As Paul Chryst and the Pitt Panthers football team prepare for their second season in the ACC, they may not be presented with a better opportunity to win the Coastal Division than they currently have.
That’s because their conference schedule works out perfectly for a potential trip to the ACC Championship Game.
Pitt misses both Clemson and Florida State this season, allowing for much more wiggle room for a loss to a Coastal Division opponent.
In addition, their toughest stretch of their schedule features a three-game stretch from Nov. 15-29 (at North Carolina, vs. Syracuse, at Miami).
That isn’t exactly murderers’ row when it comes to ACC opponents.
Even if the Panthers can take care of business inside the ACC, a trip to the Top 25 may not be likely.
Pitt’s non-conference schedule includes Akron, Delaware, FIU and Iowa, which means they avoid Notre Dame in the ACC rotation as well.
The good part is that those weak non-conference games are all within the season’s first five weeks. That allows new quarterback Chad Voytik, who filled in admirably for the Panthers in their bowl game last December, to get his feet wet as a starter.
Pitt usually has a decent non-conference schedule, but if there was a time to not have a couple of loseable games, this may be it.
However Pitt must not only beat the teams that they should, which has always been a problem for this program, the Panthers need to finish the season strong if they have a chance to win the Coastal Division.
North Carolina and Miami are again the favorites to represent the division in the conference championship, and Pittsburgh must play both on the road. However on paper the Panthers should be able hang with both programs.
Pitt typically plays pretty good football late in the season and that’s the positive that comes out of this.
If everything goes according to plan they should be in a pretty good spot late in the year to win their division.
Of course looking at a favorable schedule on paper and taking care of business on the field are two different stories altogether.
Voytik could be the key though as he could be a sleeper All-ACC selection and provide the type of offense the Panthers will need if they are capable of knocking off North Carolina and Miami in November.
There’s still a good bit of time before Pitt heads to camp, but they are presented with a golden opportunity thanks to a very favorable schedule.
The only question remaining is if they can take advantage of it?
Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
