No Big East team lost more from a season ago than Pittsburgh, and yet the Panthers suddenly find themselves atop the league standings after a remakable three-game road sweep of Syrause, Cincinnati and Connecticut.
The streak marks the first time in 12 tries that Pitt has played three consecutive Big East games and walked away victorious from each of them. It also makes this Saturday's game against Louisville, which struggled mightily early in the season and blew a 17-point lead against Villanova on Monday, that much more important for the visitors.
Since joining the Big East fve seasons ago, the Cards have had tremendous success against Pitt during the regular season.
In 2007, Louisville secured a signature victory by going on the road and upsetting the highly-favored Panthers by 13. A year later, U of L became the first program in the Big East to notch multiple victories inside the Peterson Events Center. And then last January, Pittsburgh saw both its undefeated season and No. 1 ranking fall by the wayside after a trip to Freedom Hall.
A simialr upset this weekend would go a long way towards making Louisville's resume NCAA Tournament-worthy.