Inside The Panthers

Pitt Predicted to Miss Bowl Game

The Pitt Panthers fell out of college football insider Brett McMurphy's new bowl projections.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Predicted to Miss Bowl Game
Pitt Predicted to Miss Bowl Game /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are currently riding a three-game losing streak, their longest in almost three years and with a tough ACC schedule still ahead of them, their chances of making a bowl game are in question. 

In fact, Action Network's Brett McMurphy has dropped the Panthers down a peg in his weekly bowl projections after each of their three loses until he eventually dropped them this week. Pitt went from Holiday Bowl hopeful to a return to the Sun Bowl to the Military Bowl and now isn't projected to earn a bowl bid at all. 

The path to five more wins is foggy for the Panthers currently. They are favored to beat Virginia Tech - who is fresh off a loss on the road to Marshall - this weekend at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

But following the bye week, they host a Louisville team that is currently 4-0. After visiting Wake Forest, they'll draw back-to-back opponents currently ranked in the top-15, No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 5 Florida State. Then Pitt will head to New York City to face Syracuse at a neutral site before wrapping up the regular season at current No. 17 Duke, a game that looks much tougher than it did at the beginning of the season. 

ESPN's Football Power Index predicts the Panthers to win just four total games this season and gives them a 14.2% chance to reach six wins. 

Head coach Pat Narduzzi's teams tend to finish seasons better than they begin them, but it will take a Herculean effort to right this ship, especially with starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec dealing with an injury. 

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

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Published
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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