Pitt moves up to No. 20 in AP poll after win over Cal

Christopher Carter / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pitt’s 17-15 win over Cal on Saturday evening extended its unbeaten start and has this program off to to it’s best start since 1982. 

And after the Panthers (6-0, 2-0 ACC) achieved new history with their win, they were rewarded by AP poll voters. They will head into a bye week having moved up two spots in the latest top 25 poll to No. 20 It’s the highest Pitt’s been ranked since Sept. 6, 2022, when it was ranked 17th following an opening-week win over rival West Virginia. 

The last time Pitt was 6-0, Dan Marino was starting at quarterback and the team was ranked No. 2. Those Panthers would climb to the top spot in the poll the following week before finishing 9-3 on the season as the No. 10 team in the country.

The Panthers ranked No. 22 going into Saturday’s contest, one of four ranked ACC teams. The Panthers leapfrogged Oklahoma and Utah — who both fell to being unranked — to rise in the rankings after their win over the Bears. No team that ranked behind Pitt last week jumped ahead of the Panthers.

Out of the other three ranked ACC teams, Miami and SMU each had a bye week. But Miami moved up from No. 7 to No. 6, and SMU moved up from No. 25 to No. 21. Clemson won 49-14 at Wake Forest and holds onto its No. 10 ranking from last week.

The Panthers enter their second bye week of the season with their next contest coming Thursday, Oct. 24, at home against Syracuse for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. If Pitt were to win the game, it would match the 1982 Panthers’ 7-0 start, when Pitt ranked No. 1 in the country coming off a 63-14 win over Louisville on Oct. 30, 1982.