Pitt will be playing in a bowl this season, that much is certain, after the Panthers clinched eligibility by winning their sixth game in Saturday’s 52-22 drubbing of Virginia Tech.
Which bowl the Panthers will play in is still very much up in the air.
At 6-4, they could lose their last two games, finish 6-6 and find themselves in or near the bottom of the barrel. If they win the ACC Championship Game, they’ll be guaranteed a New Year’s Six Bowl. Everywhere else in between is also still on the table.
Here are the ACC’s 2018-19 bowl tie-ins:
Champion: College Football Playoff OR Peach Bowl (Atlanta) OR Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.)
First Selection: Camping World Bowl (Orlando, Fla.)
Tier I (Equal Weight): Belk Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.), Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Fla.) OR Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.), Pinstripe Bowl (New York) and Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas).
Sixth Selection: Military Bowl (Annapolis, Md.)
Seventh Selection: Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.)
Eighth Selection: Quick Lane Bowl (Detroit)
Ninth Selection: Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Florida) or Heart of Dallas Bowl
Tenth Selection: Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl
So where will Pitt go? The ACC has tried to avoid sending the ACC Championship Game loser to the Belk Bowl, as that would be two trips to Charlotte in a matter of weeks. Other than that, it seems that most potential results are still in play.
Here are some national projections as to where the Panthers could end up:
Athlon: Sun Bowl vs. Oregon
CBS: Belk Bowl vs. BYU
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Sun Bowl vs. Arizona State
ESPN’s Mitch Sherman: Belk Bowl vs. Florida
SB Nation: Sun Bowl vs. Oregon
Sports Illustrated: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Wisconsin
Sporting News: Camping World Bowl vs. Texas
Yahoo: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Northwestern
