Pitt climbs to 19th in the nation in college football's latest AP poll

Stephen Thompson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pitt (6-0, 2-0 ACC), enjoying its second of two bye weeks, still rose in the rankings after college football’s latest AP poll release on Sunday. The Panthers are now ranked 19th in the nation, up one spot from the No. 20 ranking they earned a week ago. The program has been riding its best start since 1982, when it won the first seven games of the year and climbed to No. 1 in the national polls. 

This is the highest the Panthers have been ranked since Week 3 of the 2022 season. It’s also the third straight week Pitt has been ranked, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since Sept. 25, 2022, when it was ranked for five consecutive weeks to open the season. The Panthers opened the season at No. 17 and fell to No. 24 before dropping out of the poll entirely — before returning at the end of the year at No. 22. 

Four other ACC teams sit in the top 25 — No. 6 Miami, No. 9 Clemson and No. 22 SMU. Syracuse (15) and Duke (2) were the only other two conference opponents to earn votes in this week’s AP poll. Clemson and SMU are the only ranked opponents left on the regular-season schedule for the Panthers, who will play six straight games to close out the regular season. 

Pitt also held its position in the USA Today Coaches Poll at No. 20. 

The Panthers remain on the fringe of the College Football Playoff conversation and are considered by some as a growing threat to upset favorites Clemson and Miami in the race for the ACC Championship. They currently sit in third place at 2-0 in league play behind 5-0 Clemson and 3-0 Miami and SMU. 

Pitt returns to action on Thursday night when it hosts 5-1 Syracuse at Acrisure Stadium for a primetime matchup on ESPN. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Panthers also play at SMU on Saturday, Nov. 2, with a kickoff time still to be determined.