Pitt Bowl Projections After Fifth-Straight Win

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have moved to 7-2 after handling business on the road in the 35-20 win over the Stanford Cardinal.

There are two different bowl games in this week's projections from last week's. The Panthers also received several matchup projections against Big Ten teams.

Pinstripe Bowl

On3's Brett McMurphy, ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer project Pitt to play in this year's Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27.

McMurphy has the Panthers facing Northwestern, Bonagura chose Minnesota and Fischer picked Iowa. Pitt has played in the Pinstripe Bowl once before, and it was against Northwestern in 2016. However, the Wildcats were victorious 31-24.

Northwestern is still 5-3 this season and is coming off a bye. The Wildcats will have a tough matchup this week, as they head to No. 20 USC.

Minnesota is currently 6-3 and Iowa is 6-2. The Golden Gophers have a bye this week after beating Michigan State 23-20, and will head to No. 6 Oregon the following week. The Hawkeyes had a bye this past week after decimating Minnesota 41-3, and they will also head to No. 6 Oregon this week.

Holiday Bowl

Pete Fiutak of the College Football News and Oliver Hodgkinson of the Pro Football Network both projected Pitt to play in this year's Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Jan. 2, 2026. Fiutak matched up Pitt and Washington, while Hodgkinson had Pitt and USC.

Pitt has never played in the Holiday Bowl. The game was between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten from 2014-19, and started the ACC vs. Pac-12 series in 2022. Obviously, the Pac-12 currently consists of just Oregon State and Washington State, but the Holiday Bowl still includes the traditional Pac-12 teams.

Washington and USC are both 6-2 this season. The Huskies are coming off a bye but upset No. 23 Illinois the week before, 42-25. The Trojans squeaked out a 21-17 road win over Nebraska in their last game and will host Northwestern this week.

Sun Bowl

ESPN's Mark Schlabach projected the Panthers to face Arizona State in the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 31.

Pitt has made five Sun Bowl appearances all-time, with the most recent being the 37-35 win over UCLA in 2022. Rodney Hammond Jr. was named the MVP in the win.

The Panthers also lost the 2018 Sun Bowl 14-13 to Stanford, lost 3-0 to Oregon State in 2008, beat Texas A&M 31-28 in 1989 and defeated Kansas 33-19 in 1975. Alex Van Pelt and Al Romano were Pitt's MVPs in the 1989 and 1975 wins, respectively.

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

Arizona State is currently 6-3 after a 24-19 victory over Iowa State this past week. The Sun Devils have a bye this week before hosting West Virginia.

Duke's Mayo Bowl

CBS Sports selected Pitt to play Auburn in the Duke's Mayo Bowl on Jan. 2, 2026. This is the second week in a row that CBS Sports picked this matchup.

This is a very interesting matchup considering that Auburn fired its head coach, Hugh Freeze, after losing 10-3 to Kentucky and is 4-5, with its three remaining games against No. 15 Vanderbilt, Mercer and No. 4 Alabama.

It is very possible that the Tigers won't even be bowl eligible by the end of the season, yet they are still projected to face Pitt.

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