Pat Narduzzi has done a decent job of keeping the University of Pittsburgh competitive for his decade in charge. But he may have kicked a hornet's nest when he went to bat for the entire ACC conference against other conferences - particularly the Big Ten.
Appearing on 680 The Fan in Atlanta, Narduzzi declared that the ACC is "as good as any conference in the country." He then called out the Big Ten by name, declaring that the ACC is better with "more skill" than the Big Ten has.
“This conference is as good as any conference in the country,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t care what you make and all that. I don’t care about how many resources you have and all that baloney. Talk about different conferences and what they make… Coming from Michigan State (as an assistant), spent eight seasons there. Coming to Pitt in 2015, I said it then, I said it now. After about two years in the league, this conference is better — it’s better than the Big Ten. It’s got more skill… I’ve said that for years and I’m going to stick to my guns.”
The Big Ten Strikes Back
Fans of the Big Ten Conference and other teams for that matter weren't at all impressed by Narduzzi's boast and quickly raked him over the coals for declaring such a thing. Many pointed out that Narduzzi can barely even compete against the Big Ten, going just 1-6 against the conference that's yielded the last three national champions.
"Narduzzi is 1-6 against the Big Ten. What a lying coward he is. Actually embarrassing," one Penn State fan declared.
"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," another fan wrote.
"lol. The ACC does have more wins against the Big10 last year, but your bowl wins are hilarious because the ACC teams are weak and only play the dregs from Big10 and SEC. Pitt was 8-5, played ZERO Big10 or SEC teams, and lost to ECUin the bowl. Stolen valor, Narduzzi?" a third wrote.
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"3 National Titles by 3 different BIG 10 teams in the last 3 years. Must have been luck. Not skill."
"I’m an ACC guy, but have to respectfully disagree. ACC is a quality conference but the Big 10 is def a deeper league w a (expletive) ton of talent."
"If you aren’t Clemson, FSU or Miami .. then you are closer to the sun belt than the big ten .. acc schools need to know their place ,, this is preposterous."
The ACC hasn't won a national title since Clemson took down Alabama in January 2019. While the University of Miami wound up being the runner-up to Indiana this past year, the ACC champion Duke didn't even get invited to the College Football Playoff.
Do you agree with Narduzzi? Is the ACC top-to-bottom more competitive than the Big Ten and other conferences?
