Vukovcan: Lack of National Respect for Pitt Football an ‘Absolute Joke’

The Pitt football program is fighting a few things these days.

On the field, Pat Narduzzi’s team is trying to play through a rash of injuries but off the field, they continue to battle through a lack of national respect.

Despite owning a record of 17-5 over their last 22 games, along with being ranked in 11 consecutive AP Top 25 polls and being the defending ACC Football Champions, the Pitt Panthers continue to get very little respect from the national media.

If you want a good example of that, just consider their place in the college football rankings this season.

Despite all the things I previously mentioned — which all show longevity — the 2022 version of the Pitt Panthers are a very talented team. However, plenty of people seem to question how good they really are, as inexplicably, they find themselves barely in the AP Top 25 rankings and having just re-entered the USA Today/Coaches Poll.

I want to preface everything by saying I think the rankings themselves are a fraud and a glorified popularity contest. It’s obvious that the majority of the voters do very little research before casting their votes. With that being said, being ranked is perception and a valuable recruiting tool for programs, which of course is important.

My issue is the lack of consistency and common sense that these voters use week in and week out.

The fact that Pitt finds themselves ranked No. 24 this week is an absolute joke and a clear sign that they’re not yet fully respected as a program nationally because if they were, they’d be a lot higher then where they currently sit.

How can a team that started the season ranked No. 17 drop seven spots, despite being 3-1?

Here are a few things to consider:
*Unlike a majority of teams in the Top 25, Pitt played two Power Five opponents in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Say what you want about the current state of the WVU program but they’re 2-2 and their two losses are against teams with a combined record of 7-1.

*Pitt’s lone loss was to Tennessee, the current No. 8 team in the country.

*Take into account that loss to the Vols was in overtime, and the fact that Pitt played the entire second half without their starting quarterback Kedon Slovis. Nick Patti, who replaced Slovis, was playing on an injured ankle for nearly the entire second half.

*Also, I challenge anyone to find a team in the Top 25 that’s had to deal with the number of key injuries that Pitt has had to endure? Slovis, Patti, Rodney Hammond, Jared Wayne, Owen Drexel, Gabe Houy, Dayon Hayes, Haba Baldonado, Deslin Alexandre, Nate Temple, Devin Danielson and Marquis Williams have all missed time with injuries. Think that the scores would’ve been different if Pitt would’ve had all of these players in the lineup all season? Name me a ranked team that have these many injuries to key players.

*Pitt went on the road to Western Michigan and started a quarterback that hadn’t taken starting reps since 2019. How many of these other ranked teams were forced to start their 3rd string quarterback? Pitt was expected to beat Western Michigan by 10 points and ended up doing so by 21, yet they didn’t rise in the rankings.

Do you really think that the current voters took any of these factors into account when thinking about where to place Pitt? Of course they didn’t. If they had, Pitt wouldn’t be only No. 24.

Actually, I might take that back. Some or all of these might have been considered but simply ignored because the Pitt national brand isn’t established enough. I can promise you that if certain brands in the SEC, Big 10 or Big 12 would’ve had to play through what Pat Narduzzi has had to endure, they wouldn’t have dropped seven spots like Pitt and instead would’ve jumped up.

As I talked about at various times over the last couple of months, stuff like this is all a part of Pitt’s program really becoming established and once again being a national brand. All this this doesn’t happen after just one 11-win season. It’s about consistency and stacking winning seasons before the national media will slobber over you like they do year after year with teams in the Big 10 and SEC.

It’s now up to Pitt to show everyone that they belong and that starts this Saturday as they open ACC conference play.

Pitt will be favored in most if not all of their remaining games and if they take care of business, everyone will have no choice but to give Pitt the proper respect that they deserve.