The ACC revealed its 2026 football schedule Monday evening, including Pitt’s full 12-game slate, which includes nine league contests.
The Panthers begin the season Sept. 5 against Miami (Ohio) and host Central Florida on Sept. 12 in Week 2. Nonconference play concludes Sept. 26 at home against Bucknell.
Miami (Ohio), which played for a MAC championship last season, has not visited Pittsburgh since 1949.
The meeting with UCF was scheduled in 2024 as the front end of a home-and-home, which concludes when Pitt visits the Knights in 2029. The programs have met four times before, most recently in 2019, when Pitt beat the No. 15 Knights, 35-34.
Syracuse will be the first ACC opponent Pitt plays next season as the Orange visit Acrisure Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Bucknell was scheduled by the Panthers after Pitt and Wisconsin, which will clash in Ireland to open the 2027 campaign, mutually decided to cancel their 2026 showdown.
On Friday, Oct. 2, the Panthers travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech, setting up a showdown between coaches Pat Narduzzi and James Franklin, whose teams played four times from 2016-19 when Franklin was at Penn State.
Narduzzi went 1-3 against Franklin, who was fired Oct. 12, 2025, in the middle of his 12th season at Penn State. About five weeks later, on Nov. 17, Virginia Tech hired him.
The following weekend, Bill Belichick and UNC arrive at Acrisure Stadium on Oct. 10, with Pitt visiting Boston College on Oct. 17. Pitt is 12-6 all-time against the Tar Heels, who most recently visited Pittsburgh in 2023.
Quarterback Mason Heintschel, who will be a sophomore this fall, made his first career start against Boston College in 2025
Pitt plays College Football Playoff runner-up Miami on the road Oct. 24 and hosts Georgia Tech on Oct. 31. The Hurricanes own a 30-12-1 all-time record against Pitt dating to 1950.
The Panthers’ lone open week will follow, with Pitt’s next game coming Friday, Nov. 13, against Florida State.
Not since 2012 have the Panthers played two Friday games.
To close out the regular season, Pitt travels to Louisville on Nov. 21 before a finale Nov. 28 at California.
The last time Pitt beat Louisville on the road was 2011, while last year’s win at Acrisure Stadium by the Cardinals evened the all-time series between the schools at 11-11.
Not since 1966 has Pitt played Cal in Berkeley.
With the ACC moving to a nine-game league schedule beginning this fall, the Panthers are one of 12 programs that will immediately begin playing an added conference opponent.