'Underdogs' Not a Thing for Pitt This Season

Even though the Pitt Panthers are ranked higher, they're underdogs against Tennessee this week.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers enter their Week 2 matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers holding a higher ranking than their opponent and a win over a Power 5 opponent already under their belts. Nonetheless, bookies favor the Volunteers by nearly a touchdown over Pat Narduzzi's Panthers. 

Narduzzi said he had no idea Pitt was not picked as a favorite to remain undefeated in the all-time series between these two teams, but doesn't mind it. In fact, he likes to treat every game like they're the underdog. 

"I haven’t really addressed it," Narduzzi said. "It doesn’t really matter. I feel like we’re underdogs all the time, period. I feel like we were underdogs last week. I got a lot of respect, I guess, for every opponent that walks through the doors or wherever we travel. So I’m always going to take that philosophy."

He sees no value in playing the disrespect card with his players as they prepare for a good opponent. Narduzzi thinks they create their own confidence and don't need help getting motivated from the outside.

"I don’t know how much players in 2022 care about the underdog. If I tell them, what are they going to be like? ‘Oh we’re underdogs? Do we have a chance?’," Narduzzi said sarcastically. "We just need to go play.”

To that end, the fact that Pitt didn't move up from it's No. 17 position in the latest AP poll doesn't change how he talks to his team either. But unlike an underdog status, Narduzzi wants them to block where they are or aren't in national rankings out completely. Narduzzi claimed that even he doesn't focus on things like that. 

“I don’t know if they pay attention," he said. "I had no idea so I hope they don’t know either.”

Narduzzi added that whether or not this team is good enough to reach their self-stated goal - a national championship - won't be determined before the dust settles roughly three hours after the Panthers and Volunteers kick-off. 

"There are two good football teams," Narduzzi said. "I want to talk about us but I know we’ve got a good football team coming in here. We’ll find out what we got Saturday and we’ll decide that after the game. I’ll talk to you at the press conference on Saturday. We’ll decide how elite or not elite we are then.”

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