Pittsburgh Panthers: The Present and Future

The Pittsburgh Panthers are probably the best surprise of the early season, and you can't argue much with that. Many had picked them to finish 9th in the Big East and miss the NCAA tournament. They were projected, on average, to finish about 70th overall.

So how did they end up in the top fifteen? They have been playing like they had something to prove all season, and now they have. They proved that at this college, we don't care where you think we'll end up. We care where we put ourselves. And so far, they have put themselves among the nation's elite, maybe not as good as last year. But many think they are better than last year in some aspects. No one saw that coming.

Pittsburgh is definately ahead of where anyone put them. The only people who could see this happen are the players and coaching staff. If you saw this coming, you must be able to see into the future.

But forget about how good they have proven to be this year. How about next year? Next year, they will dominate. The great thing about Pittsburgh is that they're rebuilding, even though they're in the top fifteen. Next year, we're all looking forward to see if they can be as good, or better, as last year's Elite Eight team.

And to put the facts behind this, proving how good they really are, they beat Syracuse, Cinncinnati, and UConn, all on the road, all in a row. And to capitalize on that, they beat Louisville at home in their next game. They have recently lost to Georgetown and Seton Hall, but it's never going to be a smooth ride in the Big East.

Now, to make reason with four losses, which isn't bad either way. They have lost to Texas, who was ranked 3rd at the time, Gerogetown, who barely missed the top ten, and Seton Hall, who may not be the best team, but a team like that is in the top three in any other conference. Their only bad lost was to Indiana, but by now they have made up for it.

All in all, you can't argue that Pittsburgh is currently a great surprise, and the future looks even brighter, with pretty much everyone coming back. Watch out, NCAA!