Every college football fan in western PA is thrilled by the news of Pitt and Penn State playing against each other in 2016 and 2017. I'm one of those fans. The thing is though they only agreed to play each other for two years. Penn State AD Tim Curly was on the 93.7 the fan Tuesday morning and said he didn't want to make it annual thing because he wanted to play games all around the country so he can serve justice to Penn State alumni who cant travel to a game at beaver stadium.
I guess that's a nice thought and all but something is telling me that Penn State has more alumni in PA than anywhere else in the country. Furthermore, he would admit that they just needed a "filler game" for two years because Miami backed out of the agreement to play them.What i don't understand is why Penn State wont play Pitt on annual basis. They don't have a natural rival and i know they try to make Michigan state their rival but we all know how that turned out.
The Pitt and Penn State rivalry was a great one and instead of Curly talking about its history and significance to college football he just dismissed it as a filler game(s). Why doesn't Penn State want Pitt to be its natural rival? Now i know Penn State is a better program than Pitt. I am not going to be one of those ignorant fans that dismiss that fact BUT Penn State is not head and shoulders over Pitt that they feel like they are justified with having a 2 to 1 home game series with them. Do they really feel like Pitt is THAT small of a program to only settle for 2 to 1? I mean Penn States schedules usually have them for the first 5 games play teams like Coastal Carolina, Youngstown State, Akron and Toledo. I know every team has about two cup cakes in the beginning of their schedule but its just seems so apparent that PSU stacks up on these cupcakes team just so they can be eligible for a bowl game every year.
I know Penn State has had allot of wins since 2005 and they have in fact beaten some good teams but why not just do your program a favor and add a natural rival. Ill be the first to admit that Pitt needs Penn State but also i believe Penn State needs Pitt. I know PSU has 110,000 fans every home game and have the largest alumni in the country but as good as Penn States football program is, they simply are not Florida, Auburn, Alabama, etc. Do i think adding Pitt is going to make them a top program like one of those schools? Of course not, but what IM trying to say is that they are not in a position to be saying they should have a 2 to 1 home series like they want. Even if Penn State was one of those top programs and did have that right, why would they consider a school like coastal Carolina or Kent state to fill one of their open slots with when they could have a better program like Pitt? Perhaps they feel like can have success turning one of those schools into their rival and create a special rivalry trophy like they did with Michigan State.
So im hoping to get everyone's input on this scenario. I'm willing to bet my co-blogger James Dotson will be the first to comment on this post and have a page long rebuttal but that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for from everyone and that's the kind of stuff i like to read. So please everyone rip me a new one :)
Disclaimer: I am getting a Penn State degree and hope their teams do well so I in no way am a homer Pitt fan or anything like that.
I also apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. At this moment I am to lazy to proofread and go back and edit my errors so naturally i am leaving a comment.
ReplyDeleteWell, here's the Penn Stater's rebuttal.
ReplyDeleteMy only argument is that Curley was the one who made the call that led to this "home-and-home" series.
Your mention of how big "Nittany Nation" is, that's a true statement, but not a reason to schedule games against diverse opponents instead of true rivals. There's a Penn State Alumni Association chapter in Orange County, CA, but would everybody there be able to go to a game if PSU were to schedule a game vs. UCLA? Doubtful.
Penn State's current rivals are Michigan State ("Land Grant Trophy" and they won't play for at least two years with the new B1G divisions...), Ohio State (because we don't like them, highly doubtful that they consider us a rival), and Michigan (same story as OSU). PSU needs a rival.
Pitt needs PSU as a schedule boost. Adding TCU to the conference schedule will be huge, but having quality opponents of ND and PSU as non-conference regulars is a necessity for Pitt to make a run toward BCS prominence.
PSU needs Pitt. Their recent scheduling has made it seem like they're trying to "create" new local rivalries (Virginia, Rutgers, Temple, Kent, even ancient "rival" Syracuse). The annual matchup around Thanksgiving with Pitt was one of national prominence, and one I personally never got to witness (I was 10 when the last game was played, and had no idea of the importance of rivalries at that age).
EVEN IF Pitt were to continue to struggle like they have recently (which is tough to say since, especially last year, their performances have been better than up in Happy Valley) having a BCS non-conference opponent is better than those FCS games. Adding Alabama to their schedule gave Penn State a top ten strength of schedule. In a computer-run BCS world, the difference between a win over Pitt and a win over Coastal Carolina can be the difference between a Rose Bowl appearance and a chance at the title. Even a loss to a top-five non-conference team is better mathematically than a 60-point win over Indiana State.
So Alex, no I'm not gonna rip you apart at all because it's all dead accurate. I want to see this come back, it'll be fun! (Even though my fiancee is a die-hard Pitt fan and will more than likely get a degree from the University....will make for some fun Saturdays in the future!!!!!)