The Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1, 3-0 ACC) broke into the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Sunday, marking them as one of the nation’s best Division I college football programs.
Pitt’s success under first-year head coach has been refreshing and surprising for a program that has consistently been stuck around six games and barely being bowl-eligible for a number of seasons and under a myriad of different head coaches.
The Panthers (#25) defeated Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Saturday to remain undefeated in conference play and sit atop the ACC Coastal division, now in front of Duke (5-1, 2-0 ACC). Other than a last-second loss at undefeated Iowa (currently ranked #12) back in September, Pitt has been strong and has finished off victories in all other games. Pitt joins Clemson (#6), Florida State (#9) and Duke (#23) as the four ACC schools currently in the nation’s Top 25 poll.
Despite the excitement of reaching the Top 25 poll for the first time since 2009, the Panthers must focus on the next opponent. Syracuse (3-3, 1-1 ACC) hosts Pitt on Saturday at 12:00 pm. Pitt won the 2014 matchup late last season in a 30-7 destruction of the Orange.
Pitt was last ranked in-season six years ago, when the team was as high as #15 in a 10-3 season. In 2010, the preseason polls placed the Panthers at #15 again, but a season-opening loss dropped the team from the polls, not to see them back until this week’s 25th-place ranking.
