The Big Ten vs. ACC challenge has become a staple of men's college basketball in the winter...not so much in football.
Iowa has not matched up against the ACC very often in football, but it had a history of scheduling games against Pitt in the mid-2000s. The Hawkeyes played the Panthers four times between 2008 and 2015, with Iowa winning three out of four. The 2015 matchup was against new Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, and despite Narduzzi's pathetic record against the Big Ten in his career (1-6), he recently made a bold claim about which conference was better.
Narduzzi claiming the ACC is better than the Big Ten is not based in stats
It is one thing to pump up your school and the conference, but asserting that one conference is better than the others without any statistical evidence is just plain wrong.
NEW: Pitt's Patt Narduzzi says the ACC is better than the Big Ten:
— On3 (@On3) July 18, 2026
"It's better than the Big Ten. It's got more skill."
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 losing… pic.twitter.com/3wdd8IdHnZ
Narduzzi recently went on Atlanta's 680 The Fan during his team's ACC Football Media Days appearance, making headlines with some baseless claims. During his ACC vs. Big Ten rant, Narduzzi had some interesting things to say about which conference was better, and while some programs in his conference have had success against the Big Ten, his team definitely isn't one of them. In the 2020s, the ACC went a combined 15-23 against the Big Ten and 3-12 in bowl games, but Narduzzi claims the ACC is the superior conference.
"You look at our record in bowl games against the SEC and 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."Pat Narduzzi via 680 The Fan
Narduzzi also said the ACC is "better" than the Big 10, and its "got more skill." If that were the case, the ACC would have a winning record against the Big Ten, or at least it would be closer, right? That is absolutely not the case, and Narduzzi needs a serious reality check. Even if the "our" he constantly brought up in the interview meant the entire ACC, the numbers don't lie. The last time the ACC even had a winning record against the Big 10 was in 2016, with Narduzzi's only win in his career as a head coach coming that season against Penn State.
Sticking up for your conference by claiming that they are as good as any other conference is one thing, but making wild claims about which conference is better without providing evidence and stating the reason is "records" is absolutely ludicrous. Narduzzi should know better after taking the Pitt job from Michigan State and then losing to the Spartans five seasons later in the 2021 Peach Bowl. The Big Ten and SEC are the premier college football conferences, and he needs to accept that fact.
Excluding any potential bowl games, the Big Ten and ACC have three 2026 regular-season matchups, including Boston College vs. Rutgers, Virginia Tech vs. Maryland, Wake Forest vs. Purdue, with the potential for the Big Ten to give Narduzzi more proof that the Big Ten is better overall than the ACC.
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