After an 11-3 campaign in which Pitt won its first ACC championship and played in a New Year’s Six bowl game, the Associated Press placed Pitt at No. 13 in its final AP Top 25 poll of the 2021 season. The end-of-season top-15 ranking is Pitt’s first since 2009 as well as its highest end-of-season ranking since 1982.
This season, Pitt faced an uphill climb for respect from AP voters, who were slow to warm up to a team that went 6-5 in 2020. Needless to say, the Panthers began the season unranked, and from there, they needed a 5-1 run that included wins over Tennessee and Virginia Tech to break into the rankings.