Inside The Panthers

Pitt Earns First AP Poll Ranking in Seven Years

The Pitt Panthers are ranked for the first time in 2,604 days.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Earns First AP Poll Ranking in Seven Years
Pitt Earns First AP Poll Ranking in Seven Years /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers can cross off another milestone on their road back to relevance, which has been given a second wind in year five of Jeff Capel's tenure as head coach. The Panthers are finally ranked after constant commotion was made by the fan base every since the Panthers' bid for an ACC regular season title materialized. 

Pitt checked in at 25th this week’s poll after coming tantalizingly close to cracking the top 25 last week. They finished 27th in points with 34 points a week ago but took a significant leap forward after blowing out Georgia Tech and Syracuse in consecutive games. 

The Panthers have not been ranked in the AP Poll since January of 2016, when they were slotted at No. 20 in the Week 9 poll of the 2015-16 season. They'd earned votes multiple times this season but could not snap a 2,604-day absence from the top 25 until now. They'll aim to finish the regular season ranked for the first time since 2012-13, before they were even a member of the ACC. 

No. 24 TCU, No. 16 Xavier, No. 19 Creighton, No. 17 Indiana, No. 23 Iowa State, No. 20 Providence, No. 21 Northwestern and No. 25 Texas A&M all lost to open up room at the bottom of the poll for Pitt. The Blue Jays, Wildcats and Cyclones each lost twice. 

Just two other ACC teams - No. 16 Miami, and No. 13 Virginia found itself inside the top 25. Duke, NC State and Clemson received votes but were not ranked. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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