We are Stanford, and other random thoughts

[Chairman Moe]

There's been enough said about yesterday's Pitt-i-ful outcome ... so I decided to take a different path for a post.

There have been numerous threads about who Pitt football is, and where Pitt should be going forward. This certainly applies to many other schools who are looking to stake their position in the college football world. Especially now that the playoffs will expand and allow more teams to compete for the "national title".

I'm copying a link to both the Pitt and Stanford football programs as they currently are @ Wikipedia:

Stanford Cardinal football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Pittsburgh Panthers football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The one notable difference is the number of Conference Championships won, but Pitt being an Independent for 100 yrs kinda cancels that. But very similar in the number of post-WWII National Championships; identical number of Heisman Trophy winners and runners-up; nearly identical overall winning percentage; similar records with one common opponent/rival (Notre Dame) and the two neighboring rivals (Cal = Pitt's WVU; USC = Pitt's Penn State). Pitt has more NFL HOF players (9-4) but certainly the likes of a Christian McCaffery will add to their list.

It's kind of fitting that Stanford and Pitt will be in the same football conference going forward given this "history". Both programs have had some ups and downs, and moments where they both appeared to be moving closer to being one of the recognized Top 20-25 programs

As a side note ... Penn State seems to be the LSU of the Big Ten. Consistently better than most but not enough to rise above their Ohio State (Alabama) and Michigan (Georgia). WVU? Dysfunctional and always will be! 😂😂

 

[BFo8]

I will say I think you’re giving Penn St a little too much credit, as LSU has won 3 National Championships in the last 20 years.

 

[rmf05]

Well done. That was an interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Chairman Moe]

I will say I think you’re giving Penn St a little too much credit, as LSU has won 3 National Championships in the last 20 years.

Agreed; and as an LSU fan (my daughter went there from 2000-2004) I had a very hard time typing that!! 😂😂

Despite that major difference (recent natty's) there are many similarities between the two. The massive following; they travel well; huge stadium with rabid fans; very traditional look to their uniforms (LSU's are clearly better, and I also think that LSU fans are more cordial to their opponents' fans)

 

[h2p_5150]

Penn State is Mark Richt era Georgia. They are always pretty good, but never amount to anything against great opponents

 

[MorningCoffee13]

There's been enough said about yesterday's Pitt-i-ful outcome ... so I decided to take a different path for a post.

There have been numerous threads about who Pitt football is, and where Pitt should be going forward. This certainly applies to many other schools who are looking to stake their position in the college football world. Especially now that the playoffs will expand and allow more teams to compete for the "national title".

I'm copying a link to both the Pitt and Stanford football programs as they currently are @ Wikipedia:

Stanford Cardinal football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Pittsburgh Panthers football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The one notable difference is the number of Conference Championships won, but Pitt being an Independent for 100 yrs kinda cancels that. But very similar in the number of post-WWII National Championships; identical number of Heisman Trophy winners and runners-up; nearly identical overall winning percentage; similar records with one common opponent/rival (Notre Dame) and the two neighboring rivals (Cal = Pitt's WVU; USC = Pitt's Penn State). Pitt has more NFL HOF players (9-4) but certainly the likes of a Christian McCaffery will add to their list.

It's kind of fitting that Stanford and Pitt will be in the same football conference going forward given this "history". Both programs have had some ups and downs, and moments where they both appeared to be moving closer to being one of the recognized Top 20-25 programs

As a side note ... Penn State seems to be the LSU of the Big Ten. Consistently better than most but not enough to rise above their Ohio State (Alabama) and Michigan (Georgia). WVU? Dysfunctional and always will be! 😂😂

My disagreement with this is that Stanford has academic standards that affect their football quality that we do not have.

 

[HailToPitt725]

If Pitt gets left out of the Big Ten/SEC ‘super league’, I hope we join a conference with Duke, Stanford, Northwestern, Vanderbilt (they’ll get left out), and the rest of the top academic FBS schools. If we’re going to get left behind, might as go in the opposite direction and improve our academic prestige.

 

[Chairman Moe]

Well done. That was an interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome

 

[rmf05]

Penn State is Mark Richt era Georgia. They are always pretty good, but never amount to anything against great opponents

I don't think that's fair to Richt. He beat lots of ranked teams that were really good. He played much tougher schedules beyond the elite teams that he just was never able to beat.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

If Pitt gets left out of the Big Ten/SEC ‘super league’, I hope we join a conference with Duke, Stanford, Northwestern, Vanderbilt (they’ll get left out), and the rest of the top academic FBS schools. If we’re going to get left behind, might as go in the opposite direction and improve our academic prestige.

I frankly wish at this point that Pitt would be good enough of a school to be among a group of acknowledged academic powers that weirdly are proud to suck donkey balls at football (except sadly a couple of them are far better than we are at it this season). Hey, my 2 degrees would be worth something at least.

But the delusion that we are considered anywhere near those schools is just that, a delusion. We’re not. We’re an OK school that has some good niches and mostly forgettable in most others. We’re known almost exclusively by our football and men’s basketball programs. When they suck the general impression is that the school sucks. It’s intellectually not fair, but that’s what we are. A lot here don’t seem to want to face the reality. We are gibrones that went to a gibrone school that 99.9% know only as the school that got laughably jobbed in football on Saturday. Nothing to be ashamed of, but nothing to think we’re ivies, or even in Stanford’s league.

Hey, what do I care, I’m nearing retirement and I have no reason to care what anyone thinks of my Pitt degrees. Some of you, or your children who might be at Pitt, should care.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

There's been enough said about yesterday's Pitt-i-ful outcome ... so I decided to take a different path for a post.

There have been numerous threads about who Pitt football is, and where Pitt should be going forward. This certainly applies to many other schools who are looking to stake their position in the college football world. Especially now that the playoffs will expand and allow more teams to compete for the "national title".

I'm copying a link to both the Pitt and Stanford football programs as they currently are @ Wikipedia:

Stanford Cardinal football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Pittsburgh Panthers football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The one notable difference is the number of Conference Championships won, but Pitt being an Independent for 100 yrs kinda cancels that. But very similar in the number of post-WWII National Championships; identical number of Heisman Trophy winners and runners-up; nearly identical overall winning percentage; similar records with one common opponent/rival (Notre Dame) and the two neighboring rivals (Cal = Pitt's WVU; USC = Pitt's Penn State). Pitt has more NFL HOF players (9-4) but certainly the likes of a Christian McCaffery will add to their list.

It's kind of fitting that Stanford and Pitt will be in the same football conference going forward given this "history". Both programs have had some ups and downs, and moments where they both appeared to be moving closer to being one of the recognized Top 20-25 programs

As a side note ... Penn State seems to be the LSU of the Big Ten. Consistently better than most but not enough to rise above their Ohio State (Alabama) and Michigan (Georgia). WVU? Dysfunctional and always will be! 😂😂

I really like your posts, Chairman. This one is no exception.

Another factor, non-football related, with Stanford is that we both have outstanding medical schools, elite and among the top 10 in the country. That's what I think Pitt is most known for. Football and basketball are what some people see, but when you mention Pitt or Stanford, you think medical schools.

Just my 10 cents (inflation).

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

They might compare similarly over a longer period of time, but Stanford's glory years have certainly been much more recently.

2010 - 2018:

12-1
11-2
12-2
11-3
8-5
12-2
10-3
9-5
9-4

(I think this is also a good example of just how difficult it is to turn the corner; we didn't do it after one 11-3 season, but look how many of those seasons Stanford has had in the not-so-distant past)


They also recruit higher than us.

2019 - 21
2020 - 22
2021 - 48
2022 - 27
2023 - 59
2024 - 24

They're sucked lately, but I'm not sure their potential isn't higher, despite academic standards being what they are. A big part of it - and I've seen USC fans bitch about it - is their appeal to west coast offensive linemen who want a free Stanford education.

 

[President Stache]

There's been enough said about yesterday's Pitt-i-ful outcome ... so I decided to take a different path for a post.

There have been numerous threads about who Pitt football is, and where Pitt should be going forward. This certainly applies to many other schools who are looking to stake their position in the college football world. Especially now that the playoffs will expand and allow more teams to compete for the "national title".

I'm copying a link to both the Pitt and Stanford football programs as they currently are @ Wikipedia:

Stanford Cardinal football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Pittsburgh Panthers football - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The one notable difference is the number of Conference Championships won, but Pitt being an Independent for 100 yrs kinda cancels that. But very similar in the number of post-WWII National Championships; identical number of Heisman Trophy winners and runners-up; nearly identical overall winning percentage; similar records with one common opponent/rival (Notre Dame) and the two neighboring rivals (Cal = Pitt's WVU; USC = Pitt's Penn State). Pitt has more NFL HOF players (9-4) but certainly the likes of a Christian McCaffery will add to their list.

It's kind of fitting that Stanford and Pitt will be in the same football conference going forward given this "history". Both programs have had some ups and downs, and moments where they both appeared to be moving closer to being one of the recognized Top 20-25 programs

As a side note ... Penn State seems to be the LSU of the Big Ten. Consistently better than most but not enough to rise above their Ohio State (Alabama) and Michigan (Georgia). WVU? Dysfunctional and always will be! 😂😂

UPS is like LSU?? Doesnt LSU usually win every so often?

I would say they are more like...Arkansas? Usually pretty good, dont beat the big schools, and have constant scandals.

 

[Parkview57]

We’re an OK school that has some good niches and mostly forgettable in most others.

In some parts of the country Pitt has a grand reputation.

 

[Chairman Moe]

I frankly wish at this point that Pitt would be good enough of a school to be among a group of acknowledged academic powers that weirdly are proud to suck donkey balls at football (except sadly a couple of them are far better than we are at it this season). Hey, my 2 degrees would be worth something at least.

But the delusion that we are considered anywhere near those schools is just that, a delusion. We’re not. We’re an OK school that has some good niches and mostly forgettable in most others. We’re known almost exclusively by our football and men’s basketball programs. When they suck the general impression is that the school sucks. It’s intellectually not fair, but that’s what we are. A lot here don’t seem to want to face the reality. We are gibrones that went to a gibrone school that 99.9% know only as the school that got laughably jobbed in football on Saturday. Nothing to be ashamed of, but nothing to think we’re ivies, or even in Stanford’s league.

Hey, what do I care, I’m nearing retirement and I have no reason to care what anyone thinks of my Pitt degrees. Some of you, or your children who might be at Pitt, should care.

I have been retired for four years. I'm sure my Pitt degree now is worth more than it was then with regards to "prestige". I doubt I could get into Pitt today with the GPA and SAT score I had back in 1970. That said - and despite the ridicule we may get for our football and basketball foibles - I kind of agree with @HailToPitt725, that Pitt should strive to be in a conference with other solid academic institutions, yet always try to reach for a Top 25-40 ranked team(s) on the national level. If lightning strikes every once in a blue moon which leads to a Conference title, wonderful.

And while I know that the Football and Men's Basketball programs get all the attention, I'm kinda glad to see that Pitt is more than competitive in many if not all the Olympic sports.

 

[Chairman Moe]

They might compare similarly over a longer period of time, but Stanford's glory years have certainly been much more recently.

2010 - 2018:

12-1
11-2
12-2
11-3
8-5
12-2
10-3
9-5
9-4

(I think this is also a good example of just how difficult it is to turn the corner; we didn't do it after one 11-3 season, but look how many of those seasons Stanford has had in the not-so-distant past)


They also recruit higher than us.

2019 - 21
2020 - 22
2021 - 48
2022 - 27
2023 - 59
2024 - 24

They're sucked lately, but I'm not sure their potential isn't higher, despite academic standards being what they are. A big part of it - and I've seen USC fans bitch about it - is their appeal to west coast offensive linemen who want a free Stanford education.

Kind of like our big run from the mid-1970's to the early 1980's

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

UPS is like LSU?? Doesnt LSU usually win every so often?

I would say they are more like...Arkansas? Usually pretty good, dont beat the big schools, and have constant scandals.

They’re actually more like their current ‘rivals’ … Michigan State. PSU Is better able to strongarm the media to cover up their scandals. But those near constant scandals, and their respective degrees of success against the teams that matter, make them pretty much mirror images

 

[Chairman Moe]

UPS is like LSU?? Doesnt LSU usually win every so often?

I would say they are more like...Arkansas? Usually pretty good, dont beat the big schools, and have constant scandals.

See my reply to @BFo8 above ... maybe Tennessee is a better comparison now that I think about it. But regardless, PSU is always going to be sucking hind *i* when it comes to the B1G with Ohio State and Michigan. Those two schools aren't going to go backwards anytime soon. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Franklin move on somewhere else by either his or the University's decision

 

[HailToPitt1985]

In some parts of the country Pitt has a grand reputation.

True. I don't understand where anyone can say Pitt is "mostly forgettable" in other areas of the country. Everywhere I go all over the country, and I've visited most of the lower 48, Pitt is well-recognized as a top notch medical school among other things. It's even recognized in other countries, and not for football.

 

[CrazyPaco]

True. I don't understand where anyone can say Pitt is "mostly forgettable" in other areas of the country. Everywhere I go all over the country, and I've visited most of the lower 48, Pitt is well-recognized as a top notch medical school among other things. It's even recognized in other countries, and not for football.

Pitt is currently top 18th in total R&D expenditures and 11th in total federally funded science and engineering research in the US. There is not another university in the top 20 of those measures for which anyone with any sense would say such a school is "mostly forgettable."

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Pitt is currently top 18th in total R&D expenditures and 11th in total federally funded science and engineering research in the US. There is not another university in the top 20 of those measures for which anyone with any sense would say such a school is "mostly forgettable."

Good info, Paco. Pitt is a lot more than football and basketball and most people recognize that fact.