Pitt earns highest AP poll finish since 1982

Pitt’s most successful season in 40 years ended with the Panthers’ highest ranking in four decades.

The final Associated Press poll of the 2021 season was released in the wake of Monday night’s national championship game, and Pat Narduzzi’s group showed up at No. 13.

The last time the Panthers were ranked higher in a season’s final AP poll was 1982, when they finished at No. 10. That year’s team climbed as high as No. 1 before losing three of its final five games, including the regular-season finale at Penn State and the Cotton Bowl against SMU.

The 2021 Panthers had a stronger finish. Following a loss to Miami at Heinz Field on Oct. 30, Pitt went on a run, taking out its frustrations with a 54-29 win at Duke, outlasting North Carolina in a Thursday night overtime game and then clinching the Coastal Division title against Virginia before closing the regular season with a win at Syracuse.

All of that set up what stands as a 40-year high-water mark for the program: Pitt’s 45-21 win over Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The Panthers formally closed the season with a loss to Michigan State in the Chick Fil-A Peach Bowl, but that game didn’t overshadow the team’s accomplishments.

Pitt finished the season 11-3 overall, the first time the Panthers have won 11 games in a season since 1981.

Pitt was ranked in six consecutive AP polls to finish this season, the program’s longest streak since showing up in nine straight rankings in the 2009 season. The Panthers ranked as high as No. 13 in the AP poll this season, reaching that ranking after the ACC Championship Game and maintaining it in the final poll.

Pitt was ranked No. 12 in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s final ranking, which was released after the ACC title game.

The Panthers were one of four ACC teams to show up in the final AP poll, ahead of No. 14 Clemson, No. 15 Wake Forest and No. 20 N.C. State.