Wisconsin was picked 12th in the unofficial Big Ten preseason poll. Pitt was picked seventh in the preseason ACC poll. In other words, both programs entered this season with question marks, which is among the reasons Sunday’s championship game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off is so compelling.
It’s a matchup of undefeated teams.
Wisconsin is 6-0 (with victories over Arizona and UCF) and slotted 15th in Sunday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Pitt is 6-0 (with victories over LSU and West Virginia) and ranked 18th in the Top 25 And 1. Both have two top-100 wins. So the winner of Sunday’s game will conclude the third week of this season with a third top-100 victory, one that would ensure a place in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Pitt story is especially notable.
The Panthers were 51-69 through four years under Jeff Capel, leaving the Duke graduate on the so-called hot seat heading into the 2022-23 season. He responded by going 24-12 and advancing to the Round of 32 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Last season, he went 22-11. This season, he’s 6-0. So, after starting 51-69 at Pitt, Capel is now 52-23 in the past two-plus seasons.
Pitt is one of three ACC schools in the Top 25 And 1. The others are No. 3 North Carolina and No. 11 Duke. Interestingly, no other ACC program is even in the top 40 at EvanMiya.com, which suggests the league could have multiple legitimate national championship contenders but still a relatively low number of teams that will eventually secure bids to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
As always, we’ll see.
But, 20 days into this season, the ACC looks top-heavy once again. As evidence, consider that 14 of the ACC’s 18 members are currently ranked outside of the top 50 at BartTorvik.com. For context, understand that 14 of the Big Ten’s 18 members are currently ranked inside the top 50 at BartTorvik.com.
