Pitt is projected to finish in a tie for sixth place with Duke in the ACC, according to a vote conducted by a panel of 176 media members. The conference released results of the vote Tuesday morning.
Pitt was similarly disrespected in 2021 when it was projected to finish fourth in the ACC’s Coastal Division before the Panthers advanced all the way to the championship game, where they defeated Wake Forest, 45-21.
Clemson is favored for the eighth time in the past nine years to win it all, securing 103 first-place votes, followed by Florida State (67), North Carolina (five) and N.C. State (one). The ACC no longer uses the two-division system, and the title game participants will be the teams that finish 1-2 in the standings, according to winning percentage.
The vote for first place was close, with Clemson receiving 2,370 voting points and Florida State 2,304. North Carolina was third with 1,981 and N.C. State garnered 1,662.
After that, it was a tight vote among fifth-place Miami (1,553), Duke and Pitt (1,511). The remainder of the projections listed Louisville, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Virginia, in that order.
Pitt’s schedule includes three schools — Florida State, North Carolina and Duke — picked to finish among the top six in the conference.
