Joe Lunardi highlights Miami's ability to ruin NCAA Tournament seeding for Pitt

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi shared a big opportunity for Miami basketball to ruin the day of an ACC rival as they play Pitt on Saturday. The Hurricanes showdown with the Panthers to finish the regular season isn’t just a chance to secure a higher seed in the ACC Tournament — Miami winning could force Pitt into a tough situation for the upcoming NCAA Tournament as well.

Joe Lunardi shares unique bracket-buster chance for Miami

Both programs enter their final game of the season against each other in a tie for second in the conference, at 14-5 in ACC play each. However, Lunardi believes that only one of the two teams has more to lose on the court tonight as a loss could push Pitt into bubble range.

“Pitt loses its automatic qualifier position in the ACC with a loss at Miami and will slot on the bubble among the LAST FOUR BYES,” explained Lunardi ahead of their game.

Although it wasn’t entirely clear where Pitt would finish in his regular season bracket predictions if they lost to the Hurricanes, the ESPN bracket expert was very clear that Pitt would take a big blow to their NCAA Tournament seeding. He appears to have them receiving an automatic qualifier in his predictions — which would imply that he feels Pitt will win the ACC Tournament and secure a bid that way.

However, that confidence would definitely waver with Lunardi should they lose to Miami as they would find themselves as a “Last Four Byes” team in his predictions. Although it seems clear at the moment that the Panthers would be playing in March Madness in some capacity after this season’s effort, entering the conference tournament with a question mark surrounding their future would not be ideal.