Inside The Panthers

Pitt's Future Non-Conference Schedule Stocked With High Major Opponents

With Cincinnati set to join the Big 12 next year, the Panthers' out-of-conference schedules will feature three Power Five foes.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt's Future Non-Conference Schedule Stocked With High Major Opponents
Pitt's Future Non-Conference Schedule Stocked With High Major Opponents /
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PITTSBURGH -- Another round of conference realignment is on the horizon and rapidly approaching. Texas and Oklahoma kickstarted the college sports shake-up last summer, when they announced intentions to ditch the Big 12 for the SEC in 2025 and a few members of the American Athletic Conference planned on filling their places. 

Originally, these changes were supposed to be years away but on Friday, the Big 12 announced that the transition would be put into motion much sooner. Cincinnati, Central Florida and Houston, currently members of the AAC, will pay $18 million in exit fees to move to the Big 12 on July 1, 2023. Now the Bearcats, who have a home-and-home series scheduled with Pitt for 2023 and 2024, bolster the reputation of the Panthers' non-conference slate. 

With Notre Dame and West Virginia already on the schedule, Cincinnati is the third high-major opponent on the Panthers' 2023 out-of-conference plans. 

The last time Pitt played a non-conference schedule of this caliber was 2018, when they hosted a top-15 Penn State squad and traveled to UCF and Notre Dame teams. The Panthers lost all three games by an average of 27 points but rallied to win the ACC's Coastal Division. 

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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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