Pitt Bowl Projections After Loss to Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH — Well, there won't be any College Football Playoff projections after the Pitt Panthers' abysmal performance in the 37-15 loss to No. 9 Notre Dame.

There is a chance for redemption this week in a must-win game at Georgia Tech and another against Miami. Taking those two wins would put the Panthers in a favorable position to challenge for the ACC Championship.

In the meantime, there are six bowl projections this week, including one that has not yet been projected for Pitt.

Pop-Tarts Bowl

College Football News has Pitt facing former Big East foe Cincinnati in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 27.

The Bearcats hung on to a top 25 ranking this past week after a 45-14 blowout loss to No. 24 Utah the week before, but they will be sent out of the rankings after a 30-24 loss to Arizona last week. Cincinnati is now 7-3 this year, with its other loss being to Nebraska in Week 1.

This would be such a fun game. A piece of the old Big East is revived for one game, where a life-sized Pop-Tart sacrifices itself in the middle of the stadium to be later consumed by the victors of the bowl game. This is what college football is about.

Dec 28, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; The Cinnamon Pop-Tart mascot goes into a toaster to be toasted after the Iowa State Cyclones defeatied the Miami Hurricanes at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Pitt has played in this game before, though under a different sponsor. The Panthers beat NC State 32-19 in the 2001 Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl, which was the only year the bowl game held that name.

Fun Fact: This bowl game started as the Blockbuster Bowl in 1990 and has undergone 10 name changes since. Those names are: the Carquest Bowl (1994-97), the MicronPC Bowl (1998-99), the MicronPC.com Bowl (2000), the Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl (2001), the Mazda Tangerine Bowl (2002-03), the Champs Sports Bowl (2004-11), the Russell Athletic Bowl (2012-16), the Camping World Bowl (2017-19), the Cheez-It Bowl (2020-22) and now the Pop-Tarts Bowl (2023-present).

Military Bowl

On3's Brett McMurphy and CBS Sports both have Pitt playing Navy in the Go Bowling Military Bowl on Dec. 27. These two teams met in the 2015 Military Bowl, with the Midshipmen taking down the Panthers 44-28 in Pat Narduzzi's first season as head coach.

Like Pitt, Navy also lost to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish had a dominant 49-10 win two weeks ago, but the Midshipmen bounced back with a massive 41-28 win over No. 24 South Florida to solidify themselves at the top of the American conference.

Pinstripe Bowl

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura placed the Panthers in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against Minnesota. Pitt has played in the Pinstripe Bowl once before, losing 31-24 to Northwestern.

The Golden Gophers suffered a 42-13 loss to No. 8 Oregon last week and will look to bounce back against Northwestern this week. Minnesota is now 6-4 on the season, with blowout losses to Iowa and Ohio State, and a 13-point loss to Cal.

Sun Bowl

ESPN's Mark Schlabach had Pitt playing Arizona in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. Schlabach had Pitt in the CFP last week.

Pitt has a 3-2 record in the Sun Bowl, with the three wins coming in 1975, 1989 and 2022. The two losses occurred in 2008 and 2018.

Dec 30, 2022; El Paso, Texas, USA; The Pittsburgh Panthers celebrate after defeating the UCLA Bruins, 37-35, in the 2022 Sun Bowl at the Sun Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre-Imagn Images | Ivan Pierre Aguirre-Imagn Images

The Wildcats are an impressive 7-3 this season, with a recent 30-24 win over No. 25 Cincinnati. Their three losses came to No. 14 Iowa State, No. 18 BYU and Houston.

Holiday Bowl

Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer projected Pitt and Utah to face off in the Holiday Bowl. Pitt has never played in the Holiday Bowl, and the game didn't include the ACC until 2022.

Utah is the No. 13-ranked team in the nation and could see another jump this week after advancing to 8-2 in the 55-28 win over Baylor. The Utes' only losses are to No. 17 Texas Tech and No. 15 BYU.

Gator Bowl

Pro Football Network's Oliver Hodgkinson has predicted Pitt to face Texas in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. The Panthers are 2-1 all-time in the Gator Bowl, with their two wins coming in 1977 and 1980, and their lone loss coming in 1956.

This would be an interesting matchup with the Longhorns. This would be the fourth-ever meeting between the two schools, with Texas winning the previous three meetings in 1987, 1994 and 1995.

Texas is now 7-3 after a 35-10 loss to No. 5 Georgia. The Longhorns also have losses to Florida and No. 3 Ohio State, but have wins over No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 9 Vanderbilt.

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