Pitt fills out its upcoming basketball schedule with home games against mid- and low-major opponents, alongside previously-announced rivalry games and tournaments.
Earlier today you were asked if you planned on buying basketball tickets this season; soon after, the team announced their full out-of-conference schedule for this season. So if you were holding your vote until you knew if you got to see Lehigh while you were home for Thanksgiving, here’s your green light.
Nearly all of the major opponents on the schedule had already been announced as part of a tournament, scheduling agreement, or widely expected. To recap that group, the season opens with a game at Navy as part of the 2017 Veterans Classic. Pitt then hosts Montana and UCSB at the Pete as part of the Legends Classic before heading to the Barclays Center the following week for games against two of Penn State, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M. This year’s City Game will take place December 1st at PPG Paints Arena; last year’s edition of the game saw the Panthers lose to Duquesne for the first time this century.
Most notably, the previously announced resumption of the basketball Backyard Brawl is scheduled for December 9th, with Pitt and West Virginia facing each other in men’s basketball for the first time since 2012.
The previously unannounced games are all fairly low-wattage and will take place at the Pete, and include frequent in-state opponent Lehigh (November 25th), High Point (November 28th), reigning Northeast Conference champs Mount St. Mary’s (December 5th), McNeese State (December 16th), Delaware State (December 19th), and Towson (December 22nd) before ACC play begins. In previous years, games like these would be considered “tune-ups” before the conference gauntlet, with Pitt expected to head into the main season with at least ten wins. This year, that may not be the case.
For the first time since joining the ACC, Pitt will not be participating in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge due to mismatched numbers of teams in the two conferences.
See the full announced schedule here, and leave any thoughts you have about how we match up with the Gauchos or the Hornets in the comments below.
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