The Associated Press ranked Pitt No. 17 in its pre-season college football poll released Monday. This is the highest pre-season ranking for the Panthers since 2010 when they started their season ranked No. 15. 

Despite winning the conference last season, the AP ranked Pitt behind three ACC foes — No. 16 Miami, No. 13 NC State and No. 4 Clemson. Pitt also finished the season last year ranked No. 13 in the AP poll, sliding four spots since the end of the 2021 season. The Panthers are returning 15 starters from its ACC Championship team.

While pre-season rankings rarely stay the same by the end of the season, Pitt has just one team on its schedule — Miami — that the voters ranked to start the year. The Panthers and the Hurricanes don’t meet until the final week of the regular season.

Pitt will face off against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sept. 1 to kickoff its season. The matchup between the two rivals will air nationally on ESPN and feature a special edition of the College Gameday show. Coverage will start with College Gameday’s show at 6 p.m. and kickoff is at 7 p.m.