Pittsburgh football grabbed the nation's attention amid its five-game winning streak. The Panthers are now the top-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team this week. Now Pat Narduzzi has Notre Dame to prepare for — with a chance to shoot up the rankings.
Pitt can spark College Football Playoff conversations this week by stunning the Fighting Irish. On the surface, Saturday feels like a “must-win” scenario in terms of national respect for Pitt.
But Narduzzi shot down that label, including informing the media on Monday that this version of Pitt-Notre Dame is non-conference unlike basketball.
“Absolutely not,” Narduzzi began after getting asked if this is a “must-win” contest. “It is not an ACC game.”
Narduzzi then joked: “I'd gladly get beat 103 or 110-10 in that game. They could put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that.”
Pittsburgh, Pat Narduzzi has bad history with Notre Dame
There's another reason why Pitt is getting additional scrutiny across the CFB realm.
ESPN College GameDay is heading to the Steel City — putting the spotlight on the big Top 25 battle.
Again, an ND victory wouldn't damper Pitt's pursuit of the ACC title. The Panthers own a 5-1 conference record alongside Georgia Tech, SMU and Virginia among conference representatives.
Yet ND has handed Narduzzi and company a painful history — hence the “103” explanation.
The Irish own a 50-21-1 mark against Pitt. The Panthers head coach and his team took a 58-7 beatdown in the last meeting in 2023 at South Bend. Pitt endured a similar brutal defeat in 2020 — falling 45-3 at home when ND played an ACC schedule due to COVID-19.
While a loss won't effect Pitt's conference record, a victory certainly shoots the Panthers up the CFP rankings. Pitt sits at No. 24 and can spruce its postseason resume up by stunning the nation's No. 9 ranked team.
Georgia Tech remains the ACC representative predicted to earn a playoff spot. But Saturday presents Pitt a chance to crash the party.
