Syracuse football, this Saturday, to face second ranked opponent in a row

Syracuse football will travel to No. 25 Pittsburgh on Saturday, and the Panthers are one of seven ranked ACC squads.

Syracuse football will square off with Pittsburgh at Heinz Field this coming Saturday, and the Orange will have to suit up against its second-consecutive ranked foe.

The Panthers have entered the latest Associated Press top-25 poll at No. 25, after Pitt absolutely crushed Austin Peay, 55-0, at home in its 2020 stanza opener this past weekend.

With the Panthers jumping into the national rankings, that makes two AP top-25 opponents in as many weeks for the ‘Cuse to battle. In the Syracuse football debut contest for the fall term, the Orange went to Chapel Hill, N.C., and fell apart late in a 31-6 setback to then-No. 18 North Carolina.

The Tar Heels, by the way, soared in the AP top-25 poll following their rout of the ‘Cuse. UNC currently sits at No. 12 in this poll, which of course doesn’t include teams from several big-time conferences that have postponed their 2020 campaigns for now, such as the Big Ten and the Pac-12.

Syracuse football, in squaring off with Pittsburgh this Saturday, will take on a second ranked ACC foe in a row.

North Carolina and Pittsburgh are two of seven Atlantic Coast Conference crews that are rated in the most-recent AP top-25 ballot. They join No. 1 Clemson, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 17 Miami, No. 18 Louisville and No. 20 Virginia Tech.

Other ACC groups that landed in the “others receiving votes” category of the AP top-25 poll are Georgia Tech, Virginia and Florida State.

Pittsburgh, given its week-one demolition, the fact that it will play the Orange on its own turf, and the ‘Cuse lackluster result this past Saturday afternoon versus the Tar Heels, has opened as a massive favorite over Syracuse football, which also proved a huge underdog in the UNC encounter.

As it pertains to the ACC units that are ranked this week, all five of the Orange’s road meetings are against teams in the latest AP top-25 poll – Clemson, North Carolina, Pitt, Notre Dame and Louisville.