List of Pittsburgh Panthers football seasons


This is a list of Pittsburgh Panthers football seasons, national championships and quarterbacks. The Pittsburgh Panthers football team is the American football team of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The Panthers have been members of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2013. From 1991 to 2012 they were members of the Big East Conference. Before 1991 they competed as an independent.
The Panthers began play in 1890. In total, the University officially recognizes nine national championships based on research published by Sports Illustrated in 1970. The NCAA's record book lists Pittsburgh as being selected for a national championship by "major selectors" in eleven different seasons. Research by College Football Data Warehouse has found that Pitt was selected as a national champion in 16 different seasons by at least one selector of championships. Of these, CFBDW officially recognizes six as national championship seasons for the University of Pittsburgh.

Season records

Legend

CFBDW recognized National Championships
NCAA record book listed & Pitt claimed National Championships
National Championship listed in the NCAA record book but not claimed by Pitt
National Championship claimed by Pitt but not listed in the NCAA record book
Big East Conference Championship
ACC Coastal Division Championship
Undefeated Season

Polls have been the most prominent form of championship selection since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936. The following systems have at one point in their history have named Pitt as a national champion or are still active today. Retroactive designations are marked in italics.

National championships

The University of Pittsburgh claims nine national championships for the Panthers football team: four that are mostly unanimous, and five shared titles.
The University bases its claim for the first eight national championships on a study conducted in 1970 by Sports Illustrated. These championships, together with its unanimous championship of 1976, are the basis for the university's claim of eight national championship seasons.
Furthermore, according to research conducted by the College Football Data Warehouse, in eight additional years at least one selector of national championships has declared Pitt as its national champion. Combined with the Sports Illustrated study, Pitt has been recognized as the national champion by at least one selector in 17 different seasons. According to the , Pitt has been named a national champion by a "Major Selector" in 12 separate seasons.
Note: The table lists all known national championship selections for the University of Pittsburgh. The list of national championship selecting organizations choosing Pitt for any particular year is not necessarily comprehensive. For more information see Additional notations include the following:
The following table summarizes the source and totals for Pitt's national championship seasons.
SourceChampionshipsYears
AP/Coaches' Poll Two1937, 1976
CFBDW Six1910, 1916, 1918, 1936, 1937, 1976
Sports Illustrated Nine1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937
NCAA Eleven1910, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1976, 1980, 1981
CFBDW Sixteen1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1976, 1980, 1981
Total unique seasonsSeventeen1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1976, 1980, 1981
Claimed by PittNine1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1976

Quarterbacks

Pitt's season-by-season completion leaders at quarterback since 1974 are depicted in the following table.
* Denotes setting of team single-season completion record