The Pitt Panthers football team has made their first appearance in the Associated Press preseason top-25 rankings since 2010. Pitt is ranked 17th to begin the season. The Panthers host West Virginia September 1st at Acrisure Stadium, in the return of the “Backyard Brawl”.
Penn State is not ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 2016.
Alabama is an overwhelming #1 in the first ranking. The Crimson Tide received 54 of 63 first-place votes. Ohio State is #2 and received six first-place votes. Defending national champion Georgia is third, and received three first-place votes. Clemson and Notre Dame complete the top five.
Ohio State’s ranking is the 34th straight preseason for the Buckeyes, breaking a tie with Penn State and Nebraska for the longest such streak in poll history. The Nittany Lions were consecutively ranked from 1968 through the 2000 season. Nebraska’s streak began in 1970.