Let’s be clear about what awaits Pitt when the Panthers resume their season next month.

The eight remaining games — four home, four away, with a noon kickoff next up at North Carolina on Oct. 5 — do not represent an insurmountable gauntlet. The ACC is not the SEC or Big Ten.

Pitt (4-0) is one of four undefeated teams in the ACC, and the Panthers will play only two schools ranked in the Associated Press Top 25: No. 15 Louisville and No. 17 Clemson on back-to-back Saturdays in November.

Compare that to the Big Ten and SEC. Six Big Ten teams are among the top 19, according to the AP poll. The SEC has nine in the top 24.

Yet Pitt’s remaining games are marked by significant peril. Redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, a four-time ACC Rookie of the Week, appears to give Pitt enough offense to be a contender over the next two months. Kyle Louis looks like one of the ACC’s best linebackers, but is the rest of the defense up to the task?

With most teams playing nothing but conference games going forward, some with respectable records will be unable to sustain their success. Here is a look at the three leading contenders to reach the ACC championship game Dec. 7 in Charlotte, N.C., plus who Pitt must play going forward after taking this weekend off.

Favorites

Miami (4-0) — The Hurricanes are ranked No. 7 by the AP after being ranked 19th in the preseason poll. Miami is averaging 52.2 points per game and has the prize of the 2024 transfer portal, Heisman Trophy hopeful Cam Ward, projected to be the first quarterback — perhaps the first player — selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Ward, who transferred from Washington State, leads the ACC in aerial yards (1,439), touchdown passes (14) and passing efficiency (204.9) while completing 72.4% of his throws, which is a surprising third behind Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik.

Next up: Virginia Tech on Friday and then Miami’s first game outside Florida, a cross-country journey to California on Oct. 5.

Louisville (3-0) — Perhaps the Cardinals haven’t been tested after recording victories at home against Austin Peay, Jacksonville State and Georgia Tech. Let’s see what happens at No. 16 Notre Dame on Saturday.

Clemson (2-1) — Coach Dabo Swinney is trying to prove you don’t need transfers to win championships. Clemson welcomes Stanford to Death Valley on Saturday before facing Florida State, Wake Forest and Virginia. That’s four consecutive winnable games after Clemson scored 66 and 59 the past two weeks. At this writing, Clemson’s toughest games appear to be Louisville at home Nov. 2 and a trip to Acrisure Stadium to play Pitt on Nov. 16.

Foes

At North Carolina (3-1) — It’s difficult to predict the Tar Heels’ mood when they welcome Pitt to Chapel Hill.

First, UNC must play at unbeaten Duke (4-0) on Saturday in the wake of coach Mack Brown saying — after a 70-50 home loss to James Madison — that he would step down if his players thought he wasn’t capable of providing the necessary leadership.

“I hate losing,” Brown, 73, told ESPN. “It makes me physically sick, and I feel responsible. I put all the pressure on me, and I can’t do that.”

Players “overwhelmingly” supported him, ESPN reported, but this question still hovers over the program:

Is North Carolina’s defense as bad as the JMU score indicated? The Tar Heels are allowing an average of 345 yards per game (10th in the ACC). Pitt is ninth and not much better (342).

California (3-1) — The Golden Bears already have won at Auburn and visited Florida State last week in a 14-9 loss, the Seminoles’ first victory of the season. Their game at Acrisure on Oct. 12 will be at the end of a third cross-country flight in a month, with an upcoming trip to Wake Forest on Nov. 8.

Syracuse (2-1) — The Orange won their first two games against Ohio and Georgia Tech before stumbling at home against Stanford, 26-24. After playing Holy Cross on Saturday, Syracuse plays its next three games on the road, with Pitt serving as host for the third on Thursday night, Oct. 24.

At SMU (3-1) —Only an 18-15 home loss to No. 22 BYU mars SMU’s season so far, and the Mustangs hung 66 on TCU last Saturday. But they surrendered 42.

Virginia (3-1) — The Cavaliers were picked 16th of 17 schools in the ACC preseason poll, but they already own a conference road victory, 31-30, at Wake Forest.

At Boston College (3-1) — The final three weeks of the season clearly represent Pitt’s most difficult stretch: Clemson, at Louisville and at Boston College from Nov. 16-30.

The Eagles defeated Florida State and Michigan State and were ahead of No. 11 Missouri, 14-3, in the second quarter before losing, 27-21, on the road. Coach Bill O’Brien credited quarterback Thomas Castellanos for keeping BC in that game by extending plays with his legs.

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