Pitt basketball’s Jeff Capel blasts Big 12 non-conference schedules, joins NCAA Tournament debate in epic 11-minute rant

The Pitt basketball coach isn’t a fan of soft non-conference schedules skewing the numbers when it comes to selecting teams for the NCAA Tournament. Aaron Marner of Gannett added more context:

“Capel about the Big 12: “They play these non-conference schedules that are not very challenging… The average margin of victory, I think, was 27 points, and that skews the numbers.” Pitt’s average margin of victory against the #344 non-con SOS? Exactly 27 points per game.”

Pitt basketball is currently 18-10 on the season, but just 9-8 in ACC play. While Capel doesn’t love the Big-12 non-conference schedules, Pitt benefitted from the same thing. Pitt basketball opened up the season beating the likes of NC A&T, Binghampton, FGCU, and Jacksonville.

North Carolina and Duke continue to sit atop the ACC standings. Pitt basketball trails the Tar Heels by five games in the standings.

After having their five-game winning streak snapped in a loss to Wake Forest, Pitt went 1-1 over their last two games. The team bounced back to top Virginia Tech, but then fell to Clemson on Tuesday after being outclassed in the second half. Pitt basketball next takes on Boston College on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers are paced by forward Blake Henson, who leads Pitt in scoring at 18.5 points per game. Guard Carlton Carrington is the team’s second-leading scorer at just under 12 points per game.