ESPN Analyst Believes FPI Underrates Pitt

ESPN analyst David Hale believes FPI is selling the Pitt Panthers short.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers checked in at No. 35 in ESPN's preseason Football Power Index Rankings. They will lose lots of returning production to graduation and the NFL Draft, but their position behind ACC foes like 6-6 Syracuse and 5-7 Miami, both of whom the Panthers beat last season, left one ESPN analyst believing the computers are underrating Pitt. 

David Hale, one of ESPN's ACC beat writers and college football analysts, picked Pitt as one of the teams whose ranking lags behind where they probably should be. 

"The popular narrative around the ACC is that Clemson (No. 8 in the FPI) and Florida State (No. 14) inevitably will meet up in the title game with the winner in the playoff mix," Hale wrote. "That sounds good, but the ACC doesn't exactly have a great track record of living up to predictions. There may be no more divisions, but Coastal Chaos may now just expand to include the whole league. If that happens, look out for Pitt, which checks in at No. 35 in the preseason FPI -- astonishingly, just behind Syracuse."

Hale is a believer in graduate transfer quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who returns to Pittsburgh to lead his hometown team in his final season of eligibility, and the Panthers' ability to reload a defensive line that has lost four starters in John Morgan, Calijah Kancey, Deslin Alexandre and Habakkuk Baldonado. 

"Yes, the Panthers lost a bunch from last year's 9-4 squad, which won its last five, but the arrival of Phil Jurkovec via the transfer portal should settle the QB position, and Pat Narduzzi is thrilled about the upside of his defensive line, which will feature four new starters this season," Hale wrote. 

There is also a strong track record that indicates the Panthers are capable of overcoming season-to-season player attrition from good teams. The Panthers have won 20 games over the past two seasons combined, even after losing so many key pieces of the 2021 ACC Championship squad. 

Over the past two seasons, the only Power 5 teams to win more games than Pitt are Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson," Hale said. "That's elite company, even if the FPI doesn't view the Panthers as an elite team."

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