No City Game, Again
- Thread starter maxxwell
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Pitt should play them. Pitt has no reason to dodge the Dukes. If Duquesne is on the rise, belting them around is all the sweeter.
It's getting heated on The Twatter too.
I can't think of too many good excuses for us not to play them.
The media guys are going to love being outraged over this. And that's what I don't like to see.
At times, we treat WVU, now Duquesne, lie we don't want State Penn to treat us
Last year they mostly laid off. We'll see this time. I'm expecting a 'Shame on Pitt' Ron Cook column in 3..2..1..
It should be played. It brings a lot of attention to the college game. And to basketball since there is no pro game in town.
Of course this game should be played.. doesn't seem right not playing it.
It's not even a matter of when it's already happening.
And all I can say in defense of Pitt is that, we don't know the whole situation, other than that, I got no defense and this isn't going to go over well.
And Capel better get ready to get blasted all over the place.
The Fan reporting that Duquesne offered to play the game at Pitt for no money. If this is true, simply no excuse. Certainly, the schedule could be customized to provide whatever level of challenge HCJC desires while playing the game. Just don’t get it.
I'd like to see us play but to be honest it's pretty low on things I care about related to Pitt sports.
Capel has his reason that he's not sharing with no one. I think we should play them but I'm cool with whatever he's doing as long as he keeps Pitt rising, so playing the Dukes is my last concern cuz I really don't care nothing about them.
But Duquesne athletic director Dave Harper had plenty to say in a statement he released later Thursday.
“Despite a March 2019, public statement and verbal commitment to resume the City Game in 2020-21 and 2021-22, we were informed by Pitt that they do not wish to play Duquesne at PPG Paints Arena in either year,” Harper said.
“We offered to play at Petersen Events Center this year, for no guarantee fee, no ticket allotment or any special considerations, but that offer was declined. We have an offer to play at Pitt in 2021-22 that we are considering.”
Pitt and Duquesne, separated by 2 miles of city streets, also didn’t play last season for the first time since 1969. The teams have met 87 times since 1932. They haven’t taken two years off from playing each other since 1964 and 1965.
At the time 14 months ago when the suspension in the series was announced, athletic directors Heather Lyke of Pitt and Harper of Duquesne said the teams planned to meet again in 2020.
“This is an event that is annually anticipated by the City of Pittsburgh and was well on its way to growing back to being a great college basketball rivalry,” Harper said. “We have worked hard to build our program into a postseason contender. We finished 94th in the 2020 NET rankings and anticipate having an even better ranking in 2020-21, which makes us a quality nonconference opponent for any program with postseason aspirations.
“The NCAA selection committee values Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, and we are actively seeking games against Power 5 opponents and have secured them.
“This situation is unfortunate for many entities involved, in particular the college basketball fans of Western Pennsylvania, but ultimately Pitt declined to play us.”
TribuneReview
“Despite a March 2019, public statement and verbal commitment to resume the City Game in 2020-21 and 2021-22, we were informed by Pitt that they do not wish to play Duquesne at PPG Paints Arena in either year,” Harper said.
“We offered to play at Petersen Events Center this year, for no guarantee fee, no ticket allotment or any special considerations, but that offer was declined. We have an offer to play at Pitt in 2021-22 that we are considering.”
Pitt and Duquesne, separated by 2 miles of city streets, also didn’t play last season for the first time since 1969. The teams have met 87 times since 1932. They haven’t taken two years off from playing each other since 1964 and 1965.
At the time 14 months ago when the suspension in the series was announced, athletic directors Heather Lyke of Pitt and Harper of Duquesne said the teams planned to meet again in 2020.
“This is an event that is annually anticipated by the City of Pittsburgh and was well on its way to growing back to being a great college basketball rivalry,” Harper said. “We have worked hard to build our program into a postseason contender. We finished 94th in the 2020 NET rankings and anticipate having an even better ranking in 2020-21, which makes us a quality nonconference opponent for any program with postseason aspirations.
“The NCAA selection committee values Quad 1 and Quad 2 games, and we are actively seeking games against Power 5 opponents and have secured them.
“This situation is unfortunate for many entities involved, in particular the college basketball fans of Western Pennsylvania, but ultimately Pitt declined to play us.”
TribuneReview
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I’m guessing we’ll pay 100k to Niagara or Nichols State for the free win instead. Worked out well last time. Bad look coming off a pandemic where budgets are getting cut.
It's not a true concern of mine. But we'd hate if someone did that to us,
It's the hot topic of the day and there's no sports.
Ya it makes Capel/Pitt look like a D-bag too.
That's a well crafted stratement
I wouldn’t go that far I don’t really know his reasons for it...
that’s the thing. No one from Pitt is talking and Duquesne AD and Dambrot have handled this brilliantly.
First off, I’d like for them to play.
secondly, it’s a bad look for Pitt and for that they should play. But that’s the only reason I can come up with because I can’t think of one good reason why they “should”. Pitt basketball is a niche in this town. And no one cares about Duquesne except a couple hundred old timers. The media just wants something to bitch about. Who else really cares?? When was the last time the city game sold 17000 tickets?
secondly, it’s a bad look for Pitt and for that they should play. But that’s the only reason I can come up with because I can’t think of one good reason why they “should”. Pitt basketball is a niche in this town. And no one cares about Duquesne except a couple hundred old timers. The media just wants something to bitch about. Who else really cares?? When was the last time the city game sold 17000 tickets?
Not sure but they did sell like 12500 or something to see two bad versions of the programs in 2018 I believe someone said. If both are on the rise as it seems should get *at least* that amount. And if Pitt could get a home game out of it (I think the neutral site home game is better for NCAA purposes) seems like a mistake.
In the grand scheme of things not really a big deal but I’m guessing directional Louisiana state we play instead AINT selling many tickets either.
I would love to see a rivalry like cincy/Xavier. That would be a cool thing for the city. Best way for that to happen would be for Duquesne to become relevant. Let’s all be honest. Pitt isnt afraid to lose to Duquesne. They’re afraid to play a team that could kill their SOS, and yes potentially lose to such team. If Duquesne were a good program, playing them would be a norm Nixon slam dunk.
They were better than Pitt by KenPom last year. I don’t think they’d win but when the metrics say a team is better and one team refuses to play...
We played them every year for a long time. There is simply no good reason to not play them for free but pay teams to come here. Put them in their place!
I respect what you’re saying. I guess what I’m saying is the game means nothing to the city of Pittsburgh and even less to college basketball. Would I like to see the game? Yes. But should people be outraged that they don’t play? No.
I agree completely. Being overblown especially with nothing else to talk about and Duquesne playing a genius strategy game in the media.
I still think it’s smarter to do the Jamie scheduling of them as a neutral site game at PPG but 90 percent Pitt fans. Would be a quad 2/3 win with how good duquesne should be this year.
When has Pitt last gotten even 10k fans?
TBH, on a personal level, I don’t care that much. I won’t lose sleep over it. I went to a few of the games at Consol/PPG, and it was a fine experience and certainly beat most OOC games against the guaranteed win types that frequent the schedule in that timeframe. But, either way, Pitt looks bad here and I don’t know how they can bitch about PSU refusing to play us in FB.
There is no reason for these teams not to play. It should be the first game on the schedule every year. Real bad look for Pitt right now.
If I’m Duquesne, I market the hell out of this. Print T-shirt’s. Come up with a catchy rallying cry. Make sure it comes up in every recruiting conversation. The ACC team in town won’t play us because they know we are too dangerous for them. They’d get more run out of that than they would playing a game.
I don’t disagree. I just can’t come up with a reason why they’re obligated to play right now.
At least in the football scenario, Pitt’s a power 5 ACC school.
They sold 10,000+ tickets for five home games last year.
At the end of the day it was a cool game, but nothing I really will miss on the schedule. I think it is a bad look for Pitt, but smart dumping this news during Covid-19 pandemic so it will pass as other reopening news comes about. Looking more forward to being allowed to be in the Pete for games this fall than anything else right now, they could play Slippery Rock again and I would be glad to be there.
I think it’ll rekindle when Capel is much more certain he’ll win the game. I’m not going with the he’s scared thing, but believe he wants less risk of losing before they resume.
Here's the big thing about it to me and that's a lot of people are mad and upset or just don't like we're not playing Duquesne. Like I said I would like Pitt to play them but it's not as big as everyone saying they were barely getting a little over half the building filled so with all the students from both schools and the alumni they weren't even getting sellouts so there wasn't no real big buzz in the city. I'm sorry the attendance don't lie over the last 20 years.
They sold 12500 tickets in 2018. One of the biggest crowds in the Capel era. It would’ve been close to 15k this year most likely with both teams being good this year.
Unless something miraculous happens worrying about attendance is a non issue this coming season .
There is no excuse to not play this game !
There is no excuse to not play this game !
It looks bad because of the timing. Pitt could have done this without getting too much flack almost any time in the last 30 years, but Duquesne is returning 5 starters off of a 21-9 team, so it looks like Capel is avoiding a tough game. They're almost certainly going to be a top 100 NET team, as they were last year, even cracking the top 50 isn't impossible. That's a quad 1 or quad 2 game, the type we struggle to get ooc. If they're that good, a loss won't really hurt, and a win could be valuable. If we end up on the wrong side of the bubble because we play some +250 team instead of one in the top 100, Capel's gonna have egg on his face.
I believe that all three city teams should play each year. This is not a good look for Pitt.
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