in Pitt Football, Uncategorized 817 Words

ACC Team Schedules – Pitt’s Current Scholarship Count

So far this offseason, I have been busy keeping track of the Transfer Portal, early NFL entries, other player movements, and setting up my Way to Early articles.

With the release of 2023 ACC schedules, I spent some transferring the individual team schedules into excel spreadsheet and tabs for later use.

With that done and waiting for the second TP period, I decided to consolidate and review individual ACC teams scheduling. I also decided to take a stab at Pitt’s current 2023 scholarship count.

First up is the ACC teams schedules.

I like to use color coding. It makes it easier to identify relevant info.

  • Gray – FCS opponents
  • Blue – Group of Five (G5) opponents
  • Red – Power Five (P5)
  • Yellow – BYE Week
  • Bold Dates – Non Saturday games

You may want to zoom out to make for an easier read of the following chart. There are some notes on the bottom right. The notes give some details.

There is no week “Zero” (week before Labor Day weekend) games in the 2023 ACC schedule. The ’22 season saw two.

Bye weeks for both years starts at week 5 (9/30/23) but end a week earlier than the 22 season (week 9 (10/2922) in 22 versus week 8 (10/20/23) this year.

Only Virginia Tech does not play an FCS opponent.

Only Boston College does not play a P5 opponent. Pitt and Louisville play three P5 opponents. Of the remaining twelve ACC teams, three play one P5 opponent and the other eight play two. A total of 25 P5 matchups.

Reasons for the increase in P5 games include:

  • ACC – Notre Dame: Six games versus only four in 2022. The 2024 season will also only have four games. In 2025 and beyond the schedule will revert to the normal five matchups.
  • The move to the Big 12 by BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF
  • The Neutral site (Indianapolis) game between Louisville and Indiana (a three-game series) combined with Notre Dame and yearly rival Kentucky.

Eight teams participate in ACC scheduled Thursday and Friday games. Boston College, Louisville, and Syracuse have 2 games. The other five teams participate in one.

What is different between 2023 and 2022 is the early season Thursday games with FCS opponents.

In week two (Thursday 9/7) Louisville plays Murray State while in week 3 (Thursday 9/16) Miami plays Bethune-Cookman.

In my opinion, both games dates are due to maximizing ACCN and ESPN/ABC broadcast content.

Week 2 has all 14 ACC teams playing at home with five FCS, four G5 and five P5 opponents. The P5 opponents and UNC – App State will all probably be on a ESPN platform. That leaves 8 games for ACCN and the RSN to share.  The ACCN will probably have four games and RSN one or two. Sorry, one or two games will share the dreaded online ACCN+/ESPN+ platform even with Louisville moved to Thursday.

The week 3 game (Miami 9/14) is similar but different. There are only six ACC home games with one being an ACC matchup (BC versus visiting FSU). That leaves 5 games – two against FCS, one against G5, and two against P5 (Duke-Northwestern, UNC-Minnesota). With the Thursday scheduled game. My opinion is that the ACCN will probably have only three games one FCS, one G5 and probably the BC-FSU game.

For those of you who criticized Pitt for playing an away game against a G5 team, there are 5 ACC teams visiting a G5 team. UConn hosts both Duke and NC State. BC visits Army. Miami travels to Philadelphia to play Temple. Old Dominion is visited by Wake.

That covers all the OCC games. I give Louisville the toughest OOC with Purdue, ND and Kentucky on their schedule.

The only big shake-up in the ACC (besides the conversion to the 3-5-5 scheduling) is the Thanksgiving opponent for the six teams without a rivalry game. I believe, Pitt at Duke is the first for a Thanksgiving Day game.

You can make your mind up on who has the toughest conference schedule. The hype is for Clemson, FSU, UNC, or Duke to meet in Charlotte. Miami is a dark horse followed by a group consisting of Pitt Wake and NC State.

The next chart shows what I think is the current scholarship breakdown by recruiting class. It also includes the TP additions by their original signing class. The recruits by year are shown in summary in the middle of below chart.

The current headcount is either 82, or 83 with Nick Patti or 84 with former walk-on Chris Maloney. I think there are assumptions that Patti will be leaving the program. I have not heard if Maloney is returning for his sixth year. Maloney was on scholarship in ’21 and ’22.

Until we hear from them, I assume they are returning. I have also assumed that all ’23 recruits will pass their medical exams and enrollment requirements. Two of the ’22 class did not pass theirs, opening up scholarships for K Sam Scarton and I believe WR Gavin Thompson.

That is all I have. At least you have a new article until the next basketball thread.

76 thoughts on “ACC Team Schedules – Pitt’s Current Scholarship Count”

  2. Well Richard, nicely done. At first glance I’d say Pitt and Louisville have the toughest schedules on paper and by far, Hafeley and his BC Eagles have the easiest schedule with zero P5 OOC games. I hope BC goes 1-3 in OOC games or better yet, how about 4-0 with Nick Patti as their QB.

    Two interesting coaching changes that impact Pitt’s schedule – 1. OC Longo leaves UNC and Heisman candidate QB Maye for Wisconsin and 2. OC Tommy Rees leaves Notre Dame where he played QB in college for Alabama and Nick Sabin.

    I believe these two OC changes help Pitt – examples of drop offs in 2022 with OC changes within the ACC – Clemson, Miami, Virginia (same QB’s returned), Pitt (different QB returned). NOTE: Clemson’s D powered them to an ACC championship.

    Liked by 4 people

  3. Some very difficult schedules, Pitt right up there. Will need a number of the younger guys to produce this year. Of course the QB position will make or break the season as usual.

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  4. I see Clemson and FLST coming out on top with Miami, UNC, Pitt, NCSt having slim chances of sliding in. Duke as a very dark horse.

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  5. We have scholarships available for LB & DE, although the roster depth has potential, just not game experience. How does true FR Maverick Gracio not get on the field by name alone. Next great Pitt DE?

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    1. No, ND does not count in the ACC standings.

      Strictly OOC games and of course national exposure.

      The way to early discussions on college sports talk radio center around Clemson, FL State, UNC and Miami as the ACC FB favorites.

      Pitt’s only mention this past week was the Duzz spouting off with his “clown” comments and stating that “they probably did not want their starting QB to return”. Not proud moments for Heather as she listened to her boss on nationally syndicated radio.

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  9. Great post as usual! I’m intrigued to see if the FL ST hype is real and they play to the hype. I’m still not seeing it yet.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. They are on our schedule in 2023 and the game is in Pittsburgh.

      In 2022, they beat Louisville and Georgia Tech, which Pitt lost to.

      They also beat LSU & Florida from the SEC and lastly they beat Oklahoma in their bowl game.

      They had 3 loses in 2022 – Clemson, W_F and NC State.

      The Panthers will host them on November 4th this year at Acrisure Field – let’s hope for a frigid Fall day in the burgh.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Update: Jim Boeheim followed up with ESPN to say that he “absolutely misspoke” about Wake Forest and Pitt buying teams, as the only public usage of NIL he knew about was Miami’s, which was highly publicized. He said he “shouldn’t have” included Wake and Pitt in his statement.

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    1. Any word on Duzz claiming he misspoke this past week?

      Or is he still looking for the 2nd China spy balloon? 🎈

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    2. I was actually hoping Boeheim was correct and that Pitt was putting out competitive money for kids

      but I was thinking we needed to have allocated more for Hood-Shifino

      of course if Dior is all that, maybe HE is even better, which I’d LOVE to see

      I doubt it though because as others mentioned, Hinson wasn’t contributing big and injured(?), Elliott was down in minutes at Marquette, Fede was a WVCC castoff, not sure about the twigs>>twins(who are frankly FAR further along than I’d ever imagine already), and both Nike and JB were at Pitt before NIL blew up

      .
      want to mention again how much more solid Nike looks in weight and strength than last year, is it just me or did he put on solid mature size? again, bodes well for Fede and the twins!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. We got a bunch of journey-men … seemed an odd statement to make about Pitt. Even if we did buy our team, it was at the dollar store.

        Liked by 4 people

        1. as much as Pitt has owned Syracuse and Boeheim and also football with Babers, the powers that be at Syracuse probably lashing out is behind his “misspeaking” 🙂

          no excuse for the big NY state university to be handled so regularly by Pitt

          of course he’s had success at the highest level so Pitt’s really only been a thorn in his side and in the balance we’re still looking up at Orange basketball for the last few decades

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      1. That was the main point of the article. Boeheim says no. His justification really wasn’t off. They are still competitive and should be in great shape next year … as long no one buys their players. Lol.

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  11. Richard, I am willing to bet that no other fan-based website provides as much excellent, thoughtful information as your contributions to the POV.

    Pitt has only one Twinkie////Wofford. UC new coach, coordinators, etc can still be dangerous. Game against WVU very tough..rivalry, retribution by Hoopies against Pitt for last year and a CRAZED DRUNK packed stadium in Morgantown. UGLEEE

    If we can somehow manage to avoid major injuries to key players we have a chance to go 9-3 and if really lucky 10-2. My guess is that we will be 7-5 or 8-4. The health of our often-injured QB will most likely be the story of Pitt 2023.

    Liked by 3 people

  13. That’s a really deep dive, Richard. Makes my brain hurt. Thank you!

    Question or clarification: Are you saying that the Pitt at Duke game is a Thanksgiving Day game or a Thanksgiving weekend game?

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    1. Thanks – good catch. I meant to say the Thanksgiving week or weekend. There are FBS games played on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. The prior two years, UNC – NC State games were played on a Friday.

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  14. So on Boeheim, I had a friend who played for him his first year. It was common knowledge he was having an affair with his secretary who he eventually married, divorcing his wife. That’s his character!

    Even tho today he’s admitted he misspoke, the grift in college BBall has been going on for years. But the blue bloods were able to disguise and hide the payouts. Now it’s all open and I’m thrilled Capel and Duzz have found a way to make it work for Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Many thanks, Richard, for the in depth analysis of ACC schedules. Not only do you give us information and perspectives on comparing schedules, but it provides us with so much food for discussion over the slow summer months before camp. Once again, great work and much appreciation!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Thanks Rich. ACC network guys all in on Clem and FSU except Coach quipped about us. FSU will lose at least 2 and Clem 1. I happy with 9-3 but hope for more. Cannot understand ACC letting ND use ACC for filler games (in or out). We could get Navy or Temple or UConn markets for more ACC TV cash.

    Liked by 2 people

  21. I just watched about the last 10 minutes of the 1st half of the Lady Panthers against UVA. Two poor shooting teams clearly not top level ACC. Coach White does wholesale substitutions like changing a line in hockey. I have never seen any basketball team transition 5 in and 5 out – men or women. No way to maintain rhythm. I do not like to see anybody lose their job, however, our women’s basketball program is terrible. We are leading at the half, but so what? Time after time we will find a way to lose a game.

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  25. Congrats on the win to Pitt’s ladies basketball team but…

    Look, I’d love to see every player play in every game but it’s insane what Coach White is doing. My daughter was second off the bench on her HS State Championship team but I understood when there were games she didn’t play. She was 7th -8th best player. After all, Pitt is not playing rec ball! We should be playing to win. That’s what the coaches are paid for!

    Coach Whites sub patterns, playing every lady every game, indicate a less than serious attempt to win and make a farce out of competing for a position!! So participation trophies are the norm for Coach White. He personally may be missing one in the very near future!

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Excellent work, Richard. Thank you.

    So Miami is playing Miami! Brilliant! I’m thinking Miami wins that one…

    Looks like we better have a darn good team or it will be a long season for our Panthers.

    Go Pitt.

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  29. Congrats to the Pitt women basketballers!

    They had lost 20 ACC games in a row. They just don’t have the talent level needed – and we needed a horrible shooting UVA team to get the W – but I’m happy for the ladies.

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

  30. I have seen 5 player substitutions work very well in DII women’s basketball. It did remind me of hockey line changes as mentioned above.

    Clayton State, in the Peach Belt, used to do it all the time. They used to and may still play a full court pressing defense 100% of the time when the game is still in question. They scored a lot of points in transition off of steals/time line violations. Due to the pressing defense, they needed fresh legs as well as the need to spread out the inevitable fouls. They won several Peach Belt championships with this strategy. They gave other teams fits. They wore down the guards of their opponents and forced other players on the opposing teams to bring the ball up the court.

    They recruited players that had quick hands and were street tough. Usually, they had one taller player for each group, but the rest were all smaller, guard type players that were quick with active hands.

    Now I am not saying Pitt should go to this type of team, but at lower levels it is a viable option.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. I am a huge fan of 5 player substitutes! I always had a gold team of my five best athletes to full court press off and on during the game.

      But…. I am not a fan of making sure everyone on the team plays every game. Even in high school, I can assure you a coach is judged by his/ her won lost record. In college, you are paying coach White $100,000 – $300,000 to win games! Not be a Girl Scout leader.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Just to be clear, the intensity of Pitt’s team versus the full pressing teams I mentioned above is day and night. Clayton State was built from the ground up to do what they did. Pitt under White has been a disappointment. I am guessing Lyke will give him one more year before pulling the plug. Does anyone know how many more years White has left on his contract?

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  31. To date, only 2 Pitt FB players were invited to the NFL Combine – Izzy and OT Carter Warren.

    We know Kancey leaving early cannot participate in the combine, but he is projected to be a 1st or 2nd round pick.

    The others run a chance of not getting drafted.

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    1. Should give Narduzzi and Co. even more credit for success on the field that he is doing it with fewer NFL prospects than many P-5 teams.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Good morning Richard and thanks for putting that together.

    Perhaps I’m guilty of looking at this through rose-colored glasses, but I like the schedule and our chances this coming season, particularly early on. My rationale is that we should have a strong running game with Hammond, Flemister and Davis (that being of the Derrick variety) and the dudes upfront should be able to make some holes. I’m particularly bullish on Ryan Baer and believe he will Pitt’s next great OT. (Im not that worried about the defense – Duzz, Partridge and Bates will have the guys ready.)

    Some of the teams we will face early (Cinn, WVU and UNC) have not been stout in run defense… and UNC hasnt been stout in defense at all.

    The Bearcats look like a big question mark for 2023 and not the team folks saw during the last 3-4 yrs. New HC, QB will most likely be filled via transfer from AZ State, receiving corp has lost a lot and so on.

    WVU will be a hard game, no doubt. But they will have a new QB, OC and their best WRs have left for the draft. DL is another area where they have taken big hits. Feels like a curtain call for Neal Brown…

    UNC has Drake Maye, which means they can be in any game. Cannot wait for him to go to the NFL (preferably to a West Coast NFC team). But their best WRs Josh Downs and Antoine Green have left for the draft, so… They have a really tough schedule (bless their hearts btw) and if they are ranked and in the hunt for Charlotte, that will be quite an achievement.

    It would be reasonable for Pitt to emerge from the first 4 games at 3-1.

    The tought part of the schedule is back to back to back games… ND, FSU ad Cuse. Who knows what will happen in South Bend, but the refs usually hve an impact and not a positive one for Pitt. That Florida State game could potentially be huge if Pitt does well up to that point . I think the Seminoles are the team to beat this year – and not Clemson. And yes, I did add Cuse to this gauntlet of tough games because it occurs after the other two. Its either a rebound game or a blown opportunity… lets hope Pitt is playing its bet football in November.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. And a good morning to you Joe.

      I’m thinking about doing a WTE for the OOC games and then only doing an update after the WTE conference games. Cincy and WVU have lost a lot to the TP, graduation, and early entrance to the NFL ND is ND. They also lost players but like Clemson have good backups.

      I do expect players to take advantage after the 2’nd portal session in April. That is throwing my WTE articles to be only starting mid-May at the earliest.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. re: Clemson…don’t forget to factor in QB Klubik…..Clemson’s big drop off has been due to the dude who has been the QB since Lawrence graduated……would love to face the Tigers in Charlotte and “take them behind the shed!!!”

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Much of Pitt’s recent success is due to their ability to get to the QB, I think that is the biggest question mark this year. If they can maintain the standard and PJ plays up to his potential it could be a very good year.

      Last year Pitt got off to a slow start because the pass rush wasn’t there early, the O-line did not protect well enough and the receiving corps wasn’t good. Also Slovis’ shortcomings are well documented. It certainly did not help to start out with WV and Tennessee.

      This year at least there is one tune up game, Cinci is not Tennessee and WV will always be a toss-up due to the rivalry. The real question then is can the D-line get enough pressure on Maye. However, UNC appears much less formidable due to their collapse at the end of last year.

      After Wofford, every game will be a challenge so hopefully the injury bug won’t hit us as hard as last year. Too many guys went down including the two best QB’s.

      H2P!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. New OC last yr, mismatched with an somewhat immobile AirRaid QB as well. A bit of an identity crisis. Should not have that issue this season and with the exception of Davis, the backfield knows the playbook as does the OL.

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  33. So Virginia basketball loses to unranked and 4-8 in the ACC Virginia Tech. Result? Virginia moves up from 7th to 6th in the AP and up from 6th to 4th in the Coaches Poll.

    If I remember correctly, when we played Wake Forest we had identical records. And the announcers said a Wake win would be a Quad 2 win. But a Pitt win would be a Quad 1 win.

    Analytics has run amok. And I blame you, Richard!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I think your right on the seven losses. If you look at the Coaches / AP polls none of the ranked teams have seven losses.

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  36. The networks, media and newspaper writers think we are a division II, division III school or a foreign country school. The Pitt media office is asleep.

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    1. They, along with CBS, etc. will do anything to get them into the Tournament. 3 games over .500 will get them a 7 seed. It’s all about the TV ratings…

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  38. I wonder how much Boeheim and ‘Cuse paid for the services of Judah Mintz. Boeheim is the standard bearer among coaches for cheating, lying and hypocrisy. It is hard to believe that Syracuse employed this man for 40 years despite the program damaging NCAA violations for cheating.

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    1. Eric Prisbell
      USA TODAY Sports
      March 6, 2015

      The NCAA has suspended Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim for nine games and imposed harsh sanctions on his program because of violations involving academic misconduct, extra benefits and the university drug testing policy that occurred under his watch for more than a decade.

      A scathing admonishment of one of the nation’s most accomplished coaches — a Hall of Famer who ranked second all time in Division I career victories — was laid out in detail throughout the NCAA’s 94-page report. It centered primarily on the conduct within the men’s basketball program, which will see a reduction of three scholarships in each of the next four seasons and all wins vacated in which an ineligible player participated from 2004 through 2012. Those players competed during five seasons.

      In addition, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions imposed two years of recruiting restrictions and ruled that the school must return all funds received from the former Big East Conference revenue-sharing for its appearances in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 NCAA tournaments. The Syracuse football and men’s basketball programs were also placed on probation for five years..

      Boeheim released a statement saying he was relieved the matter had been decided and took responsibility for violations within his program, but he also expressed disappointment with the NCAA ruling.

      “I am disappointed with many of the findings and conclusions as stated in the Infractions Report,” Boeheim said. “The Committee chose to ignore the efforts which I have undertaken over the past 37 years to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the Men’s Basketball Program.”

      H2P!!!

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  40. Boeheims an incredibly successful hall of fame coach. He won a championship. Syracuse will never fire him nor should they. He is a complete tool. His opinion means nothing.

    Liked by 1 person

  41. Thanks Richard, another great job when the POV most needed it. I can’t help it, I just have to say it again, I’m amazed.

    Great comments throughout, JoeL GC, etc etc….

    So what is father time saying (Boeheim) he’s entitled to cheating because he’s been in college basketball since the days of the peach baskets?

    I go back and forth on this one, but I think PITT could be a winner in this portal transfer thingy more times than not? PITT has become above average just in time. Good players that want to see the field but don’t, still want to be on a competitive team….. PITT is IT!

    Liked by 3 people

  42. ike, the transfer portal can even the playing field. 5 star QBs who are promised starting roles, only to find out when they arrive there are 3 other 5 stars on the roster now have the option to leave without sitting out a year. Look at Alabama, they now have Bryce Young for 2 more years, and unless he transfers, Jalen Milroe will spend his career as a back up. Pitt can really be successful with a nice mix of high school players and transfers to fill the void.

    Liked by 3 people

  43. Pitt opens as a 16.5 point fave over Louisville. Not worried about this game but terrified over FLA State Saturday. A horrible match up for Pitt!

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  45. Pitt men’s BB and HC Capel are about to go on an 8 game run to end the regular season that will help define this 2022-23 team. Six of the eight opponents have a losing record in the ACC starting with one win Louisville tonight.

    It is boots to the neck time – win the games you should and set yourself up to win the other two – the team should be healthy for this point in the season when many teams have injuries to deal with.

    One game at a time.

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 1 person

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