Down year for ACC? Pitt’s Jeff Capel doesn’t understand perception
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After shepherding Pitt through practice, watching video of his opponents and talking with players, recruits and staff pretty much all day, Jeff Capel still can’t get enough basketball.
When the day’s work is done, he may tune into the ACC Network and Big Ten Network to keep up on what’s happening with conference rivals and one of his best friends, Northwestern coach Chris Collins, whose team is second in the Big Ten, 1½ games behind No. 5 Purdue.
Taking a break from preparing for Pitt’s game Tuesday night against Georgia Tech at Petersen Events Center, Capel joined the ACC coaches conference call Monday morning. In recent weeks, reporters have been curious about the perceived lack of respect given ACC teams this season. Only No. 6 Virginia and No. 13 Miami are ranked this week, while N.C. State and Pitt lead those schools outside the Top 25 that are receiving votes.
“I don’t really understand it,” Capel said.
He suggested the retirements of legendary ACC coaches Dean Smith, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski and the departure of Rick Pitino from Louisville might have led to that perception.
He also threw a dart at the ACC Network for helping to raise the question.
Capel said he was watching the conference’s mouthpiece Friday night before Pitt played Virginia Tech on Saturday. “The first question that comes up is, ‘Is it perception or reality that the ACC is down?’ And I never see that on the Big Ten Network,” he said.
“They are always, always pumping the Big Ten, always. I think it’s a really good league. I think ours is, too, and I wish the people that represent us would have the respect and pump our league and be positive instead of looking at negative things.”
There are nine conferences represented in the AP Top 25, led by the Big 12 (six) and Big East (five). The ACC’s two is one fewer than the SEC and Big Ten. In the NCAA Net rankings, the Big 12 has eight teams among the top 44. The ACC has six in the top 50. Pitt is 50th in the Net, 58th in the KenPom rankings.
ACC coaches like to point to their conference’s 8-6 edge earlier this season in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Pitt’s 29-point victory at Northwestern on Nov. 28 was the most decisive of the eight, but those games were months ago.
What matters are the final two weeks of the regular season and the conference and NCAA tournaments when those perceptions, in the long run, will turn into reality.
Pitt is unranked again in the AP, no surprise or complaints this time after the Panthers lost to 11th-place Virginia Tech (6-10) on Saturday. Capel said the Hokies “certainly provided us with a lot of stuff that we need to work on. The main thing is we moved on.”
Pitt concludes the home portion of its ACC schedule this week, with Georgia Tech on Tuesday and Syracuse on Saturday.
After winning the 2020-2021 ACC Tournament championship, Georgia Tech slumped to 12-20 last season — contrary to coach Josh Pastner’s high expectations — and started this one 8-15.
“We didn’t have as good of a year last year, and I think that put a little more pressure on this year,” Pastner said. “The biggest mistake I made (prior to the 2021-2022 season) — not to rehash it — I waited for Jose Alvarado and Moses Wright (Georgia Tech’s best players on its championship team). But both players decided (to leave), and one told me in July and one told me in June. I thought both guys were coming back. I thought we were going to go to the Final Four last year and do all these things.”
Since then, it’s been an uphill climb for Georgia Tech
Pastner said each team in his previous 13 seasons has started improving in January. “Always, always, always,” he said.
“And this year, we beat Miami Jan. 4. I said ‘OK, here we go. Our team is going to start making the move.’ ”
But that victory was followed by a nine-game losing streak, including a 71-60 loss to Pitt on Jan. 14 in Atlanta, before Georgia Tech won three of its past four.
“I think we’re a month behind,” Pastner said. “We’re getting better. We’re a much better team now than we were a month ago.”