Published Sep 12, 2022
Pitt stays ranked despite loss to Tennessee
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Chris Peak  •  Pitt Sports News
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Pitt’s first loss of the season cost the Panthers a few spots in both major polls, but the team stayed ranked heading into Week Three.

After opening the season at No. 17 in the Associated Press and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, Pitt climbed to No. 14 for the coaches and stayed in place at No. 17 after the 38-31 win over West Virginia in the season opener.

Those rankings took a few hits in the wake of Saturday’s 34-27 loss to Tennessee in overtime at Acrisure Stadium, though. The coaches dropped Pitt from No. 14 to No. 25, while the AP was less harsh, sliding the Panthers down six spots from No. 17 to No. 23.

Pitt has now been ranked in nine consecutive Associated Press polls, dating back to last November when the Panthers checked in at No. 25 following a 54-29 win at Duke. They eventually climbed to No. 13 in the final AP poll of the 2021 season.

The last time Pitt appeared in nine consecutive AP polls was 2009, when the Panthers broke into the rankings at No. 20 with a 6-1 record and climbed as high as No. 8 before finishing at No. 15.

That streak extended to the 2010 season when Pitt was No. 15 in the preseason poll, but the Panthers dropped out after losing the opener at Utah and didn’t make another AP poll until mid-October 2015.

Pitt previously had a 14-week streak in the AP polls from the end of the 2002 season into the 2003 season.

The Panthers’ longest streak came from mid-1979 through the 1982 season. Pitt appeared in 56 consecutive AP polls over that span.

Only one of Pitt’s remaining 10 opponents is ranked in the polls this week. Miami, who will host the Panthers in the regular-season finale, climbed two spots to No. 13 in the AP poll and three spots to No. 13 in the coaches poll after beating Southern Miss 30-7.

North Carolina, who is 3-0 after a pair of close games on the road against Sun Belt teams, also received votes in both polls, while Syracuse, 2-0 with wins over Louisville and UConn, received votes in the coaches poll.