Pitt Football Returns to ACC Media Days As First Non-Atlantic Champion Since 2010

The Pitt Panthers shook up the ACC last season, making the league more of an open question than its been in a while.

PITTSBURGH -- This week ACC coaches and players are gathering for conference media days in Charlotte, North Carolina, where six and a half months ago, the Pitt Panthers and their opponent in the ACC Championship Game upended the established pecking order. Annual trips to Bank of America Stadium halted for at least a year as the Panthers met Wake Forest for the first ACC title game since 2008 that didn't feature either Clemson or Florida State. 

The Panthers will arrive at ACC media days, which start on Wednesday and run through Thursday, as the first league champion from outside the Atlantic Division since Georgia Tech downed the Tigers in the 2006 title game. But their feat will take a backseat to discussions about the frantic action of a busy college offseason, one in which the true value of wealth and prestige was laid bare for everyone to see. 

Conference realignment conversations will be unavoidable. USC and UCLA were the latest of college sports' rich and famous to announce that they will leave their conference and embrace the money and status of the Big 10 in 2024. With Texas and Oklahoma set to make their own mad dash from the Big 12 to the SEC for similar reasons one year after, college sports appears to be headed towards a polarized landscape, with football in the impeding super conferences distinguishing who is entitled to the title of 'elite' and who will be left by the wayside. 

But USC and UCLA's move set off a panic that has since calmed, thanks in large part to recent developments. In the days following westward expansion of the Big 10, the Big 12 and Pac 12 scrambled to find 'strength in numbers' - addition of schools or partnerships with other conferences that would help insulate it against the 'Power Two'. But those efforts appear to be futile after reports surfaced that the Pac 12 and Big 12 could not find profitable enough joint ventures. 

The ACC got further assurance that its most prominent and profitable schools will remain members for the foreseeable future this week, when SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that his conference will not interfere with another league's grant-of-rights agreement - binding contracts that give a school's conference the rights to broadcast their home football games, collect revenue from television companies and then distribute it to each member. 

Sankey's comments were an indirect reference to rumors that several ACC schools were exploring ways to get out of the ACC's grant-of-rights. The ACC's deal, which runs through 2036, was previously seen as subpar and a liability in the face of expanding super conferences. Now, it's all but a guarantee that the league will retain major players like Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina. 

The ACC now has some breathing room, meaning that even though realignment will remain at the top of everyone's talking points, they can take some time to address their real reason for gathering at the Charlotte Westin Hotel - football. 

The ACC is in an intriguing spot. Pitt and Wake Forest took advantage of a down year in Clemson (by the Tigers' own standards- they still won 10 games and finished inside the top 15 of the final AP Poll). They met in the first ACC Championship to not feature Florida State or the Tigers since 2008

Clemson showed vulnerability and - even though they are expected by many to return to their position atop the conference this year behind a star-studded defense - the league looks as wide open as ever. The question is now whether last season represents a flash in the pan or new league order. 

The Panthers are confident that returning 74% of their snaps from a championship 2021 squad, plus the addition of talented transfers Kedon Slovis and Konata Mumpfield (among others) will be enough to make up for the losses of record-setting quarterback Kenny Pickett and Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison. 

Elsewhere, contenders are led by stellar quarterbacks. Sam Hartman leads largely the same efficient Wake Forest offense into 2022, hoping to replicate top last year's 41 points per game. Devin Leary and NC State, who finished last year in the top 20 as well, hope to live up to lofty expectations - something the Wolfpack have struggled with historically. Tyler Van Dyke took over the reins of Miami's offense midseason and quickly established himself as one of the better offensive players in the ACC. The Hurricanes continued to stock top-tier talent and hope that newly minted head coach Mario Cristobal can craft a winner from it.

Louisville's Malik Cunningham, Boston College's Phil Jurkovec and Virginia's Brennan Armstrong are no slouches either, even though their respective teams are not expected to make much noise this year. 

The coaching carousel also adds intrigue on both ends of the spectrum. Geoff Collins at Georgia Tech, Mike Norvell at Florida State, Scott Satterfield at Louisville and Dino Babers at Syracuse will need to stack some wins this fall and convince their bosses that they are worth keeping around. On the flip side, Tony Elliot, Brent Pry and Mike Elko are starting their tenures at Virginia, Virginia Tech and Duke, respectively with the goal of either restoring former glory in Pry's case or building from the ground up in Elko and Elliot's. 

'Change' will be the theme of the event - for better or worse - as the ACC prepares to play football. 

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