To address the need for reducing pilot overhead, a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data is provided herein. A communication system having a transmitter (100) that utilizes adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) and utilizes lower-order modulated (e.g., QPSK) data as a substitute for pilot symbols during transmission. Data intended for a user utilizing a lower order modulation can be reliably detected, and if properly processed, used as pilots for a user that is trying to receive a higher order modulation (e.g., 64-QAM). Because lower order modulated data is utilized for pilots, fewer overall pilots are used. This greatly reduces pilot overhead, increasing data throughput.