No one knows what to make of the Coastal Division of the ACC. No one has been able to decipher them for years.
Some journalists and pundits think Miami is back. No, this year. Well, okay, this year, really. Okay, maybe this year. Hmm....
Many like to try to ride either North Carolina or Virginia Tech. UNC got a particularly big shot of journalist-hype when Mack Brown rejoined the coaching ranks. Neither of those teams have panned out, after repeated attempts to get them kick-started.
So Pitt is the hot favorite. They did really well last year. That makes them the trendy pick this year.
And the AP and Coaches' poll voters will usually mostly try to rank at least one team from each division of the SEC, B10, and ACC each year. Just because, well, someone has to win those divisions, get to the conference championship games, and be one step away from having a solid case at the national playoffs.
That's why Pitt is ranked. Not necessarily based on the strength of their (depleted) roster.
In short, they could be rebuilding and still be ranked thanks to the "who else we gonna pick?" conundrum.
