The ACC has given Pitt a look at its 2027 football road map, and the Panthers’ schedule brings a little of everything: a trip overseas, a first-time visit to Raleigh, and a home slate that includes Miami, SMU and Wake Forest.
The league released its 2027 conference opponents on Wednesday afternoon, giving Pitt an early outline for a season that already includes three non-conference dates. The Panthers will open against Wisconsin on Aug. 28 in Ireland, then host Western Michigan on Sept. 11 and UConn on Oct.
- Dates and times for the ACC games will come later.
Pitt’s 2027 ACC schedule will again feature nine conference games, with five of them at Acrisure Stadium and four on the road. Altogether, the Panthers are set for seven home games, four true road contests and that season-opening trip across the Atlantic.
The biggest home draw is Miami, the defending national runner-up and current No. 5 team in the country. SMU is also headed to Pittsburgh for the first time ever since joining the ACC ahead of the 2024 season, and the Mustangs have not played in Pittsburgh since 1948, when Pitt Stadium was still home base.
Wake Forest will finally make its first trip to Pittsburgh as an ACC opponent. Pitt has been in the league since 2013, but the Panthers have only played the Demon Deacons twice in Winston-Salem and once in the 2021 ACC title game in Charlotte.
Cal is on the home schedule as well, giving Pitt another chance to host the former Pac-12 program after the Bears’ long absence from the city. Duke will also visit Pittsburgh for the first time since the 2022 season.
On the road, Pitt’s ACC slate sends the Panthers to Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Virginia and NC State. The Georgia Tech trip comes with some recent success attached: Pitt has won four straight at Bobby Dodd Stadium and has played there seven times since joining the ACC.
The Virginia game brings another familiar stop. Pitt last played in Charlottesville in 2022, when the Panthers jumped out with two pick-six touchdowns and rolled to a 37-7 win.
The trip to NC State is a notable one, too, because Pitt has never played there as an ACC member. The Wolfpack have visited Pittsburgh in 2017, 2020 and 2025, but the Panthers’ last game in Raleigh came back in 2009, when Russell Wilson’s NC State team beat Pitt 38-31.
In Other News...
Pitt Fans Have A Bigger Reason To Arrive Early Thursday Night
Pitt will open ACC play Thursday night against Syracuse at Acrisure Stadium, and the buildup is shaping up to be part football, part campus event. ESPNs SportsCenter On Campus will broadcast live from the scene, while the Panthers are also rolling out the Panther Prowl pregame celebration to give fans an extra reason to get downtown and settle in before kickoff.
The nights staging does not stop once the game starts, either. Halftime will bring an illuminated Pitt Band performance along with rooftop fireworks, and the school is urging fans to arrive early not only for the festivities but also to help with parking after a Pittsburgh Pirates game. For a Thursday opener with this much going on around it, the game atmosphere should start well before the first whistle. [Read more 🡒]
Pitts 2027 ACC Slate Shows How Different This League Now Feels
The ACC has already mapped out Pitts 2027 football opponents, and the slate is a reminder of how much the league has changed around the Panthers. With nine conference games on the docket, Pitt is set to play four at home and five on the road, a mix that includes the usual annual familiarities and a few trips and visits that would have looked a lot different not long ago.
At Acrisure Stadium, the Panthers will get Cal, Duke, Miami, Wake Forest and SMU, while the road schedule sends them to Georgia Tech, Syracuse, NC State and Virginia. The lineup reflects the ACCs expanded footprint, and it also brings some first-time Pittsburgh matchups in this century into view, the kind of scheduling twist that keeps making the league feel less like the one Pitt entered. [Read more 🡒]
Pitt's Unbeaten Start Faces Its First Real ACC Test
The unbeaten start has bought Pitt some breathing room, but Syracuse brings a different kind of test to Acrisure Stadium. The Panthers have been stacking wins early, and this one finally comes with the sort of ACC edge that tells you more about where a team really stands than the first few weeks ever can.
Syracuse arrives with enough recent success in the series to make this feel less like a routine conference date and more like a real measuring stick for Pitts momentum. The matchup has also drawn the usual betting attention, with odds and predictions pointing to a tight game and a specific score forecast, which only adds to the sense that the Panthers are about to find out how sturdy this unbeaten run actually is. [Read more 🡒]