Pitt: Penn State > WVU
May 14, 2013 by Mike Casazza
Ah yes, winter is gone, spring has spring, ice has thawed and the heart warms once more. There’s a recycled bromance bubbling in Pennsylvania.
Penn State coach Bill O’Brien swooned last week about Pitt and the sentiment of the rivalry’s return in 2016. He said he hopes the series survives.
“I would love to see that game played on an annual basis,” O’Brien told the Tribune-Review on Friday. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for (Pitt coach) Paul Chryst and their program, and that’s a great rivalry. For the fans of Pennsylvania to be able to see that game every year, I think that’s pretty neat.”
Not to be outsmittened, Pitt A.D. Steve Pederson said Tuesday at the ACC meetings he’d be all in for extending the series beyond the current 2016-19 structure.
“I would sign a 30-year deal, if I could,” Pederson said. “It shouldn’t matter who the (university) president or the head coach is, these institutions should always play. It’s a great game. It’s got history to it, we’re three hours apart and in the same state. Those games ought to be played.”
Yes, those institutions should play, those games ought to be played. But doing so in future college football scheduling, a process refined and confined by conference realignments, forces others aside.
And sometimes those others have a longer history and a rivalry with deeper meaning.
So, in short, no, don’t bet on WVU v. Penn State any time soon. Or maybe at all.
While Pitt is seeking an annual series with Penn State, the Panthers will not be able to reinstate the Backyard Brawl with West Virginia on an annual basis, Pederson said. The schools have played 104 times, but the series ended in 2012 when West Virginia left the Big East for the Big 12. Pederson said he spoke recently with West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck about scheduling some future games between the Panthers and Mountaineers.
“We’re both trying to figure out when we can do it,” Pederson said. “We’re both in favor if it’s in the best interest of both schools.”