Why No. 5 Michigan might be in trouble against Pitt Wednesday night

Monday, 19 November 2012 09:59

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Pitt will be an underdog Wednesday night against No. 5 Michigan, but Jamie Dixon has a history of knocking off highly-ranked teams.

Since becoming Pitt’s head coach in 2003, Dixon is 13-5 against teams ranked in the AP top five. To put that record into some perspective, the Panthers all-time are 21-50 vs. top-five teams. Dixon has 13 of the 21 victories, and he’s only been the coach for a decade. All of the other coaches in school history combined for only eight.

Pitt had a five-game winning streak in such games until last year’s loss at No. 1 Syracuse. Of the 13 victories, only one occurred when the Panthers were unranked. That victory came at Syracuse in 2010.

Here is a rundown of the games vs. top-five teams since Dixon became head coach:

2003 – No. 5 Notre Dame, W 72-55

2004 – No. 4 Connecticut, L 68-65

2004 – No. 5 Connecticut, W 75-68

2004 – No. 4 Oklahoma State, L 63-51

2005 – No. 4 Syracuse, W 76-69

2005 – No. 5 Boston College, W 72-50

2006 – No. 1 Connecticut, L 80-76

2006 – No. 2 Villanova, W 68-54

2008 – No. 5 Georgetown, W 69-60

2009 – No. 1 Connecticut, W 76-68

2009 – No. 1 Connecticut, W 70-60

2009 – No. 3 Texas, L 78-62

2010 – No. 5 Syracuse, W 82-72

2010 – No. 5 West Virginia, W 98-95 (3OT)

2010 – No. 3 Villanova, W 70-65

2010 – Connecticut, W 78-63

2011 – No. 3 Syracuse, W 74-66

2012 – No. 1 Syracuse, L 71-63

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