32 Facts About Pitt Panthers

Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly 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.

University's athletic program is one of only five current NCAA Division I FBS schools to have won multiple national championships in both football and basketball, and the Pitt Panthers have been ranked as having among the best combinations of football and basketball programs by multiple publications.

University's athletic program is one of only five current NCAA Division 1A schools to have won multiple national championships in both football and basketball, and the Pitt Panthers have been ranked as having among the best combinations of football and basketball programs by multiple publications.

Pitt Panthers was ranked as having the fifth best combination of football and basketball programs in CBSSports.

Pitt Panthers was 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.

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Further, in a 2006 all-sports ranking done by Sports Illustrated on Campus, Pitt Panthers was ranked 17th among all of the country's universities in terms of the overall strength of its athletic program.

Baseball, Pitt Panthers'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.

Pitt Panthers began playing men's basketball in 1905 and soon become a national power.

Pitt Panthers 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.

In total, Pitt Panthers 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.

Between 2006 and 2010, Pitt Panthers has appeared in the national rankings and advanced to five straight post-season tournaments.

Pitt Panthers football plays its home games at Heinz Field and has practice facilities located at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex.

Pitt Panthers is one of only 22 schools in the nation to claim an individual national champion, Lisa Shirk who won the uneven bars in 1982.

In 2011, Pitt Panthers won a program record 34 games in a single record en route to a team record third straight winning season and was the ACC Tournament runner-up in 2015.

In Track and Field, Pitt Panthers has produced several Olympic and NCAA champions such as 800m Olympic gold medalist John Woodruff, two-time 110m hurdle Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom, and 7-time NCAA champion and 2005 World Champion triple jumper Trecia-Kaye Smith.

At the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Pitt Panthers men have finished as high as fifth place, while the Pitt Panthers women have finished as high as third.

At the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Pitt Panthers men have finished as high as 8th place, while the Pitt Panthers women have finished as high as 9th.

Pitt volleyball program was established in 1974, and since that time the Panthers have one of the nation's top all-time winning percentages, appearances in 18 national championship tournaments, and won 14 conference championships while a member of the Big East and ACC.

Pitt Panthers competes in the ACC but used to be a member of the Eastern Wrestling League and before that, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association.

Pitt Panthers wrestling hosts home meets at Fitzgerald Field House and is coached by Keith Gavin.

University-sponsored varsity sports that no longer exist at Pitt Panthers included men's teams in boxing, fencing, golf, ice hockey, gymnastics, rifle, tennis, volleyball, and water polo; as well as women's field hockey and tennis.

The 2012 calendar year, Pitt Panthers's last competing in the Big East Conference, out of approximately 450 Pitt Panthers athletes, 350 achieved a GPA of 3.

The Panthers play their home games at Turner Valley Fields in Norwin PA, Pitt has contributed to the growing popularity of rugby in Western Pennsylvania.

Since 2005, Pitt Panthers has qualified for the National Championship tournament for 15 consecutive seasons which has been highlighted in winning back-to-back National Championships in 2012 and 2013, and playing for another national title in 2018.

Since its founding, Pitt Panthers has won the WCLL six times and has advanced to the WCLA national championship tournament thirteen times, which was highlighted by winning WCLA Division 1 National Championships in 2014 and 2019 and finishing as the national runner up in 2017.

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Pitt Panthers has a longstanding rivalry with the University of Notre Dame.

Pitt Panthers has played Notre Dame on a semi-regular basis since 1899, with never more than three years passing between contests since 1943.

Pitt Panthers has a long-standing rivalry with eastern football foe Syracuse University, which spills over onto the basketball court.

Pitt Panthers has a significant basketball rivalry with the University of Connecticut.

Pitt Panthers went on to avenge its loss the following season by defeating UConn in the 2003 Big East Championship game.

From 1935 to 1941 Pitt Panthers football had a notable series with Fordham University which was then coached by Jim Crowley and featured guard Vince Lombardi.

The student section for football is termed the Panther Pitt Panthers and has been recognized as being among the best in college football.