Pitt not only squandered its four-game win streak with a 38-34 loss to Miami Saturday, but also a good chance to bump up the rankings.
Miami just beat N.C. State the week before beating Pitt, which knocked the Wolfpack from being No. 18 to being unranked going into this week of games. This time, it was the Panthers who fell in the rankings after losing to Miami, as the Associated Press dropped Pitt to being unranked. Pitt did receive 117 votes, which was the most of all the unranked teams.
After being ranked No. 17 by the AP last week, the Panthers received the highest ranking in Pat Narduzzi's seven years of coaching the program. That ranking would've definitely jumped even higher had Pitt won Saturday as several teams ranked ahead of them also lost:
• No. 6 Michigan lost to No. 8 Michigan State;
• No. 9 Iowa lost to Wisconsin;
• No. 10 Ole Miss lost to No. 18 Auburn;
• and No. 12 Kentucky lost to Mississippi State.
Had Pitt won Saturday, it might not have jumped Michigan at 7-1 with a loss to another top ten team, but it most likely would've been ahead of Iowa, Ole Miss and Kentucky, as each would've had two losses on the season.
At worst, the Panthers might've been No. 14 in the country, which would've been the highest ranking for the program since being ranked No. 8 by the AP under Dave Wannstedt in 2009.
Despite that disappointment, Pitt still leads the ACC Coastal division with a 3-1 conference record. Virginia is in second place with a 4-2 record after losing to No. 25 BYU Saturday night, and North Carolina is third in the division with a 3-3 record after losing to No. 11 Notre Dame. Pitt plays both teams in November.
The Panthers still control their own path to the ACC Championship Game, and that's still a realistic goal with the opponents ahead of them. Listen to my latest episode of the H2P podcast where I break that down:
