The race for the ACC Championship game is going to be absolute mayhem over the next four weeks as six teams (Virginia, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Pitt, SMU and Duke) all have one loss or less in the conference standings, with Miami trying to hang in the race with two losses.
Five of those teams were ranked in the initial College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday evening: Virginia (No. 14), Louisville (No. 15), Georgia Tech (No. 17), Miami (No. 18) and Pitt (No. 24).
There are two things that stand out about this. The first is that at least one of these teams is going to end up in the College Football Playoff as the ACC champion, while there remains a possibility a second team could sneak into the 12-team field.
The second thing that stands out about this is the Panthers are going to have a huge say in which team(s) that is.
Pitt will play huge role in ACC race for College Football Playoff spot
Pitt’s presence at No. 24 might have the biggest — and perhaps only — surprise in the initial rankings. The team is 7-2 and has a freshman sensation quarterback in Mason Heintschel that has almost single-handedly turned the season around, but the overall resume is not really exciting. Their only win over a ranked team was against then-No. 25 Florida State (a team that has proven to be wildly overrated from the start), while they have a terrible loss to arch-rival West Virginia and blew a 17-0 lead to No. 15 Louisville.
But, a 7-2 record still gets some attention, and Heintschel’s play certainly changes the outlook on what their season can be.
What makes Pitt truly fascinating, however, is the remaining schedule the team plays over its final three games:
Home vs. No. 10 Notre Dame
Away vs. No. 17 Georgia Tech
Home vs. No. 18 Miami
All ranked teams and all significant games. The results of those games will play a significant and massive role in the playoff field as a whole. If Pitt wins all three games it will have a great opportunity to be in the ACC Championship game with a chance to earn its own way into the 12-team field.
Doing so would also all but eliminate all three ranked opponents as Notre Dame would have a third loss on the season, and both Georgia Tech and Miami would almost certainly be knocked out of the ACC Championship game.
If Pitt simply wins the two ACC games (Georgia Tech and Miami), which is certainly possible, it would keep Notre Dame in the playoff hunt (assuming it wins the remainder of its games) and still give it a strong chance at playing for an ACC title.
Either of those potential outcomes would also be serious resume boosters overall for Pitt. You probably were not paying much attention to the Panthers when it comes to this year’s College Football Playoff. You better start paying attention to them now, because their games are going to have a lot of say in who makes the field.
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