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Pitt surfaces at No. 23 in Associated Press Top 25 | TribLIVE.com
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Pitt surfaces at No. 23 in Associated Press Top 25

Jerry DiPaola
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AP
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi during their annual NCAA football intrasquad Blue-Gold scrimmage game, Saturday, April 24, 2021, in Pittsburgh.

After producing three consecutive victories with 20-plus victory margins for the first time since 2001, Pitt moved into the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday at No. 23.

Pitt’s first appearance in the Top 25 since winning its first three games of the 2020 season precedes a nationally televised (ESPN) matchup at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field when Clemson visits Pittsburgh for the first time in history. Clemson is unranked in the Associated Press poll, but No. 24 — one behind Pitt — in the American Football Coaches Association poll.

In the aftermath of Pitt’s 28-7 victory at Virginia Tech, coach Pat Narduzzi called the upcoming game “epic.”

The Panthers (5-1, 2-0 ACC) also are getting recognition from the ESPN Football Power Index, which ranks them No. 7 in the nation. The FPI gives Pitt an 88.2% chance to win the ACC Coastal, 57.5% (tops in the conference) to win the ACC and 63.1% to beat Clemson while projecting 10.4 victories at the end of the season.

Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.

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