Pitt Receives College Football Playoff Buzz From Sports Illustrated

Pitt is still a longshot for the 2024-25 College Football Playoff, but with the 12-team format, if the Panthers keep winning, they will be in contention.

Pitt is sitting at No. 20 in the recent AP Poll, with some conference games that hold CFP implications on the horizon, and Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated believes the Panthers would be in if the CFP selections were made today.

Forde projected Pitt as the 10 seed in his most recent Forde-Yard Dash, slating the Panthers against the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs in the first round. It would be a road matchup in Athens, Ga. if that were to come to fruition.

He included Miami as the conference winner and projected both Clemson and Pitt to qualify as at-large seeds.

Pitt is one of the two unbeaten teams in the ACC, along with Miami, and the Panthers don’t play the Hurricanes this season. Pitt has Syracuse, No. 21 SMU, Virginia, No. 10 Clemson, Louisville and Boston College left on the schedule this season.

It’s not exactly murderer’s row, but it’s a six-game stretch that’s much harder than initially anticipated. Two ranked opponents and all six teams are at least .500 at the halfway point.

Pitt doesn’t need to go unbeaten the rest of the way to stay in CFP consideration, but it can’t afford many losses. Two is likely too many. However, at the halfway point, the Panthers are definitely in the mix when it comes to a potential playoff spot.

There’s still a long way to go this season to even consider an eventual Playoff spot.

Pat Narduzzi was happy with the most recent win against Cal, and the way his squad found a way to win with a lackluster performance from the typically high-scoring offense, but he’s well aware it wasn’t a complete game. He doesn’t think Pitt has played a complete game all season.

“I don’t know if there ever has been a complete game,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “I wish — we strive for perfection and we’ll take excellence. It’s never going to be perfect. There’s too many guys on scholarship out there, and it’s never going to be perfect. That’s why you’ve just got to play one play at a time, not look at the scoreboard and just try to win every play. Every play matters.”

Pitt mustered just 17 points and 277 yards of offense against the Golden Bears. Eli Holstein wasn’t sharp, looking like a freshman quarterback for the first time in his brief career, but Pitt found a way to win.

Desmond Reid racked up 139 all-purpose yards and both touchdowns, and the defense clamped down on Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the Bears in the second half — racking up six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

“So, it didn’t happen today for us offensively, it just — sometimes when it rains, it pours,” Narduzzi said. “But we’ll learn from our mistakes on offense today, and again, it’s just great to maybe not play well on offense and find a way to get a win. Defense played lights out.”

Pitt has the week off, its final bye of the season, before Syracuse comes to town for a Thursday night matchup at Acrisure Stadium later this month.