Pitt to face East Carolina in Military Bowl

Pitt’s wait regarding a postseason bowl invitation is over.

On Sunday afternoon, the Panthers (8-4, 6-2 ACC) were invited to the Military Bowl Dec. 27 in Annapolis, Md., versus East Carolina (8-4, 6-2 American Conference).

The Panthers and Pirates will kick off at 11 a.m. from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

This year marks the eighth in coach Pat Narduzzi’s 11th at the helm that the Panthers have made a bowl.

???? @MilitaryBowl

The Panthers are headed to Annapolis! pic.twitter.com/URgF8RUUlJ

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) December 7, 2025

@Pitt_FB and @ECUPiratesFB are #goingbowling ????

????️ December 27
????Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
⏰ 11 a.m.
????️ https://t.co/CK2C2bij1z pic.twitter.com/dop0bdR64a

— Go Bowling Military Bowl (@MilitaryBowl) December 7, 2025

With a win in the Military Bowl, the 2025 Panthers would tie for the second-most wins in a season under Narduzzi, matching the 9-4 2022 squad that won the Sun Bowl and trailing only the 11-3 ACC Championship team in 2021.

Since 1983, Pitt has won nine or more games only five times (2022, 2021, 2009, 2008, 2002).

Pitt previously played in the Military Bowl in 2015, Narduzzi’s first season, falling to No. 21 Navy, 44-28.

The Panthers played their Nov. 29 regular-season finale against Miami (10-2, 6-2) needing a win and bit of help to advance to the ACC title game.

As it would turn out, that help was forthcoming in the form of Cal’s win over SMU (8-4, 6-2).

But the Hurricanes dispatched Pitt at Acrisure Stadium, 38-7, dashing Pitt’s route.

With SMU, Miami, Pitt, Georgia Tech (9-3, 6-2) and Duke (8-5, 6-2) ending the regular-season with the same record in league play, it was the Blue Devils who advanced to Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 6 to face Virginia in the championship by virtue of the ACC’s fifth tiebreaker in the event of a three-or-more-team tie.

That tiebreaker was combined win-loss percentage of league opponents and Duke’s .500 mark in that department was the separater.

Duke’s stunning overtime win over Virginia (10-3, 6-2) in the ACC championship late Saturday night carried significant implications for the league’s postseason participation in several regards.

Most notably — or negatively, from commissioner Jim Phillips’ vantage point — was the Blue Devils denying No. 16 Virginia an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff, with the 12-team field announced Sunday.

Granted, Miami entered the fold as the No. 10 seed, having edged Notre Dame into the 12-team field on selection Sunday.

THE 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET IS SET‼️

Did your team make the cut? ????@CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/tkdTkChBrg

— ESPN (@espn) December 7, 2025

The Fighting Irish (10-2), eligible for all of the ACC’s 10 affiliated bowls after missing the CFP, went on to decline a bowl invitation Sunday afternoon.

That, combined with Duke’s win, shook up the projected bowl landscape for the ACC’s 10 qualifying teams.

After Cal, a former Pac-12 member, accepted an invitation to the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24, bowl-eligible ACC teams aside from the Panthers, Cavaliers and Blue Devils on Sunday consisted of SMU, No. 24 Georgia Tech, Clemson (7-5, 4-4), N.C. State (7-5, 4-4), Louisville (8-4, 4-4) and Wake Forest (8-4, 4-4).

As of Sunday afternoon, Wake Forest was announced to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, with Louisville in the Boca Raton Bowl, N.C. State in the Gasparilla Bowl, Duke in the Sun Bowl, Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl, SMU in the Holiday Bowl, Virginia in the Gator Bowl and Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Losses by East Carolina this year came to N.C. State in Week 1, BYU, Tulane and UTSA.

The Pirates finished the season in fifth place in the American Conference.