Despite Louisville Loss, Pitt Rises in Polls

The Pitt Panthers had a disappointing OT loss to Louisville on Sunday, but that didn't ultimately hurt them when it came to voting time. Jamie Dixon's team, now 25-4, moved up from sixth to fifth in the ESPN/USA Today poll, thanks to San Diego State (4) and Texas (5) falling. The Panthers have a shot at a decent week in the coming days, facing 9-20 South Florida on Wednesday and hosting Villanova, losers of three straight, on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Big East featured eight of the top 20 teams in all this week. In addition to Pitt, the conference was repped by Notre Dame (7), Louisville (11), Syracuse (12), St. John's (15), UConn (16), Georgetown (17), and Villanova (somehow still 19th). For all the respect the conference lacks in football, no one can say with a straight face that the hoops side of the Big East doesn't get an incredible amount of love when it comes to matters such as polls. TWITTER: twitter.com/mondesishouse EMAIL: mondesishouse@gmail.com