Strong/Sumlin want in state rivalry back

[TIGER-PAUL]

Strong has been a part of two annual rivalries in which the two schools were in different conferences. He said there has to be a way to make this one happen again.
"Can you imagine Florida not playing Florida State or South Carolina not playing Clemson?" Strong said. "We all love to see those games. Within the state, it would have such a buildup. It's a game that needs to be played."



http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/126

 

[thebadby2]

The loss of these traditional rivalries is one of the many travesties

and casualties of the current trend of conference expansion and realignment. Texas not playing A&M after 100-plus years? That's a friggin' joke. I don;r know any fans of those programs but they should be marching in the streets for this.

IMO, with the loss of not one, but two longtime, heated rivalries, Pitt is an even bigger victim of this trend than most. Pitt football hasn't played for much of consequence over the past 30 years, and those rivalry games give the team and the fans a focus every season.

I'm sorry but playing UNC, UVA, NCSU or Wake just doesn't do much for me. While I'm a lifelong Pitt fan and I'm interested in watching those games and what the outcome is, it's a pretty dispassionate interest. Whereas when we used to play PSU and WVU, I'd be on the edge of my seat the whole game regardless of whether we were having a good season or not.

I know this sounds odd but in the course of the average Pitt season I'd rather see us play PSU or WVU and lose than I would see us play Wake Forest, NCSU, UVA or UNC and win.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Re: The loss of these traditional rivalries is one of the many travesties

Originally posted by thebadby2:
and casualties of the current trend of conference expansion and realignment. Texas not playing A&M after 100-plus years? That's a friggin' joke. I don;r know any fans of those programs but they should be marching in the streets for this.

IMO, with the loss of not one, but two longtime, heated rivalries, Pitt is an even bigger victim of this trend than most. Pitt football hasn't played for much of consequence over the past 30 years, and those rivalry games give the team and the fans a focus every season.

I'm sorry but playing UNC, UVA, NCSU or Wake just doesn't do much for me. While I'm a lifelong Pitt fan and I'm interested in watching those games and what the outcome is, it's a pretty dispassionate interest. Whereas when we used to play PSU and WVU, I'd be on the edge of my seat the whole game regardless of whether we were having a good season or not.

I know this sounds odd but in the course of the average Pitt season I'd rather see us play PSU or WVU and lose than I would see us play Wake Forest, NCSU, UVA or UNC and win.

What about playing and losing to Rutgers, Temple, Cincy?

You know..all those lost conference games.

Realignment has nothing to do with the loss of historic rivalries. School administrators playing politics do.

 

[DreamBackfield]

Good point

All things considered, conference realignment is great because we are playing quality teams in the ACC instead of Big East garbage.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

Re: Good point

Fans have to realize, too, that rivalries don't develop overnight. The fact that Pitt doesn't have any strong ACC rivalries now doesn't mean that they won't have any in the future. I can see VaTech as being a prime rivalry along with Cuse - if Cuse and Pitt ever get their acts together so that their games have "rankings relevance".
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[upj87]

Re: Good point

Originally posted by DreamBackfield:
All things considered, conference realignment is great because we are playing quality teams in the ACC instead of Big East garbage.

Bingo... Now Pitt gets to play ACC powers such as Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Louisville, Syracuse etc....

 

[thebadby2]

Re: The loss of these traditional rivalries is one of the many travesties

Either way, I'd just like to see it made right--not just for us, but for Texas/A&M, Nebraska/Oklahoma, Notre Dame/Michigan, etc--for the good of college football and fans everywhere.

 

[Pitt79]

Re: The loss of these traditional rivalries is one of the many travesties

Originally posted by thebadby2:
Either way, I'd just like to see it made right--not just for us, but for Texas/A&M, Nebraska/Oklahoma, Notre Dame/Michigan, etc--for the good of college football and fans everywhere.

Pitt/Penn State is proof positive, that in a decade or two, all those rivalries will be totally forgotten, something old people talk about. Pitt playing Carnegie Mellon (or Tech) in football used to be a big rivalry too.

 

[pitt-girl]

Re: Good point

Originally posted by Panther Parrothead:
Fans have to realize, too, that rivalries don't develop overnight. The fact that Pitt doesn't have any strong ACC rivalries now doesn't mean that they won't have any in the future. I can see VaTech as being a prime rivalry along with Cuse - if Cuse and Pitt ever get their acts together so that their games have "rankings relevance".
Posted from Rivals Mobile

When the story of the ACC and Big12 putting forth the dissolution of the championship game mandates, I thought the idea of the ACC adding another school (maybe ND?) and splitting into 3 divisions with much more fluidity in football schedules was brilliant. I was at a function a few weeks ago and met a long time Clemson booster. He was saying that they would love to play Pitt at some point - not 8 years from now or however long it is with the 2 division restrictions. If you loosen that up, I see us developing some solid ACC relationships, if not annual rivalries per se.