Pittsburgh Football: 3 potential bowl games for Panthers

The Pittsburgh football team has had an incredibly successful 2021 season, finishing 10-2 on the year and with a chance to win the ACC Championship.

Regardless of how the title game turns out, Pitt will have its best season since 2009. If they can get to 11 wins, it’ll be the best finish since 1981— the year the Panthers won the Sugar Bowl.

Whichever bowl game the Panthers head to it will be the final game we see from star quarterback Kenny Pickett, who has grown into a fantastic player and a legit Heisman Trophy candidate.

Let’s take a look at some possible bowl game destinations and opponents for the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Holiday Bowl: Pittsburgh vs Oregon

247 Sports has a projection that Pitt will be heading to the Holiday Bowl to compete against the Oregon Ducks.

These two teams have met four times in program history, with Oregon winning twice and Pittsburgh winning twice. Both games were in the 1950s and 1960s.

Oregon would be a really intriguing match-up for the Panthers, as the Ducks were ranked as one of the best five teams in the country as recently as Nov. 4.

A 7-point loss to Stanford and a 31-point loss to Utah put an end to Oregon’s hope of competing in the College Football Playoffs.

Oregon will play against Utah in a rematch for the Pac-12 Title. If Oregon wins, it’s likely their bowl game destination will probably change.

Oregon doesn’t get a chance to play teams from the West Coast very often, so this could be a fun matchup, especially if they win the Pac-12 Title and Pitt wins the ACC Title.