Pitt Earns New Bowl Projections After Upset Win

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers are one game closer to being bowl eligible.

After defeating No. 25 Florida State on the road, Pitt needs just two more wins to hit that magic number of six wins to make a bowl game.

This week's list has two bowl games that the Panthers have been projected in several times recently, but there are two new games, including one that Pitt was projected to play in the preseason.

Fenway Bowl

For the second week in a row, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl seems to be the favorite, and there is a consensus opponent this time.

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer all have Pitt facing Tulane in this year's Fenway Bowl.

The Green Wave advanced to 5-1 this week, after defeating East Carolina 26-19 at home. They now have two straight losses after dropping their first game to No. 13 Ole Miss. BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff is leading the team in both passing and rushing.

Military Bowl

ESPN's Mark Sclabach projects Pitt to face Navy in the Go Bowling Military Bowl.

This is another common projection and has probably been projected the second most, behind the Fenway Bowl.

Pitt and Navy played in this same bowl game in 2015, and the Panthers lost 44-28.

The Middshippmen continue to impress week after week. Most recently, they narrowly defeated Temple 32-31. They still have the No. 1 rushing offense in the country, averaging 305 yards per game.

Pinstripe Bowl

On3's Brett McMurphy and Oliver Hodgkinson of the Pro Football Network both have Pitt playing in this year's Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.

McMurphy projects Pitt to face Northwestern, and Hodgkinson has the Panthers playing Nebraska.

ESPN and The Athletic projected Pitt to play in this bowl game in the preseason. ESPN chose the Panthers to face Iowa, and The Athletic picked Michigan State.

Pitt has played in the Pinstripe Bowl before and against Northwestern. The Wildcats were victorious 31-24 in 2016.

The Cornhuskers and the Wildcats are off to strong starts this season. Nebraska is 5-1 with its only loss coming to No. 21 Michigan. Northwestern is 4-2 and is coming off an upset 22-21 win over Penn State last week.

Sun Bowl

Pete Fiutak of the College Football News projects a Pitt versus Cal ACC matchup in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.