Pitt football schedule features 7 home games
The Atlantic Coast Conference revealed the 2026 football schedules for its members Monday night and Pitt’s includes seven home games.
The Panthers’ 12-game regular-season schedule includes nine ACC contests, a diverse non-conference lineup and multiple primetime dates. All three nonconference games will be played in Acrisure Stadium in the first month of the season.
In the ACC schedule, four games will be played in Pittsburgh and five will be played on the road. Of Pitt’s nine conference opponents, six were on Pitt’s 2025 schedule.
The season kicks off at home against Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 5. It will be the first meeting between the Panthers and RedHawks.
The opener will be followed by another home matchup against Central Florida on Sept. 12. Pitt and UCF will meet for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2019. Along with nine conference games, the ACC is requiring teams to play at least one Power Four opponent in the out-of-conference portion. Pitt will fulfill that game against UCF.
The ACC opener will be played Thursday, Sept. 17 at home against Syracuse. The Panthers have won seven of the last eight and 20 of the last 24 games in the series. The teams last met in Pittsburgh on a Thursday night in 2024, when Pitt returned three interceptions for touchdowns in a 41-13 win.
After a home game against Bucknell on Sept. 26, Pitt will play Friday, Oct. 2 at Virginia Tech and new Hokies head coach James Franklin. It will be the first ACC game for Virginia Tech under Franklin.
The next week, Pitt will play an Oct. 10 home game against North Carolina and its head coach Bill Belichick.
October continues with consecutive road games at Boston College (Oct. 17) and national runner-up Miami (Fla.) before a home game Halloween night against Georgia Tech.
The Panthers have an open date Nov. 7 and will be back on the field Friday, 13 at home against Florida State. This will be the first time the Panthers have played two Friday games in a season since 2012.
Pitt will close the regular season with consecutive road games at Louisville (Nov. 21) and California (Nov. 28). The Cal game will be Pitt’s first against the Golden Bears since 1966.
All times and television designations will be announced at a later date.
Because of prior scheduling agreements and the math of a 17-team conference, 12 teams will play a 9-game ACC schedule and five teams will play an 8-game conference schedule.