ACC Announces New Primary Opponents for Pitt Football
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have won two of the last three ACC Coastal Division titles and will have one chance to bring home that trophy in 2022. This summer, the NCAA struck down old provisions that required its FBS conferences to split their members into divisions if they wanted to hold a conference championship game at the end of the season.
With divisions no longer protected, the ACC has decided to completely remove them and instead send the top two teams by conference winning percentage to the annual title game in Charlotte. Scrapping divisions also means a move to a 3-3-5 scheduling model that will give each team three primary opponents to play every season. The Panthers drew Boston College, Virginia Tech and Syracuse as their annual foes.
Syracuse, currently of the opposing Atlantic Division, was as close to a lock to be a primary opponent as anyone in the conference. The Panthers and Orange have played one another every season since 1955. They made a simultaneous move from the Big East to the ACC in 2013 and have been cross-divisional rivals in football ever since.
Boston College and Pitt don't share much history, but own a common Big East heritage as well. And as two of the three northern-most schools in the conference, the fit makes sense.
Virginia Tech provides perhaps the most compelling annual matchup. Geographic proximity puts the two programs at odds for recruits annually and they were both regularly in the thick of Coastal Division races during its heyday, resulting in some close, high-stakes and emotional games.
At the end of its press release, the ACC also revealed complete conference slates for the next four seasons, from 2023 to 2026. In addition to its three primary opponents, the Panthers will play five other ACC teams on a rotating basis.
In 2023 Pitt draws Boston College, Florida State, Louisville and North Carolina at home and Duke, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest on the road.
The home opponents of 2024 will be NC State, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech and the Panthers will face Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami and North Carolina on the road.
2025 consists of dates with Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Wake and Forest at Heinz Feild while Florida State, Louisville, Syracuse and Virginia Tech make up the away slate.
Pitt will face Georgia Tech, Miami, Syracuse and Virginia Tech at home and Boston College, Clemson, NC State and Virginia on the road in 2026.
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