While Pat Narduzzi hasn’t been able to achieve much success with Pitt, having just two bowl wins on his resume, the Panthers are one of the most successful programs in the history of the sport. With nine college football national championships to their name.
However, that isn’t stopping the veteran head coach from taking shots at the Big Ten, which has produced the last three national champions in Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi claimed that the ACC conference is better than the Big Ten during ACC Media Days.
“This conference is as good as any conference in the country,” Narduzzi said. “After about two years in the league, this conference is better – it’s better than the Big Ten. It’s got more skill.”
“You look at our record,” he added. “You look at our record in bowl games against the SEC and the Big Ten. You look at our record in the regular season. We don’t have a losing record, we have a winning record against those teams.”
Fans wasted no time in challenging the coach’s assessment after On3 shared the news on X.
One fan questioned Narduzzi’s credibility, writing: “I respect Narduzzi. Sticks to the delusional meathead persona more consistently than anybody out there.”
Another wrote: “Patt…you couldn’t handle ECU in a bowl game when they were missing half the team😭😭😭😭😭.”
Another user highlighted the ACC’s struggles against another Power Four conference.
“Lost to ECU in a bowl game and WVU’s worst team in 10 years last season by the way. ACC was 1-6 vs the Big 12 last year let alone being better than the Big Ten.”
“The middle and the bottom of the ACC could probably hang with the Big 10, but they’d get obliterated in the top six matchups. They’d be lucky to win a game or two against the SEC,” one wrote.
“Careful Coach, don’t piss off the B1G. We are on their expansion list!” – another added.
“This guy is always looking for attention. Trying to stay relevant with controversial statements. No the ACC is not better than the B10,” one said.
Pat Narduzzi Sounds Off on College Football Tampering
On July 17 Narduzzi accused programs of tampering in the transfer portal and revealed that Miami had attempted to lure Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel before landing Duke transfer Darian Mensah.
“Miami tried to get Mason Thursday before (the portal closed Friday), and we were able to hang on to him and shut them down,” Narduzzi told The Athletic.
The veteran coach said he warned Duke head coach Manny Diaz about the situation.
“Shoot, I talked to Manny that Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Hey, watch out. I hear he’s going for your guy next.’ And sure enough, they stole him,” Narduzzi said.
“If we can go down to 10 days, it eliminates the tampering by five days. Whether it’s your quarterback in the last five days getting tampered with or whatever it may be, I think it’s bad stuff, and it needs to be eliminated. We’re not gonna get rid of tampering tomorrow. But the fewer days, the less tampering there will be,” he added.
With the 2026 season approaching, the ACC and Big Ten will have several opportunities on the field to add more evidence to the debate.
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