Pitt football jumps back into AP Top 25 after beating Duke

Pitt came in at No. 25 in the weekly Associated Press Top-25 football rankings. The AP ranked Pitt at No. 17 two weeks ago, but fell out of the poll after its loss to Miami. After taking down Duke over the weekend, the Panthers earned their way back into the poll.

The Panthers received 193 points — narrowly beating out Purdue for the No. 25 spot, who received 174 points.

There are two other ACC teams in the Top 25 — NC State at No. 21 and Wake Forest at No. 13. The Big Ten leads all conferences with six teams in the Top 25.

ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Pitt a 41.6% chance to win the ACC and a 1.2% chance to make the College Football Playoff. Before falling to Miami, Pitt had nearly a one-in-four chance at making the annual tournament.

Head coach Pat Narduzzi has consistently said he does not pay attention to the weekly rankings.

“Stats are for losers,” Narduzzi said earlier this season. “I don’t care about the polls. I don’t care about anything. I care about this week.”

Pitt has a short turnaround this week with its game against UNC scheduled for Thursday. The AP ranked the Tar Heels as high as No. 8 this season, but they have since fallen out after a string of early season losses.

The game against the Tar Heels will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at Heinz Field on Thursday night.