The past season was tough year for Pitt athletics. Pittsburgh Sports Now has already put it into context of Pitt’s past, with the 2017-18 academic year coming in dead last since 1991 when it comes to success in Pitt’s most important sports against conference foes.
Now, someone else has put their season into context nationally, and it doesn’t stack up any better.
CBS Sports presents the Best in College Sports Award to the athletic program that had the best overall season, with weight given towards the most popular sports. Ohio State won the award for the second straight season.
Pitt came in 95th place. There are only 129 teams with Division I FBS football. To put that into further context, the Panthers finished right behind Toledo, Troy and Southern Mississippi and just ahead of Air Force, Kent State and Northern Illinois.
Pitt is the second-lowest-ranked member of the ACC, with only Georgia Tech at No. 119 coming in behind the Panthers. Four ACC schools (Duke, Notre Dame, Clemson and Florida State) were ranked in the Top 10.
Georgia Tech was the only Power Five team to be ranked lower than the Panthers. The next-closest power conference teams were Mississippi at 91 and Vanderbilt at 83.
It was a much better year for Pitt’s rivals. Penn State finished No. 13 and West Virginia came in at No. 23.
