Nov 29, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Rasheem Biles (3) and wide receiver Raphael Williams Jr. (5) lead the team onto the field to play the Miami Hurricanes at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Three Post-Season Bowl Projections for Pitt

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Panthers on SI
By Mitchell Corcoran | Last updated Dec 2, 2025 8:34 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have finished the 2025 regular season 8-4 (6-2 ACC) and placed sixth in the conference, including tiebreakers.

It's now bowl season and Pitt will soon find out which game it will land. The bowl matchups will be announced on Dec. 7, following the conference championship games the day before the announcement of the College Football field.

Now, the Panthers won't be involved in any of those conversations after the 38-7 loss to No. 12 Miami that eliminated them from clinching a spot in the ACC title game.

Pitt played in the GameAbove Sports Bowl last season and lost to Toledo 48-46 in six overtimes. Fortunately, the Panthers will likely draw a higher-quality game this season.

Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Pinstripe Bowl

On3's Brett McMurphy, ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Pete Fiutak of the College Football News predicted Pitt to play in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium on Dec. 27. Kickoff for the game will be at noon and it will air on ABC.

Fiutak and Schlabach picked the opponent to be Minnesota and McMurphy chose Penn State. This was the second consecutive week that McMurphy picked the Panthers and Nittany Lions to face one another.

Pitt last played in the Pinstripe Bowl in the 31-24 loss to Northwestern in 2016 for its only ever appearance.

Minnesota finished the season 7-5 and Penn State finished 6-6 after firing former head coach James Franklin earlier this year.

Holiday Bowl

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer and CBS Sports projected the Panthers to play in the Holiday Bowl on Jan. 2, 2026, at 8 p.m. on Fox from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.

Bonagura chose Pitt's opponent to be Arizona, Fischer selected Utah and CBS Sports had Washington. This would be the Panthers' first-ever appearance in the Holiday Bowl.

The Wildcats finished the year 9-3, the Utes wrapped up with a 10-2 record and the Huskies concluded their campaign at 8-4.

Gator Bowl

Oliver Hodgkinson of the Pro Football Network was the only one to predict Pitt to play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Hodgkinson chose the Panthers to face Missouri.

Kickoff for the game is set for Dec. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Bill Gay Grounds at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

This would be Pitt's fourth-ever appearance in the bowl game. The Panthers last defeated No. 18 South Carolina 37-9 in 1980, then No. 11 Clemson 34-3 in 1977 and lost to No. 4 Georgia Tech 21-14 in 1956.

The Tigers finished the season 8-4 with a 31-17 win over Arkansas. The good news for Missouri heading into the postseason is that it returned starting quarterback Beau Pribual after he suffered a nasty-looking ankle injury earlier in the season.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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