How Difficult is Pitt Football’s 2025 Schedule?

In today’s era of college football, strength of schedule has become an increasing factor when considering teams for the College Football Playoff.

It’s not the end all be all as sometimes is the case in college basketball, but defeating tougher teams can go a long way compared to stockpiling wins against easier competition, especially in the non-conference portion.

Over the years, Pitt has attempted to balance its non-conference schedule with longtime rivals and a mix of FCS or Mid-American Conference schools.

West Virginia, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Tennessee have dotted Pitt’s schedule in recent years and the Panthers will continue to do that with West Virginia and Notre Dame back on the docket for 2025.

Pitt will round out its non-conference schedule with its season-opening matchup against Duquesne and Central Michigan in Week 2 before getting into the heart of the Panthers’ Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) slate.

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) has generated the strength of schedule for every FBS team prior to the upcoming season, and for Pitt, its schedule is right around the middle of the pack in terms of difficulty.

The FPI ranks Pitt’s overall strength of schedule at No. 53 out of 136 FBS schools. The schedule also ranks 12th in the ACC. Overall, Florida, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas top the list, respectively.

Last year, Pitt finished with the No. 57 strength of schedule.

Pitt will take on Louisville, Boston College, N.C. State and Miami at home, while facing Florida State, Syracuse, Stanford and Georgia Tech on the road.

Here’s how the rest of the ACC shakes out in terms of overall strength of schedule:

Syracuse — No. 17

Florida State — No. 24

Georgia Tech — No. 33

Stanford — No. 33

Louisville — No. 36

Clemson — No. 40

Miami — No. 41

N.C. State — No. 42

SMU — No. 43

Boston College — No. 47

Virginia Tech — No. 52

Pitt — No. 53

Duke — No. 56

Cal — No. 70

North Carolina — No. 71

Wake Forest — No. 79

Virginia — No. 84