Pitt football is guaranteed a bowl appearance. It’s about the finish now.
Brett McMurphy of Action Network projects the Panthers to face off against Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 28 in the Bronx. Action Network has set the Badgers as a way-too-early 4-point favorite. Bill Crawford of 247Sports and Kyle Bonagura of ESPN also projects a Wisconsin matchup in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports still projects the Panthers to face off against Washington in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27 in San Diego, Cal.
Mark Schlabach of ESPN projects the Panthers to play USC in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Tx.
The Holiday Bowl and the Pinstripe Bowl aren’t exactly top-tier appearances, especially after a 7-0 start, but that’s what happens after a couple of losses. There’s still a chance to rise — or continue to fall, on the flip side — over the last two games of the season. A 7-3 season could end quite a few ways.
Pitt has never played in the Holiday Bowl, but the Panthers have an appearance in a Pinstripe Bowl, losing 31-24 to Northwestern in 2016. And the last bowl appearance for the Panthers was the Sun Bowl, a 37-35 win against UCLA in 2022.
Pitt is coming off its third straight loss of the season, falling to No. 20 Clemson at Acrisure Stadium. It was a frustrating, mistake-filled afternoon in which the Panthers had a victory within reach and let it slip away.
Pat Narduzzi, as he’s done all season, said the Panthers will bounce back with two games remaining on the schedule.
“Yeah, they’re not going to lose confidence after what they did out there today,” Narduzzi said Saturday. “We’ve got a good football team in there and we played a good football team. They aren’t crappy. We’ve got a darned good football team, and we just keep our heads up. We’ve got two more guaranteed games and then we’ll move on from there.
“We’ve got a really good Louisville team on the road, and then we’ve got to pick up the pieces, and our guys will do that. They were great in the locker room afterwards. It’s the game of football. It’s what we do.”
Pitt is on the road to end the season, traveling to Louisville this weekend and Boston College in two weekends.
While the bowl appearances themselves don’t stand out, the match ups do. Wisconsin and Washington (last season’s national runner up) are good Big Ten matchups, and Narduzzi has history with USC.
