Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech Odds, Picks, Predictions

Georgia Tech scraped by Florida State to make it to Round 2 of the ACC Tournament, but they’re on a roll. Our expert college basketball picks think the Yellow Jackets will give the slumping Panthers all that they can handle.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have moved on to the second round of the ACC Tournament, where they’ll face the Pittsburgh Panthers on Wednesday afternoon. The No. 13-seeded Yellow Jackets have caught fire late in the season, while the No. 5 Panthers are coming off back-to-back losses.

Linemakers are expecting Pitt to get back on track, with college basketball odds opening the Panthers as seven-point favorites for this showdown at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. Here are my best free Georgia Tech vs. Pittsburgh college basketball picks and predictions for Wednesday, March 8.

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech best odds

Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech picks and predictions

The Yellow Jackets have been red-hot, winning six of their last seven games. While that lone defeat during that span was a 76-68 loss to Pittsburgh on the road, now they’ll get to face the Panthers on neutral ground. 

Georgia Tech didn’t look that impressive in last night’s 61-60 victory over the Seminoles, and they were fortunate that Florida State’s leading scorer Matthew Cleveland missed time with an injury. That said, they’ve been grinding out victories recently, and that’s coincided with head coach Josh Pastner settling on a new rotation.

The Jackets have played without Deivon Smith, Tristan Maxwell, and Rodney Howard for the last few weeks, and they’ve actually performed much better with them on the sidelines.

They’ve shortened their rotation to just six players, and it has made a clear difference. Although size is an issue now that 6-foot-7 forward Ja’von Franklin is their biggest player, their spacing on offense and mobility on defense have been significantly better. 

The Panthers are putting together a very nice campaign, but they’ve looked vulnerable lately. In their last five games, they’ve gone 2-3 SU and ATS, with defeats coming against mediocre Virginia Tech and Notre Dame squads.

Pitt has a finely-tuned offense, but has been very reliant on its perimeter shooting. A whopping 44.8% of Pittsburgh’s field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc — the 28th-highest number in the county. That’s bad news against a Yellow Jackets team that has excellent length on the wings, and holds opponents to just 29.9% shooting from deep. 

It might look ugly, but if the Yellow Jackets are able to contain Pitt’s outside shooters, they’ll cover this number. 

My best bet: Georgia Tech +7 (-110 at DraftKings)