Opening AP Poll Slots Pitt Football at No. 17
PITTSBURGH -- The Associated Press released their first top 25 poll of the 2022 college football season on Monday and voters placed the Pitt Panthers at No. 17, down one spot from their No. 16 ranking in last week's preseason coaches poll. This is the first time the Panthers have been ranked in the preseason AP poll since 2010.
Pitt is the fourth highest-rated ACC team in the poll, with No. 4 Clemson leading the pack followed by No. 13 NC State and No. 16 Miami, then the Panthers. Wake Forest rounds out the ACC contingent in the poll at No. 22. North Carolina also received votes and non-conference opponent Tennessee received the most votes of teams not in the top 25.
The Panthers return 74% of their snaps from a team that won 11 games and an ACC Championship in 2021 but the losses they did sustain were substantial, which accounts for their four-spot drop off from last season's final poll.
The record-setting quarterback-receiver duo of Jordan Addison and Kenny Pickett is a thing of the past and the offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple, is too. Top cover corner Damarri Mathis now plays for the Denver Broncos and four of the team's top five linebackers have either transferred or graduated.
Pitt feels they have enough talent waiting in the wings - acquired either through development or the transfer portal - to account for those losses. A litany of upperclassmen starters returning to man the trenches on both sides of the ball also contributed to a rosy outlook for this year's team.
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