Pittsburgh Basketball: 5 Reasons Pitt Fans Should Be Worried to Join the ACC

The Pittsburgh Panthers made it public knowledge that they were leaving the Big East for the ACC a few months back. Now that the shock of this earth-shaking development has worn off, Panther fans have to be concerned.

Big East rules specify that each school looking to leave must wait a period of 27 months before joining a new conference, so the move is still a ways off.

The state of Pittsburgh basketball could be in trouble when they join the ACC for the 2013-14 season.  Conference rankings, recruiting and every facet of Pittsburgh basketball could be in jeopardy, and these are the reasons Pittsburgh fans should be worried.

Syracuse Joins with Them

Pittsburgh isn't the only school set to join the ACC, the Syracuse Orange are also going to join from the Big East.

They may have thought that leaving the Big East could decrease competition, while staying in a major conference.  However, the Orange bring their tough two-three defense, and mastermind Jim Boeheim, to the ACC as well.

Syracuse is arguably the best team in the Big East, and Pittsburgh can't escape them with the move.

Obviously this wasn't their primary goal, but Panther fans can't be happy that they still have to deal with a Syracuse team that is consistently ranked in the Top 25, and has the ability to steal recruits away from other teams.

They Must Now Play Duke and UNC Every Year

The Panthers join a conference that features two perennial powerhouses.

The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are both ranked in the top six again, with Duke being No. 6 and UNC being No. 1.

These two teams are always tough to beat, and the Panthers now have to deal with the teams that Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams put together.

Both are masterminds in the game, and they know how to develop players so that they fit into their systems and typically stay for multiple years.

It's got to be tough facing these coaches both on and off the court, as the next slide will help show.

ACC Coaches Recruit Well and Don't Share

Recruiting in the ACC is cutthroat.  While it's not exactly like picking daisies in the Big East, ACC coaches deliberately try to steal recruits from their competitors by any means necessary.

The top recruits always have Duke and North Carolina on their lists, and they typically show up together.  That's because when an ACC school gets wind of a rival recruiting someone they immediately do the same.

Unless Jamie Dixon can recruit players early and get early commitments, he is looking at having a lot more of his potential recruits snatched away starting in the 2013 class.

The ACC Has Developing Teams

While the ACC is not the type of powerhouse they have been in recent years, the teams that are weighing them down are looking up.

Teams like Miami and Florida State have developed good programs and will be in the top five of the conference at the end of this season.  These schools have the potential to maintain their recent success and, if they continue this trend, they will help build the ACC up once again.

The ACC also has teams like Wake Forest, who were basement dwellers but are now looking up.  The Demon Deacons have already secured six recruits for the 2012 class, and the worst teams in the conference have found new coaches who can build their programs for the future.

By the time Pittsburgh joins the conference most teams will be strong, and the others will be on their way up.  This conference can be even better than the Big East from last season, and the Panthers could get lost in the thick of things.

The ACC Schedule Does Not Have Easy Games

The Big East has quite a few schools who are constant basement-dwellers and give teams easy games on their conference schedule.

The ACC schedule, however, does not provide these tune-up games for teams.  Every game comes down to the wire, and the teams at the bottom can take down the teams at the top on any given night.

There are teams that always challenge each other no matter if one team is No. 1 in the nation and the other not even making the NIT.  The ACC challenges its members, and if a team is caught sleeping they are in for a rude awakening.

Josh Schoch is an aspiring sportswriter dedicated to bringing you everything related to the Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight, college basketball, the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football and much more.  Follow him on Twitter.