Pitt Receives Disappointing Preseason Ranking From ESPN

The Pitt Panthers were ranked in the lower part of the ACC in an ESPN Ranking.

Nov 11, 2023; New York, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi watches warm ups before the game against against the Syracuse Orange at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports / Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers had a disappointing 2023 season, which is unsurprisingly seeing them rank low in the ACC heading into 2024.

ESPN released their final preseason ranking based on SP+, a metric writer Bill Connelly uses that takes into account returning production, recent recruiting and recent history for each team and then ranks them accordingly.

"SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency," Connelly wrote. "It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking, and, along those same lines, these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date."

Pitt came in at No. 66 in the FBS out 134 programs, with a -0.8 rating, and No. 12 in the ACC out of 17 teams. They rank above Syracuse at No. 67, Boston College at No. 73, Wake Forest at No. 74, Stanford at No. 77 and Virginia at No. 78.

The ACC overall ranks No. 4 out of the nine conferences and last in the Power 4, with the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 taking the top three spots, respectively.

Pitt ranked No. 85 in Offense SP+, No. 43 in Defense SP+ and No. 88 in Special Teams SP+. Pitt also ranked No. 95 in Returning Production, the second lowest in the ACC just ahead of North Carolina, bringing back 55% of their snaps from last season. They bring back 57% of their offensive snaps and 53% of their defense snaps, ranking No. 82 and No. 100 in the FBS, respectively.

The Panthers lost a few starters to the transfer portal in defensive linemen Dayon Hayes and Samuel Okunlola, plus defensive tackle Deandre Jules and linebackers Bangally Kamara and Solomon DeShields. All three cornerbacks, M.J. Devonshire, A.J. Woods and Marquis Williams also graduated as well.

On offense, Pitt lost offensive tackle Matt Goncalves and wide receiver Bub Means to the NFL Draft, and offensive linemen Blake Zubovic and Jake Kradel to graduation as well

While the Panthers don't return many snaps or veterans from last season, they also finished 3-9 overall, their worst record in 25 years, when they went 2-9 in 1998.

Pitt opens up the 2024 schedule against Kent State at Acrisure Stadium on Aug. 3, where they'll hope to start out with a season-opening win.

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