Inside The Panthers

ESPN's Preseason FPI Not Optimistic About Pitt

ESPN's Football Power Index predicts a major step back for the Pitt Panthers in 2023.

Stephen Thompson

ESPN's Preseason FPI Not Optimistic About Pitt
ESPN's Preseason FPI Not Optimistic About Pitt /
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PITTSBURGH -- ESPN is not bullish about the Pitt Panthers' chances of continuing their recent run of success, which includes 20 wins over the last two seasons and back-to-back finishes in the AP top 25, this coming season. 

ESPN's Preseason Football Power Index ranks Pitt as the 35th-best team in college football after spring practices wrapped up around the country. Five ACC teams - No. 8 Clemson, No. 14 Florida State, No. 25 North Carolina, No. 29 Miami and No. 34 Syracuse - were ranked ahead of the Panthers. Three of the opponents on their 2023 schedule were ranked in the top 25 and seven fell in top 50. 

FPI predicts seven wins and five losses for the Panthers this fall and gives them an 83.7% chance to win at least six games and earn a Bowl game bid. It also gives them a 29.4% chance to win the ACC Coastal Division and 8.1% chance to win the league as a whole. Pitt has no chance - literally 0.0% - to make the playoff, advance to the national championship game or win it all, according to FPI. 

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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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