Week 0 idea
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
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No, it's not. Not by any stretch of the imagination. No disrespect to West Virginia or Pitt, but that rivalry is NOT one of the biggest in the nation, and it's not even close. Here are the biggest rivalries in the nation:
Florida St/Florida
Florida St/Miami
Oklahoma/Texas
Ohio St/Michigan
Notre Dame/Michigan
Southern Cal/Notre Dame
Florida/Georgia
Florida/Tennessee
Florida/LSU
Tennessee/Alabama
Alabama/Auburn
Alabama/LSU
Pitt/West Virginia isn't in that group.
If you want to bring in defunct rivalries
Oklahoma/Nebraska
Miami/Notre Dame
A&M/Texas
are all bigger rivalries as well.
Looks like Athlon disagrees with you..
The Backyard Brawl at #11 Rivalry in the nation.
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/ranking-top-25-rivalries-college-football-history-2015
Pitt vs PSU not listed btw...
Backyard Brawl ranked #12 best college football rivalry here... lots of people who are paid to write about sports disagree with you on this one.
http://newarena.com/ncaaf/counting-down-the-25-best-college-football-rivalries/
Pitt vs PSU not listed again
Here is a list of the 23 greatest college football rivalries...
The Backyard Brawl of course makes the list... Pitt vs PSU of course does not.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/6/9/11861066/college-football-rivalries-best
The Backyard Brawl of course makes the list... Pitt vs PSU of course does not.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/6/9/11861066/college-football-rivalries-best
Nope, that's not what this link says. It says: Ranking 23 great college football rivalries by how hard they are to predict.
It doesn't say they are the greatest. It's not even ranking them on how prominent they are. They are simply ranked on how hard they are to predict.
Athlon isn't ranking the rivalries in terms of national prominence. Indiana vs. Purdue is on that list. You are delusional if you think Indiana vs. Purdue is nationally prominent in any way.
Sorry, but Pitt/West Virginia is simply not one of the most prominent national rivalries.
A little SEC bias there don't ya think? Whoever plays Alabama and Florida....
No, Florida vs. Tennessee is a nationally prominent rivalry. Some of that has to do with SEC hype. Some of that is due to the legit national interest in both schools. Florida is obvious. Tennessee was a legit national contender in the 90s and 2000s.
Put it this way. In a given year, which game would receive more national hype, Florida/Tennessee, or Pitt/West Virginia? Auburn/Alabama, or Pitt/West Virginia? Florida/LSU or Pitt/West Virginia? All those games I listed simply have more national interest and prestige than Pitt/West Virginia. Again, I'm not saying that to knock Pitt or West Virginia, but let's be realistic here.
When Pitt and PSU were Independent, the WVU game was in the middle of the season, right along with Syracuse. The PSU game ended the season on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and was on national television at a time when very few games were televised. There's a whole generation of Pitt fans who don't know anything but the WVU game. That doesn't change historic truth.
Just because we have a Pitt fan who wants to scream that up is down, and white is black, the facts don't change.
Just because we have a Pitt fan who wants to scream that up is down, and white is black, the facts don't change.
Under my scenario the exception would have to be a team you've had a long history (I said 50 games) with to make it a meaningful game. We could add the stipulation it has to be a P5 school. I think by default you'd pretty much get P5 matchups. And not every school would have a historical rivalry that would qualify. For example Wisconsin has no one outside of the B1G that they've played 50 times.
My thought process was there should be a way to bring back some of the historic rivalries that makes CFB great but we're killed due to conference realignment/expansion. OU-Nebby, Texas-Texas A&M, PSU-Pitt, etc. This would also allow the SEC and ACC to go to 9 game conference schedules. It would also help Norte Dame join the ACC if they were guaranteed to keep their USC game.
The FCS games would also be the spring games. Less chance for injury when you only have 11 guys on the field vs 22. The P5 school would still rest veterans so you'd get a chance to see what the young guys do under game-like situations. Plus it would be more interesting than what we have now. For example, with Moorhead as our OC we've developed a somewhat symbiotic relationship with Fordham. A couple of our GA's had landed coaching gigs with them. So it would be cool to play them in the spring.
But i just showed you 3 lists (there are many more) where its included as a top rivalry in some shape or form...and all you showed me was your crappy opinion. Hmmmm
I'm a Pitt fan, not expecting any pats on the back from a Nit. But truth is, the Nits lead the series by 7 wins over the course of 97 games played, of which six of those Nit wins were the first six games played by the teams. Should we take those 6 Nit wins away? LOL Fact is, Pitt has beaten the Nits more than any other college team in history--bar none. Just Google college football rivalries....you will see tons of references to Pitt v. PSU. JoePa did everything in his power to kill the rivalry...but it still very much exists with the fans--even when the teams are not playing. That you or anyone would argue that Pitt v. Psu was/is not a rivalry is laughable.
PS At $110 per ticket, it is the most expensive college football ticket I have ever purchased for a regular season game--and it is not even close. I have had tons of requests for tickets from Nit fans here in Philadelphia, so me think thou doth protest too much. Hail to Pitt!
I generally agree, would be good to do. Id rather it be the last week though
Its a rivalry to most Pitt fans and to some PSU fans... but i respect your opinion on this.
I think WVU is our biggest rival, and the Backyard Brawl is one of the best rivalry games in all of college football.
The lists you showed me are nothing but opinions. There is nothing official about them.
And again I'll point out, the lists you showed me were not the "best" rivalries. One list was simply the rivalries that were hardest to predict. It didn't say they were the "best."
On top of that, these "lists" you are so proud of have rivalries that clearly aren't the best in the nation. Athlon has Harvard/Yale at #8. That's not one of the best rivalries in the nation. It's not even an FBS game. It has Cal/Stanford at #10. I just listed off about 15 or 20 games from the top of my head that are bigger nationally than Cal/Stanford. It has Oregon/Oregon St at #13. You are crazy if you think Oregon/Oregon St is bigger nationally than, say Florida/LSU or Alabama/Tennessee. Then to top it all off, they have freaking Lafayette/Lehigh at #25. Tell me with a straight face Lafayette/Lehigh is one of the top 25 rivalries in the nation.
It's not going to work. You are overthinking this way too much. For example, why would Clemson/South Carolina and Florida St/ Florida vote for this? They already play their rivalry game anyway. What would be the point of them going through this convoluted process when they already play their game in the first place? You would be making them switch the game from then end of the year to the beginning for no reason, and now they have to add another opponent, which would end up being a cupcake team.
Why would the ACC and SEC go to 9 games if some of their schools aren't playing in this exempted game? You would have schools like North Carolina or Virginia who wouldn't qualify for the extra game. If the ACC goes to 9 games, now they only have 3 OOC games, and Clemson and Florida St have 5, counting the extra game. If you make everybody play 13 games, then just let everybody play 13 games.
The FCS thing isn't really necessary. For the spring game, most teams would get more out of playing a split squad scrimmage then playing an FCS team. You are going up against much better athletes on your on team. Against FCS you can't really get any meaningful evaluation. The only reason schools play FCS teams is money. The P5 schools get an easy win, and the FCS teams get a big paycheck. Most P5 schools don't charge admission to spring games. Why would you pay $1 million to an FCS school for a scrimmage when you can just play your own team for free, and get a better evaluation of talent?
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Pitt and PSU playing is perfectly fine to me, however .....
"Week 0" (last weekend before Labor Day) is still SUMMER.
College football is an AUTUMN sport.
I prefer no college football at all prior to Labor Day weekend. For every time, there is a season. "College football time" is not late August.
"Week 0" (last weekend before Labor Day) is still SUMMER.
College football is an AUTUMN sport.
I prefer no college football at all prior to Labor Day weekend. For every time, there is a season. "College football time" is not late August.
Tend to agree with you. And for selfish reasons, I'd love to see Pitt not play Labor Day weekend, as I have to miss a day at the beach to get back for the game. Hail to Pitt!
I hope you're young, because you have no idea what you're talking about. Before Pitt-PSU stopped playing, it was a national rivalry. Pitt-WVU was a nice little regional rivalry
The vitriol and hatred was even on both sides.
You can say it is, all you want but you're wrong. People cared about it nationally one time. And that was because 13-9 effected who played for the NC.
When Pitt-PSU played every year, the Brawl wasn't even close to as big of a rivalry.
And nationally?. LOL.
This whole notion, that PSU fans don't consider Pitt a rivalry only came about because they stopped playing and Pitt hit the skids.
It's the younger fans that feel that way, because they don't remember when it was a big time rivalry, and often had a national impact
It's the younger fans that feel that way, because they don't remember when it was a big time rivalry, and often had a national impact
There is a reason that Penn State is charging the highest single game ticket price in their history for this game, and it's not because the only people who care are Pitt fans. Especially seeing as to how they never sold one ticket at all to the general public, when your average Pitt fan would have had a chance to buy them. Even at the highest prices in school history, the game sold out with PSU season ticket holders buying all the extra tickets long before they got anywhere close to the end of their priority list, let alone selling them to the general public.
But you think your BS opinion IS "official"?? You think you know better than those that are paid to discuss college football... you're a funny guy.
You have an over inflated view of these run of the mill SEC games...outside of the south east most people arent even watching sec regular season games at all! A lot of people would however tune into a good bitter rivalry like Oregon vs Oregon St, Pitt vs WVU and Cal vs Stanford...
Doesn't matter what it was like 20-30 years ago.. it will never be that again.
For a rivalry to work it has to be heated on BOTH sides not just one... this game doesn't move the needle for PSU fans...only Pitt fans
A few reasons...
1) we beat them last yr
2) Pitt should bring a lot of fans because its close
3) a good number of psu fans live in the Pittsburgh area
The majority of psu fans who don't live in Pittsburgh really don't care about this game... that is just a fact. We can go back and forth about this all you want but that fact wont change!
My opinion is based on fact. On the other hand, your post is delusional. Go look up the ratings for a typical Oregon ST vs. Oregon game. Now, compare those ratings to Georgia/Florida, Alabama/LSU, Auburn/Alabama, etc. Same thing with Cal vs. Stanford. Hell, how many times has Oregon/Oregon St or Cal/Stanford even been on national television? How many times has Georgia/Florida? Alabama/Auburn? Now you're just making up shit off the top of your head and throwing it against the wall.
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anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
Guest
See now you're back tracking as those are the top 2 rivalry games in the SEC.... you need to make up your mind before i can take you seriously.
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anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
Guest
What is the evidence to support your position? I have been asked by several Nit fans in Philadelphia if I had access to tickets [as they know I rank well with the Panther Club], and they were willing to buy as many as I could get my hands on [some offered a premium price over the $110 face value]. You simply know not what you speak of here. I'd also offer the tons of Nit posters on this very site as additional evidence that they care very much about Pitt and the rivalry. Fans, consumer behavior, and social media all support the position that the rivalry is very much alive among both fan bases. Hail to Pitt!
Would be cool to have the full college football season kick off a week early. .. Guessing that if everyone started a week early it would not be early. Do you ever actually think about what you say?
I have talked with many philly area PSU fans, and i have spent a lot of time in the area... most of the ppl i know, really don't care about Pitt.
No, that's not back tracking at all. You named two rivalries (Cal/Stanford and Oregon/Oregon St.), so I listed two rivalries in response (Georgia/Florida and Auburn/Alabama). I listed for you several other rivalries, and they routinely get more exposure and TV ratings than the ones you mentioned. For example, Florida/Tennessee and Alabama/LSU. Georgia/Auburn does as well. Not to mention, other rivalries I mentioned in my original list, such as Florida St/Florida and Notre Dame/USC get more exposure and ratings than the ones you named. If you really want me to, I will post the numbers and prove it to you.
And by the way, you're the one who's backtracking. You started this all out by making the claim about the best rivalries in the nation. If you are going to make that claim, then you have to go up against the best rivalries, like Auburn/Alabama or Georgia/Florida. If a rivalry you mention is not in league with those games, then it's not among the best in the nation.
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You brought up TV ratings and you are 100% wrong. How is he back tracking when he is refuting your argument about people tuning in for Oregon vs. Oregon State instead of the SEC games/rivalries he mentioned.
Here is the first link that pulled up for me. It is from 2015 ratings.
It has Oregon and Oregon State with less than 750k viewers. It has Cal vs. Stanford at 1.917M. Stanford had 5 other televised games which had better ratings that their "good bitter rivalry" which "a lot of people tune in for".
Want to just compare those to run of the mill SEC games he didn't even mention? Florida vs. Vandy at noon had 2.7M+. Florida vs. UGA had 5M+. Florida vs. LSU 6.7M+. Florida vs Tennessee 4.6M+. Florida vs. ECU (literally EC freaking U) drew almost 40% more than Oregon vs. Oregon State.
LSU vs. Alabama drew 11M+ viewers. That isn't even a traditional rivalry. Alabama vs. Auburn 9.3M.
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/2/
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You are correct, the facts won't change. You'll still be obviously wrong.
Just out of curiosity, if Indiana or Illinois or Akron or someone like that would beat the nitters this year do you think that would make a game against them next year be their hottest ticket ever? Do you think that Pitt is likely to bring significantly more fans to the game than, say, Ohio State typically does? Just how far does your delusion go?
