Pat Narduzzi mocks point spread, Pitt being a home underdog vs. Tennessee

Last week, Pitt won the Backyard Brawl over West Virginia 38-31 at home. Coming off that game, though, Las Vegas oddsmakers think the Panthers will have their work cut out for them in Week 2 — as an underdog.

Pitt is gearing up to take on Tennessee at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday and the Panthers opened as three-point underdogs for the matchup, according to VegasInsider. That means for the second straight week, their opponent will be favored on their home turf.

During his weekly press conference, coach Pat Narduzzi mocked the spread and the idea that the SEC and Big Ten are the only “two Power 5 conferences in the country.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“To me, you like to be the underdog every week,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t even know what the point spread was last week. We were probably the underdog last week at home. I know our crowd was the underdog, for sure, going in to that game. It is what it is.

“It’s a good football team coming in here. You heard all summer about the SEC and, ‘There’s only really two Power 5 conferences in the country, the SEC and the Big Ten.’ So we’re in a ‘pee-wee league’ and we’re going to line up and see if we can play.”

Tennessee is coming off a big season-opening victory, cruising past Ball State 59-10 at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 1. The matchup with Pitt also includes an interesting quarterback battle between Hendon Hooker and Kedon Slovis. Hooker threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals while rushing for two touchdowns, as well. Slovis — a USC transfer — threw for 308 yards and a touchdown to lead Pitt past rival West Virginia.

Kickoff between Tennessee and Pitt is coming up Saturday afternoon from Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.