Unlike many schools that have been playing basketball for a long time and only recently started to do so on a nationally competitive level, the University of Pittsburgh has been a powerhouse since the 1920’s. More impressively, they’ve remaining a winning program despite playing in some of the toughest basketball conferences in the country including the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference.
Pitt first played intercollegiate basketball in 1905 and by the late 1920’s were recognized as one of the best programs in the country. Under head coach “Doc” Carlson they were recognized as national champions in both 1928 and 1930. This was before the NCAA tournament and the ‘national champion’ was determined by media consensus and organizations like the Helms Athletic Foundation.
The Panthers have remained competitive ever since. They first appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1941 and have since made the field 25 times. During the past couple of decades they were a solid contender in the Big East conference which also included power programs like Georgetown, St. John and Syracuse. The Panthers won the Big East regular season crown on six occasions and were the only team to make the conference tournament finals seven times in eight seasons from 2001 to 2008.
In 2013, the Panthers joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) which is considered by many as the toughest basketball circuit in the country featuring teams like Duke, North Carolina and Louisville. The competition in the ACC is exceedingly tough, but Pittsburgh’s years playing in the brutal Big East conference has battle hardened the team and they’re expected to be a contender for the ACC title in the upcoming season.
Pittsburgh plays their home basketball games in the 12,000 seat Petersen Events Center which was opened in 2002. Affectionately known among students as ‘The Pete’, it features a cheering section known as ‘The Oakland Zoo’ named for the Oakland neighborhood in which the University is located. “The Pete” has been recognized by publications like Sports Illustrated and USA Today as being one of the toughest venues for opposing teams in all of college basketball. Additionally, it has been called one of the “loudest” venues in college hoops by ESPN Magazine.
As members of top conferences like the Big East and ACC, the Panthers have been a regular presence on television since the early 1980’s. They combine a heavily populated TV market, a successful program, and a competitive conference which makes them a very popular choice for TV programmers. In addition to frequent appearances on ESPN and other TV networks they’re part of the ACC’s syndication package with the Raycom Sports production company. Both ESPN and Raycom offer a platform for fans to watch Pittsburgh basketball streaming online on the computer as well as via smartphones and tablets.
Of course a great way to enjoy Panthers action is to watch Pittsburgh basketball online free of charge with a live game stream. It’s not hard to find a stream of the game you want to see–there are a number of websites including Wiziwig, FirstRowSports and MyP2PGuide that provide directories of live game streams organized by sport. Although some of these sites focus on European sports like cricket and soccer it’s usually easy to find a wide variety of college basketball action as well. You have the option to watch with a ‘Flash’ interface (similar to a YouTube video) or with a third party application such as StreamTorrent or AceStream. The third party applications require some additional configuration but provide a substantially better quality video stream. Once you locate a Pittsburgh Panthers basketball live stream you’ll also be able to choose from several streaming speeds to find the one that works the best with your Internet connection.
There’s no limit to the ways in which you can enjoy streaming Pittsburgh basketball games online. With the large computer monitors available today the viewing experience can be just as good as TV. You can also watch games on your Tablet or Smart Phone but the best option is very likely using a streaming box to watch on your television. Devices such as AppleTV, Roku, and Google Chromecast allow you to play Internet streams on your TV in high definition quality. All in all, there’s really no better way to enjoy Panthers games than watching Pittsburgh basketball online for free on the device of your choice!