Pittsburgh – Syracuse football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Pittsburgh Panthers and Syracuse Orange . It began in 1916 and has been played every year since 1955 . The Panthers and Orange were both Eastern football independents for most of their history but have shared the same football conference since 1991 when the Big East Football Conference was formed from Eastern football independents . Pitt is tied as the most played opponent for Syracuse and Syracuse is the third most played opponent for Pitt . Sharing membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) since 2013 , the Panthers and Orange have played a total of 74 times . Pittsburgh leads the series 39 – 32 – 3
independents
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Pittsburgh–Syracuse football rivalry