Pitt Panthers ranked at bottom of ACC standings

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers had a terrible 2023 season and ESPN predicts they will also be among the worst football teams in the ACC in 2024.

ESPN uses a SP+ metric, which is a “pace- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football effectiveness.”

“This is a predictive measure of the most enduring and predictable aspects of football, not a resume ranking. In that sense, these projections are not intended to guess what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season,” according to ESPN’s Bill Connolly. “These are simply early-offseason power rankings based on the information we’ve been able to gather to date.”

Pitt's SP+ rating is -4.8, which ranks 81st out of 134 FBS Division I teams and second worst in the ACC. Only Stanford, playing in its first season in the conference since the Pac-12, has a worse rating at -5.6, ranking 84th overall.

The Panthers also have a 21.5 offensive rating, No. 97 overall and worst in the ACC, and a 26.4 defensive rating, No. 53 overall and No. 9 in the ACC.

ESPN also ranks Pitt's strength of schedule at 64th overall, in the middle of the pack, and they predict Pitt will average 4.6 wins overall and 2.5 wins in conference play.

They also gave the Panthers a 0.3% chance to win the ACC title, a 0.0% chance to win 11 or more games and a 27.1% chance to win six or more games.

A big part of the reason for this result is Pitt's lack of production this past season. They are taking 57.1 percent of their offensive snaps, which is 80th overall and 14th (fourth lowest) in the ACC, and 53.8 percent of their defensive snaps, which is 98th overall and 17th (second lowest) in the ACC.

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

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

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 were 2-9 in 1998.

Pitt opens the 2024 schedule against Kent State at Acrisure Stadium on Aug. 31. Kent State is the lowest-ranked team in the FBS heading into 2024 after a 1-11 2023 season.

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

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt