The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, faculty, and students. Pitt fields 19 university-sponsored varsity teams at the highest level of competitive collegiate athletics in the United States: the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for American football.
Varsity men's sports sponsored by the university are baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and wrestling; while sponsored women's varsity sports include basketball, cross country, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and volleyball. Pitt will sponsor varsity women's lacrosse beginning with the 2021–22 season. All varsity sports teams compete as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The university's athletic program is one of only five current NCAA Division I FBS schools to have won multiple national championships in both football (9) and basketball (2), and the Panthers have been ranked as having among the best combinations of football and basketball programs by multiple publications. Other sports have won a variety of conference titles, regularly compete in NCAA championship events and have produced a plethora of professional and Olympic athletes.
Department of Athletics The University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics administers the 19 men's and women's varsity sports teams, as well as the spirit groups such as the Pitt Band and Pitt Cheerleaders. The Athletic Department also provides student-athlete academic support, the Panther Game Plan student-athlete life skills program, athletic training, marketing, development, media relations, and other support and administrative services and divisions.
Achievements
The university's athletic program is one of only five current NCAA Division 1A schools to have won multiple national championships in both football (9) and basketball (2), and the Panthers have been ranked as having among the best combinations of football and basketball programs by multiple publications. Pitt was ranked as having the fifth best combination of football and basketball programs in CBSSports.com's Flourishing Five ranking in 2010.
In its "Hoops & Helmets" list of the best combinations, CollegeFootballNews.com ranked Pitt ninth in 2011, fifth in 2010, third in 2009, 30th in 2007, 26th in 2006, 12th in 2005, fourth in 2004, and third in 2003.
Pitt was also ranked 19th for the best combined football and basketball programs during the BCS era and among the top 25 between 1974 and 2008 by Rivals.com. In addition, ESPN.com used the Sagarin mathematical system to rate universities based on the strength of their performance in football and men's basketball for five years through 2006 and found Pitt was tied for 10th as one of the nation's top two-sport schools. Further, in a 2006 all-sports ranking done by Sports Illustrated on Campus, Pitt was ranked 17th among all of the country's universities in terms of the overall strength of its athletic program. In 2022-2023, Pitt's athletic department tied for 13th in CBS Sports' Best in College Sports ranking.
Varsity sports
Men's sports Women's sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Cross country Cross country Gymnastics Football Lacrosse Soccer Soccer Swimming and diving Softball Track and field Swimming and diving Wrestling Track and field Volleyball The University of Pittsburgh sponsors in 19 varsity sports in NCAA Division I (Division I FBS for football), the highest competitive level of intercollegiate athletics in the United States. All Pitt varsity sports teams compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Baseball
Baseball, Pitt's oldest varsity sport started in 1869 and has produced multiple All-Americans, Major League Baseball players, and was a regular threat in the Big East baseball tournament championship. The baseball team was ranked in the top 25 during several of the past seasons and moved into a new facility, the Charles L. Cost Field at the Petersen Sports Complex, in 2011. Pitt baseball is coached by Mike Bell.
NCAA tournament appearances (3): 1959, 1965, 1995 Conference Championships: Tournament (1): 1995; Regular Season (1): 1994
Basketball
Men's basketball
Pitt began playing men's basketball in 1905 and soon become a national power. In the era preceding the initiation of national tournaments, the Panthers were both contemporaneously and later retroactively, by the Helms Athletic Foundation (1927–28 and 1929–30) and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll (1927–28), regarded as national champions. Those teams, coached by the innovative Naismith Hall of Fame inductee "Doc" Carlson, were led by National Player of the Year and Hall of Famer Charlie Hyatt. Following a Final Four appearance in 1941, Pitt appeared in a handful of NCAA tournaments throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1974 led by All-American Billy Knight. Pitt entered the Big East Conference in 1982, and by the end of the decade had secured a pair of Big East regular season championships led by All-Americans Charles Smith and Jerome Lane. The last decade has been an era of consistent national and conference competitiveness that included 10 straight NCAA tournament appearances with five Sweet 16 appearances and an Elite Eight appearance in 2009. In total, Pitt has 25 NCAA appearances, seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, 10 conference regular season championships, four conference tournament championships, ten conference tournament championship game appearances, and 37 players drafted to play professionally with the most recent being Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. Pitt men's basketball plays its home games at the Petersen Events Center and is coached by Jeff Capel.
National Championships (2 Helms): 1927–28, 1929–30 (23–2) NCAA Final Four (1): 1941; Elite Eight (3): 1941, 1974, 2009; Sweet Sixteen (7): 1957, 1974, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009 NCAA tournament appearances (27): 1941, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2023 NIT appearances (9): 1964, 1975, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2015 Conference Championships: Tournament (4): 1981, 1982, 2003, 2008; Regular Season (10): 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1987, 1988, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011
Women's basketball
The Pittsburgh Panthers women's varsity basketball program started during the 1914–1915 school year and lasted until 1927 before going on hiatus until 1970. Pitt's women's team has posted several NCAA, NWIT, and EAIAW regional tournament appearances. Between 2006 and 2010, Pitt has appeared in the national rankings and advanced to five straight post-season tournaments. Included in that stretch are three NCAA tournament bids which resulted in Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2008 and 2009. Pitt women's basketball plays its home games at the Petersen Events Center and is coached by Robin Harmony.
NCAA Sweet Sixteen (2): 2008, 2009 NCAA tournament appearances (4): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 NWIT/WNIT appearances (5): 1981, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2010 Conference Championships: Regular Season (1): 1984
Cross country Men's and women's cross country at Pitt host home meets at adjacent Schenley Park and is overseen by head coach Alonzo Webb with distance assistant Adam Bray.
Men's NCAA Top Ten finishes (3): 1951, 1953, 1954 Men's NCAA championship appearances (7): 1951, 1953, 1954, 1964, 1970, 1975, 1990 Men's IC4A Championships (2): 1924, 1955
Football
Traditionally the most popular sport at the University of Pittsburgh, football has been played at the highest levels at the university since 1889. During the more than 125 years of competitive football at Pitt, the university has helped pioneer the sport by, among other things, instituting the use of numbers on jerseys, having the first live radio broadcast of a college football game, and desegregating the Sugar Bowl. Some of football's all-time greatest coaches and players have plied their trade at Pitt, including Pop Warner, Jock Sutherland, Marshall Goldberg, Joe Schmidt, Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Hugh Green, Mark May, Dan Marino, Bill Fralic, Curtis Martin, Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis, Aaron Donald, and LeSean McCoy. Among the top schools in terms of all-time wins, Pitt teams have claimed nine national championships and boast 87 players that have been chosen as first-team All-Americans. Pitt football plays its home games at Acrisure Stadium and has practice facilities located at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex. Pitt football is currently coached by Pat Narduzzi.
National Championships (9 claimed): 1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1976 Undefeated seasons (8): 1904, 1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1937, 1976 Eastern and Conference Championships (14): 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1955, 1976, 1979, 1980, 2004, 2010, 2021 Conference Division Championships (1): 2018, 2021 Bowl appearances (39): Sun (5), Rose (4), Fiesta (4), Sugar (3), Gator (3), Birmingham (3), Insight (2), Mayo/Tire/Car Care (2), Military (2), GameAbove Sports (2), Peach (1), Cotton (1), Tangerine (1947–1982) (1), Tangerine (2001–2003) (1), Liberty (1), Pinstripe (1), Armed Forces (1), Little Caesars (1), Bluebonnet (1)
Gymnastics Pitt women's gymnastics has qualified for the NCAA Regional Championship in twenty different season. Pitt is one of only 22 schools in the nation to claim an individual national champion, Lisa Shirk who won the uneven bars in 1982. Pitt competed in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League from 1995 until 2022 when the ACC began sponsor women's gymnastics beginning in the 2023 season. Pitt Gymnastics hosts home meets at Fitzgerald Field House, has a Gymnastics Training Center at the adjacent Trees Hall, and is led by head coach Casey Jo MacPherson.
AIAW / NCAA national championship appearances (2): 1979, 1981 Individual National Champions: 1 EAIAW / NCAA regional championship appearances (22): 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2018 Conference Championships (1): 2016
Lacrosse Pitt announced that it will field a varsity women's lacrosse team beginning with the 2021–22 season. Women's lacrosse currently exists as a club sport program at the university and has had significant success at that level including winning the club sport national championship in 2014 and 2019 and finishing as the national runner up in 2017.
Men's soccer
Men's soccer is coached by Jay Vidovich. The team moved into a new facility, Ambrose Urbanic Field at the Petersen Sports Complex, in the spring of 2011. It advanced to the NCAA College Cup (Final Four) during the 2020 and 2022 seasons (the 2020 season NCAA tournament was played in May 2021 due to COVID-19).
Men's NCAA College Cup (final four) (2): 2020, 2022; Elite Eight (5): 1962, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024; Sweet Sixteen (5): 1965, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 Men's NCAA tournament appearances (8): 1962, 1965, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Men's Conference Championships: Regular Season (4): 1981, 1985, 2024 Men's Conference Division Championships (2): 2020-21, 2021
Women's soccer
Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer is currently coached by Randy Waldrum and was established in 1996. The team also plays home games at Ambrose Urbanic Field at the Petersen Sports Complex. The team qualified for the NCAA and ACC Tournaments for the first time in 2022, but lost in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament and the second round of the ACC Tournament. They also participated in the Big East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament when the Panthers were part of the Big East Conference.
Women's NCAA Elite Eight (1): 2023; Sweet Sixteen (2): 2022, 2023