 after extended years of losing seasons covering the past decade. Northwestern received 96 voting points and is second in the AP poll among others receiving votes.

“It’s Feb. 13,” Capel said. “We have a lot of season left. We’re just trying to lock in on Boston College (the opponent Tuesday at Petersen Events Center) and figure out how we’re going to defend them, how we’re going to execute the things we have to do to play well against them.

“That’s it. It really is. That’s all we’re trying to concern ourselves with.”

Pitt will attempt to win its sixth in row — the Panthers have won five consecutively three times — when it meets Boston College. The Eagles (12-4, 6-9) lost to N.C. State on Saturday, 92-62.

“I’m not 100% sure how a buzzsaw looks,” BC coach Earl Grant said. “But we ran into one Saturday. Typically, there are one or two games a year that you have to take the box score and just tear it up and throw it away.”

Yet, Capel remains concerned. The Eagles recently defeated Clemson, 62-54, when the Tigers were ranked No. 20.

Also, Capel said 7-foot, 250-pound forward Quinten Post will be “a handful.”

Post is averaging 16.8 points and 6.2 rebounds since returning Dec. 31 from a foot injury. He also isn’t afraid to shoot an occasional 3-pointer (15 of 36).

“He’s certainly one of the better post guys (in the ACC),” Capel said. “He’s big and skilled, a 7-footer who’s big, not thin, so he can play with physicality, play through physicality.”