Pitt to face Michigan State in the Peach Bowl
After winning its first ACC championship, Pitt will play in its first New Year’s Six bowl.
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced that Pitt will participate in the Chick Fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 30 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Panthers (11-2), who were also announced as No. 12 in the latest CFP rankings, will face No. 10 Michigan State (10-2) in the game.
The Peach Bowl is set to kick off at 7 pm.
Pitt has faced Michigan State seven times; five of those happened from 1945-60, with the final two games coming as a home-and-home series In 2006 and 2007. The Panthers have never defeated the Spartans; they have an 0-6-1 against Michigan State, with the lone tie coming in 1960.
This will be Pitt’s first appearance in a New Year’s Six bowl in the seven-year history of the College Football Playoffs and the Panthers’ first appearance in the Peach Bowl. Of the six bowls - Peach, Orange, Rose, Sugar, Cotton and Fiesta - Pitt has played in four Rose Bowls, four Fiesta Bowls, three Sugar Bowls and one Cotton Bowl. The Panthers have never played in a Peach Bowl or an Orange Bowl.
All Power Five champions are guaranteed a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl. In most years, the ACC champion is contractually tied to the Orange Bowl, provided the Orange Bowl is not a playoff semifinal game and the ACC champ is not in the playoffs.
This year, the Orange Bowl is a semifinal and will host No. 2 Michigan against No. 3 Georgia. As the ACC champion, Pitt was guaranteed a place in one of the non-semifinal bowls (the Cotton Bowl is the other semifinal this year and will host No. 1 Alabama against No. 4 Cincinnati). The Rose Bowl is contractually tied to a Big Ten/Pac-12 matchup and the Sugar Bowl is tied to a Big 12/SEC matchup.
That leaves the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl; as a Power Five champion, Pitt was given the favorable geographic location of playing in Atlanta. The Panthers are very familiar with that city, having played Georgia Tech on the road in three consecutive seasons - including earlier this fall.