In theory this should be a colossal in-state college football rivalry. Sadly, it's only in theory as years of excuse-making and squabbling have left us with this: no Pitt/PSU in near future.
There's a lengthy writeup about the various snags at The Daily Collegian. State senator John Wozniak is using his platform to gin up interest in renewing the rivalry but Penn State is pouring lots of cold water on the idea.
Steve MacCarthy, vice president for university relations at Penn State, wrote in an e-mail message that the university is interested in scheduling athletic contests with the University of Pittsburgh, but reinstating the rivalry is not possible at this time.Humbug. The series was last played in 2000, a 12-0 shutout victory for Pittsburgh.
"Current discussions by the Big Ten regarding the possibility of adding another conference game to the football schedule would limit our ability to schedule out-of-conference games," he wrote.
Call me crazy but I think one solution would be for Penn State to join the Big East or go independent like before. The Big Ten would like to play a round-robin conference slate and the math isn't there with 11 institutions. If Penn State left, presto! problem solved. Besides, the Nittany Lions lack any true Big 10 rival to focus their anst and hatred towards. Let Pitt be that rival once again.
Michael Freiberg (freshman-biochemistry and molecular biology) said it is "important to have a rival."See! Penn State fans know that it's time to get this thing restarted. Call the marriage counselor or something already, let's patch this up good people of Pennsylvania.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-12-2007 @ 9:13AM
Don said...
Ryan pretty much summed up every single thing I was gonna say. Cheers!
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4-12-2007 @ 9:20AM
joe said...
Give me a break. Pitt has everything to gain from the matchup. The rivalry is over and limited to recruiting now ---- which is the number one reason for PSU not to renew it. Since PSU has joined the Big Ten they have expanded and grown even through losing seasons while Pitt is still holding onto their 1970's memories and is now clearly a lesser program in terms of $$ and recruiting.
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4-12-2007 @ 10:10AM
Ryan said...
Well Brian, you asked, so I'll oblige: You're crazy. Do you know how much money joining the Big Ten has brought Penn State, not just for football but across the board? The only question is which of your suggestions is actually MORE insane: leaving the Big Ten for a return to independence (and massive financial uncertainty for a self-sustaining athletic department that features close to 30 varsity sports, one of the biggest in the nation) or leaving the Big Ten to join the Big East, a second-tier football league with a tenuous conference connnection in most of its other sports. (No ND football? And how are those Georgetown, Providence and Villanova football teams? Etc and so on...)
As for a rival toward which to direct our competitive hatred, I guess you haven't been in town when Michigan or Ohio State come through. Granted, we'll never replace either of those teams as the other's biggest rival, but there's plenty of motivation to go around. Putting Pitt back on the schedule would mostly be good for Pitt, and even then, their "home" games at Heinz field would be about half-full of blue-and-white-clad fans. Not that they don't want to be great again, but there are plenty of folks affiliated with Pitt who are increasingly content to watch their terrific basketball team play in that beautiful new arena and leave the local football scene to the WPIAAL kids on Friday nights and the Steelers on Sunday.
The ideal solution has long been Notre Dame joining up as an all-sports member of the Big Ten. Athletically, academically and regionally, it makes perfect sense, and they've already got rivalries of some sort with half the Big Ten. Too bad NBC keeps giving them all that money to stay independent...
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4-12-2007 @ 7:34PM
dan said...
What was the big tens BCS bowl record? Oh I remember it was 0-2. Just because the Big East does not have the "traditional" football powers does not make it a second tier conference. Louisville, West Virginia and
Rutgers were pretty damn good teams and all won their bowl games. Lets not pretend the Big 10 is the end all be all of football schools. PSU joining the Big East is a bad idea but as a Pitt alum I want to see them play.
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4-13-2007 @ 11:21AM
Bill said...
Oh Chris, holding on to one player and rubbing it in the face of Penn Staters everywhere. Let's do a little recruiting breakdown for everyone, compliments of Rivals. 2007 - PSU #23, Pitt #25. McCoy was one of Pitt's 6 four star recruits, compared to PSU's 8. Looking back further, 2006 - PSU #6, Pitt #21. 2005 - PSU #25, Pitt #38. 2004 - PSU #14, Pitt #48. Should we talk about bowls too? Between the '02 and '06 seasons Pitt was 1-3, with no bowls in the '05 and '06 seasons, and their one win coming in the '02 Insight Bowl. It will be five seasons since Pitt has won a bowl game. PSU was 2-3 in the same time, losing in the '02 Capital One Bowl, no bowls in '03 and '04, but winning it's '05 season BCS game and '06 season Outback Bowl. I'll spare Pitt fans the comparison of TV ratings for regular season games, as well as the players PSU has recruited from the western PA region. Pitt fans should be more concerned about Rutgers than when the next in-state game will be played.
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4-13-2007 @ 11:16PM
Chris said...
You are getting those rankings from one site. The other recruiting sites all have Pitt well ahead of Penn State. Anyways, since those rankings mean next to nothing. This article is about how a huge in state rival has been pissed away. It needs to be back one way or another.
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4-14-2007 @ 9:28AM
Dave said...
Give me a break. Pitt has everything to gain from the matchup. Why would PSU agree to a matchup with a lower tier football program that may encraoch upon their recruiting base even more if they lose to them.
Wozniak is a Pitt grad - talk about abuse and misuse of power. PSU football is funded by private $$ so Wonzniak's talk of forcing a matchup will not hold up.
That is why Joe Pa's salary is also still hidden from the public. The matchup was good in its time - but it is over.
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4-14-2007 @ 6:45PM
Chris said...
Have fun being a team nobody cares about in the Big 10. Last football game Pitt wins, last Bball game Pitt wins, McCoy Pitt Wins.
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4-16-2007 @ 6:43PM
andy said...
have fun being a team nobody cares about 20 miles outside of Pittsburgh. And who really cares what the midwest thinks of PSU. The school is named Penn State not Midwest state. If thats the only reason for re-starting the rivaly, you'll need to get a new one.
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4-28-2007 @ 8:40PM
D Barber said...
Penn St is not ready for BIg East football,,they need to stay in the Big 10. The Big 10 is grossly over-ratted,,,every true football fan knows that,,,,,Ohio St - Michigan number 1 and 2 in the football polls,,,lol,,they both got blowed away,,they actually looked like 3rd tier teams and Penn State in recent yeaers should schedule Slippery Rock U,,and throw in a Villanova to make it seem interesting anyway. Stop embarrassing yourselves Big 10 fans and wake up to the ideal that the Big East is coming hard and is already a formidable foe for any conference
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5-09-2007 @ 11:17AM
Larry said...
The Big east will split in 2years and add central Fla. PSU enjoy the midwest cornfields.
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5-15-2007 @ 3:53PM
Patrick Stevens said...
This "Rivalry" has been over for a number of years in the eyes of the PSU fans I know . Really, the Syracuse situation is very similar although they are on PSU's schedule in a few years. There is no incentive for PSU to renew this series, there are a number of reasons for Pitt to want to have it renewed. I get it, but PSU has to look out for their own interests. That's it in a nutshell, there is no benefit to PSU . Shortsighted Pitt & Syracuse administrators put the knife in the heart of this series in the late 70's and early 80's when an Eastern all sports conference was first discussed. No one wanted anything to do with PSU Basketball, but they did want to benefit from playing PSU in Football. A clear case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. Time to put this matter to bed once and for all, It is not going to happen, and PSU has no incentive to make it happen. If people need any further proof, all they have to look at is PSU would rather travel to Philly and play Temple than play Pitt. And before you fire back that PSU is afraid of Pitt, please think with your head and not you heart. There is no truth to that and anyone being objective and honest knows that.As a PSU Fan, I wish Pitt the best, maybe a Bowl match up will produce a game between the two schools, however regular season is just not going to happen. Make it worth while for PSU, and maybe it gets done, I just don't see it being worth while.
Lastly, I took my kids (10 & 12) to the last game @ Pitt in '2000 and the way we were treated in my own state was horrid. I thought I was in some third world country with the language and insults hurled at us. Far beyond good natured rivalry banter. My kids still laugh about it, but it wasn't funny at the time. This rivalry has run it's course, and I would guess that 80% of PSU fans would feel the same. Other than nostalgia, this is not a good deal for PSU.
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6-21-2007 @ 12:46AM
Bob said...
There are two major schools in the wrong conferences.
1. Penn State - Can't blame for making the decision that they made - they should make the move to the Big East.
2. Boston College - BC really F'd up when the priests lied to the Big East and made the move to the ACC with not one natural rival. They must be kicking themselves now.
What a conference it would be with those two schools - academically superior, too. The SEC's record academically is abysmal.
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6-26-2007 @ 2:30PM
Chris said...
The Big East is too basketball centered. (16 teams and only 8 of them play football in the big east?) What about Pitt joining the Big Ten as it's 12th member? That way Penn St. and Pitt could play together every year and the Big Ten would beneift with a strong basketball power. This solution might be easier than pulling Penn St. and Joe Pa from their confrence or the Big East spliting up into a new football confrence(though it would be nice).
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