Mark your calendars. The ACC men's basketball schedule is out, and Pitt is set for road tests to book-end the first two and last of the games within the conference.
The Panthers (11-21, 6-14 ACC in 2021) play their first ACC game Dec. 2 at N.C. State, which is sandwiched in between road Power Six contests at Northwestern (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) on Nov. 28 and at SEC foe Vanderbilt on Dec. 7.
The final nonconference game of the season is Dec. 17 at home against North Florida. Three days later, the Panthers will travel to Syracuse to face the Orange on Dec. 20.
From that point, it's all ACC to end the season.
Mark your 📆. ACC 🏀 schedule ⤵️.
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) September 13, 2022
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Pitt's third ACC game is also its first at home, as North Carolina visits the Petersen Events Center on either Dec. 30 or on New Year's Eve. That begins a three-game homestand which also features games against Virginia and Clemson.
After that homestand, Pitt hits the road for three in a row, at Duke, at Georgia Tech, and at Louisville. The Panthers then come home for three, against Florida State, Wake Forest, and Miami.
The season ends in the beginning of March, with back-to-back road games at Notre Dame and Miami.
The Panthers begin their season with two exhibition scrimmages, on Oct. 22 and Nov. 2 against Clarion and Edinboro, before the regular season opens Nov. 7 against Tennessee Martin at the Petersen Events Center.
Other notable nonconference contests include the Backyard Brawl on Nov. 11 at home, and games in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn on Nov. 16 and 17 -- the Nov. 16 game is against Michigan, while the Nov. 17 game will be against either Arizona State or Virginia Commonwealth.
The only two known tip times on the full slate are in the two Legends Classic games. Pitt and Michigan tip off at 6 p.m., and the game against either Arizona State or VCU at either 7 p.m. or 9 p.m.
Tip-off times for all ACC games are to be determined.
To view the team-by-team conference schedules for the rest of the ACC, click HERE.
ANALYSIS
Pitt is heavily front-loaded with home games, with its first true road test coming Nov. 28 at Northwestern, or in the eighth game of the regular season. The matchup against NC State (11-21, 4-16) to open conference play is a revisit of the Feb. 12 game in which the Panthers won, 71-69, in the final seconds, and it should be a win for the Panthers to open the conference schedule.
It doesn't lighten up much from there, as a visit to the always-packed JMA Wireless Dome (formerly known as the Carrier Dome) in Syracuse (16-17, 9-11) begins the back-half of the season in an all-ACC slate to run through March.
The most intriguing stretch, to me, is from Jan. 14 to Jan. 25, after the Duke game. Those four matchups are all feasibly winnable, with the toughest of the four games being against Wake Forest (25-10, 13-7).
Reminder: Pitt won at UNC (29-10, 15-5) last year, so be on the look out for that re-match.
The closing of the schedule is difficult, as Pitt's final two games at Notre Dame (24-11, 15-5) and at Miami (26-11, 14-6) offer a tough pair to build momentum off heading into the ACC tournament.
The ACC women's basketball schedule will be unveiled Wednesday at 10 a.m.
FULL 2022 PITT MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
(* = ACC game)
• Oct. 22: Clarion (exhibition)
• Nov. 2: Edinboro (exhibition)
• Nov. 7: Tennessee Martin
• Nov. 11: West Virginia
• Nov. 16: Michigan (Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.)
• Nov. 17: Arizona State or VCU (Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.)
• Nov. 20: Alabama State
• Nov. 22: Fairleigh Dickinson
• Nov. 25: William & Mary
• Nov. 28: at Northwestern (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
• Dec. 2: at NC State*
• Dec. 7: at Vanderbilt
• Dec. 10: Sacred Heart
• Dec. 17: North Florida
• Dec. 20: at Syracuse*
• Dec. 30/31: North Carolina*
• Jan. 3: Virginia*
• Jan. 7: Clemson*
• Jan. 11: at Duke*
• Jan. 14: at Georgia Tech*
• Jan. 18: at Louisville*
• Jan. 21: Florida State*
• Jan. 25: Wake Forest*
• Jan. 28: Miami*
• Feb. 1: at North Carolina*
• Feb. 7: Louisville*
• Feb. 11: at Florida State*
• Feb. 14: Boston College*
• Feb. 18: at Virginia Tech*
• Feb. 21: Georgia Tech*
• Feb. 25: Syracuse*
• March 1: at Notre Dame*
• March 4: at Miami*
• March 7: ACC Tournament begins