Pitt remains unranked.
Still.
The Panthers checked into Monday's Associated Press Top 25 with 82 points, which holds the ACC leader out of the rankings. Florida Atlantic (24-2) took the 25th spot with 117 points, and Pitt finished behind Missouri (114 points), Northwestern (96), and Illinois (84) outside of the Top 25.
Alas, Pitt (18-7, 11-3 ACC) remains unranked since January 11, 2016. That does not bother Jeff Capel too much, as he continues to prepare for the Panthers' clash with Boston College at 9 p.m. Tuesday inside the Petersen Events Center.
"I'm sure if it were to happen, there would be people that are excited about it, and I'm sure it would be a cool thing," Capel said during Monday's ACC coaches teleconference. "But, it's February 13. We have a lot of season left. For me and us and our program we're just trying to lock in on Boston College, trying to figure out how we're going to defend them, how we're going to execute, and the things that we have to do in order to play well against them. That's it. I mean, it really is. That's all we're all trying to concern ourself with."
The Panthers' 82 points are the most they have received within an AP Top 25 ballot this season, but the trajectory of which they have earned the voters' respect is growing at a much slower rate than it should. Pitt is 3-0 against teams ranked inside this week's Top 25, with wins coming over No. 7 Virginia, No. 15 Miami, and No. 23 NC State. Count the Panthers as 4-0 against teams ranked ahead of them, if the win at Northwestern earlier this season is included.
That Northwestern team, by the way, upset former No. 1 Purdue Sunday, which undoubtedly played a role in why the Wildcats (18-7) were slotted ahead of Pitt. The Panthers won the head-to-head over Northwestern 87-58 Nov. 28 in Evanston, Ill.
That Pitt win over Northwestern happened 11 days after it sustained a blowout loss to Michigan and a close loss to VCU in Brooklyn. Pitt started 1-3 (including the loss to West Virginia) but rallied for a five-game winning streak which included Northwestern and at NC State to follow.
Capel called that win over Northwestern Pitt's best of the season.
"That's a time where it can really become disjointed," Capel said. "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. I'd probably say a win would be when we went to Northwestern and won. I think Northwestern's a really, really good basketball team. They're in the top-half -- I think they're second place in the Big Ten -- had an unbelievable win last night. When we went there as our first true road game and we started to see that, and it's maybe the best game we've played all year. That's when I knew, OK, this is different, and we have something here. We have to really, really fight to protect it."
Plenty of wins could be stamped as Pitt's "best" this season, but Capel makes a valid point about Northwestern.
Capel has never had Pitt in this position during his tenure with respect to national status. Pitt is on a crash course to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 -- and barring anything catastrophic in these final six games, consider Pitt locked into the field of 68 -- and could easily earn the No. 1 seed and a double bye into the ACC Tournament quarterfinal round.
Pitt and Virginia are each atop the ACC with identical 11-3 records. Miami trails at 11-4 and Clemson 10-4. Pitt is (underwhelmingly) No. 51 in the NCAA NET Rankings, which is sixth among ACC teams. Pitt's 4-2 record against Quadrant 1 teams is far and away the best among ACC teams.
"They're a veteran team, and (Capel) added some really good pieces, and they play real hard, and they're physical," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "They can score in different ways, but they're competitive. You see that. They've won some tough, close games, and now they have momentum. I'm happy for Jeff because he works hard and he's had some guys transfer, injuries that have been tough over the years. He's just a quality guy, so when you see his team -- we had a battle. We had a really good first half against them down there, I remember that, and they kind of came at us, and we struggled in the second half. They scored on us and it was a tight game, but they've just found ways and they've capitalized on that.
"Just watched how they went into Carolina and how they played. They're improving, and they're tough-minded and competitive with some physicality that has, I think, brought a very good season for them up to this point.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said Capel has his vote for ACC Coach of the Year.
"I am so pleased because we've all been in that position where you're fighting uphill a little bit and trying to turn it and you go through it, and I've been there a couple times, quite frankly, here over 23 years," Brey said. "I just am so proud of him that he has done it, and he just kept grinding. When you're the son of a coach and he was a player -- I had the opportunity to be around him at Duke -- he's the son of a coach, he's the son of an educator, he's a great communicator, and I'd love my son to play for him because he gets it and he knows how to handle young people, and I'm really thrilled for him because he has done a fabulous job."
MORE FROM OAKLAND
• Capel said after Pitt's 83-75 win at Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., Saturday that Nelly Cummings has not been able to play at full strength over his last two games. Cummings played in just 6 minutes Saturday -- partially due to Nike Sibande's provided boost off the bench -- but will be ready to play Tuesday against Boston College.
Capel did not specify what Cummings' injury is, adding Cummings is not and will not be at 100% Tuesday:
"He'll play, for sure," Capel said. "Look, this time of year, everyone's a bit banged up. Everybody. We didn't really do much yesterday. We just kind of walked through some things yesterday. He was able to get treatment before and after practice yesterday, able to get treatment this morning. We'll do it again before practice here at 1 o'clock. He'll do it afterwards. He'll be able to play, but I don't know if he'll be -- he certainly will not be 100 percent."
• In a look-ahead to Tuesday's matchup, Boston College coach Earl Grant likened the run Pitt is on this year to the early-2010s while he was an assistant at Clemson.
"Much improved. Lot of new players," Grant said. "Not a lot of the familiar faces from last year. There's a few guys from last year that's doing some good stuff, but (Capel) really did a good job of flipping the roster. They're playing with a lot of confidence, they're playing well. It's amazing, the job he's done because it wasn't looking great last year, but he's flipped it around.
"... You've got to be very sharp. The Oakland Zoo is rowdy now, kind of looking like, from watching film, it was looking when I was at Clemson when (Jamie) Dixon was there. The Oakland Zoo is loud, they're playing with a lot of confidence, so it's definitely going to be a challenge, but it's also going to be fun. We get the chance to prepare the next two days and go in there and try to play at a high level."
