Way-Too-Early Bowl Projection Places Pitt in Familiar Setting in 2025

College football’s postseason is a long ways away, but that has not stopped analysts from giving Pitt and other teams their early projections.

Brett McMurphy, formerly of the Action Network and now of On3, released his first full list of bowl projections and playoff matchup predictions for the 2025 season.

These projections will change just about every single week of the season, but as of now, Pitt is matched up with a Big 10 school in a familiar setting.

Pitt is projected to play Iowa in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y.

The last time Pitt played Iowa came during the 2015 regular season in which the Panthers fell on a last-second field goal, 27-24, at Kinnick Stadium

It would be Pitt’s first appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl since 2016 when it lost to Northwestern, 31-24, to cap off a season in which the Panthers finished 8-5.

The Panthers also recently played at Yankee Stadium two years ago in 2023 when it lost to the Syracuse Orange, 28-13.

Pitt is coming off a 7-6 season in which it won the first seven games of the season before dropping its last six contest, including the GameAbove Bowl against Toledo.

Under head coach pat Narduzzi, Pitt is 2-5 in bowl games with wins over Eastern Michigan and UCLA in the Sun Bowl (2022)

Pitt opens the 2025 season against Duquesne at Acrisure Stadium on Aug. 30. The Panthers’ current over/under win total line via FanDuel is 6.5 games.

Here’s how McMurphy predicts the College Football Playoff bracket:

First Round (Dec. 19-20)
No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Texas
No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 LSU
No. 11 Utah at No. 6 Clemson
No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Alabama

No. 5 Texas
No. 4 Ohio State
No. 3 Georgia
No. 2 Penn State
No. 1 Notre Dame

McMurphy predicts Georgia to win it all for the 2025 season.