The Pitt Panthers had their first loss of the season on Oct. 10 to North Carolina. This gives Pitt a 5-1 overall record and puts them 2-1 in ACC play, with wins over Syracuse and Virginia Tech.
Pitt wasn't the only undefeated ACC team to lose over the Oct. 10-11 weekend, though. The ACC is still anyone's game, with five different teams having a 2-1 record.
Pitt next goes on the road to play Boston College. While the Panthers might have their eyes on undefeated Miami the week after, beating Boston College to move to 3-1 in ACC play is important to keep their ACC Championship chances alive; losing to the Eagles would put Pitt at 2-2, which could be a death sentence in such a competitive conference.
ACC Checkup
While Pitt was tied for second in the ACC and ranked after their win at Virginia Tech, the Panthers have since fallen from both. But they haven't fallen too far; Clemson, SMU, California and Virginia all share a 2-1 conference record with Pitt.
Duke, who was undefeated going into their game against Georgia Tech, lost by missing a game-tying 33-yard field goal as time expired. This gave Georgia Tech just their second win of the season, while Duke is 1-1 in ACC play.
Teams hyped up in the preseason, such as Florida State, NC State and Virginia Tech, all have 1-2 conference records. Louisville, which Pitt plays on the road later this season, is 2-2 in ACC play.
One of the teams to beat Louisville is No. 22 Wake Forest, the surprise team of the ACC this season. After going 4-4 in conference play last year, the Demon Deacons are currently 3-1, with their only loss being to Miami by 13 points.
Does Pitt Have a Path?
North Carolina was not supposed to be one of the harder teams on Pitt's schedule, but that doesn't mean their chances of making the ACC Championship are out the window.
Pitt is set to play three teams currently holding a sub-.500 ACC record: Boston College on Oct 17, Georgia Tech on Oct 31 and Florida State on Nov 13. They play two teams that have two ACC wins but are currently 3-3 overall: Louisville on Nov. 21 and Cal on Nov. 28.
Pitt will face Miami on the road on Oct. 24. Many Pitt fans chalked this one up as a loss before the season started, and the team hasn't shown much recently to prove otherwise.
So, it's possible for Pitt to finish the season with two ACC losses if they can defend the home field and pull off some road losses at the end of the season. They will definitely need to get lucky with tie-breakers that are out of their control, though.
It all starts by taking it one game at a time, and playing 2-3 Boston College should be a good chance for Pitt to prove they can still win games.
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