The Pittsburgh Panthers are one of the hottest teams in college football right now under longtime head coach Pat Narduzzi. Pitt is tied atop the ACC at 5-0 alongside national runner-up Miami and is 2-0 in conference play after wins over Syracuse and, most recently, a nail-biter over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The Panthers have done enough to sneak into the AP Top 25 and have a relatively friendly schedule coming up, with games against Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Cal, all sub-.500 teams, along with high-profile matchups against UNC, Florida State and the Hurricanes.
With Pitt feeling the momentum heading into the midpoint of the season, Narduzzi took a moment to fire a subtle shot at another Pennsylvania program: Penn State. "Look at the school down the road," Narduzzi said. "They were in the Top 25, and what did they really do to get in the Top 25?" More news: Kenny Dillingham Gets Brutally Honest After ASU Gets Blown Out by Baylor Pittsburgh is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from University Park, but the two schools have looked very different through the first month of the season.
While Pitt is one of the few undefeated teams left in the FBS, the Nittany Lions are 3-2 and coming off back-to-back losses to Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Northwestern. Heading into the Wisconsin game, however, Penn State was ranked No. 13 in the AP poll, right behind LSU, Texas Tech and USC and ahead of Tennessee, Iowa, Missouri and Florida, who all have just a single loss on the season and have looked far better through five games. At the time, Penn State was undefeated at 3-0, but ranking it that high was still questionable given its wins came against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo.
More news: South Carolina Considering Major QB Shakeup Amid LaNorris Sellers’ Struggles More news: Paul Finebaum: Kamario Taylor May Eclipse Dak Prescott’s Mississippi State Legacy The weekly AP poll regularly draws criticism, and this week's rankings had some interesting picks. Mississippi State dropped just one spot to No. 17 despite getting blown out at home by Alabama, while Kentucky fell out of the Top 25 altogether even after winning at South Carolina. Once again, Narduzzi is calling out the AP voters, and his bitter in-state rival is the one on the receiving end.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
