Pitt earned its way back up to No. 20 in the Associated Press' rankings this week, but a 48-38 win over Virginia didn't move the Panthers up any spots with the week twelve poll.
Pat Narduzzi's Panthers remained at No. 20 this week, but at no fault of their own. Only three teams ranked above Pitt lost their games over the weekend in No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Michigan State and No. 10 Wake Forest.
Oregon's loss to No. 23 Utah wouldn't make the Ducks fall far enough to reach Pitt, and the same goes for Michigan State's loss to No. 4 Ohio State.
Wake Forest, however, lost to its second unranked ACC opponent in the past three weeks. That dropped the Demon Deacons to No. 21, just below Pitt. The only other ranked ACC team in the new poll would be North Carolina State at No. 24.
That makes the Panthers the highest ranked ACC team for the first time since joining the conference in 2013. This also comes on the week that Pitt won nine games in the regular season for the first time since 2009 when the Panthers finished 10-3 under Dave Wannstedt.
But as Narduzzi said after Pitt's win at Heinz Field Saturday night, the Panthers still have "unfinished business." Even though a loss to Syracuse wouldn't impact Pitt's ACC standing after clinching the ACC Coastal Division, it's a unique opportunity for Pitt to finish its regular season with ten wins.
Pitt hasn't had a team do that since the 1981 Panthers that went on to defeat No. 2 ranked Georgia in the 1982 Sugar Bowl. A win over Syracuse would also give Pitt the opportunity to finish with 12 wins if it can win the ACC Championship and its following bowl game. The only Pitt team to win 12 games in a season was its 1976 national championship team.
