Who is Pitt’s biggest rival that’s not a traditional rival?

[HailToPitt725]

ESPN’s College Football Twitter account “tweeted” this question earlier today:

Assuming our biggest traditional rivals (West Virginia, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Penn State) are off limits, who is Pitt’s “biggest” rival?

For me, a few that come to mind are Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, and Duke. Two of them are long time opponents dating back to the pre-Big East days and all are current ACC Coastal members. UNC likely wouldn’t consider us due to the game being mostly a one-sided affair, while we’ve had many crazy games against Duke since joining the ACC in 2013. If I had to choose one, I’d have to go with Virginia Tech.

So, what say you?

 

[ratking17]

I mean you aren't left with many schools to choose from. The answer currently is VT. If we still played in the same conference I might go with Cincy.

 

[HailToPitt725]

I mean you aren't left with many schools to choose from. The answer currently is VT. If we still played in the same conference I might go with Cincy.

Cincinnati is a good choice and one that I didn’t think of, likely because we haven’t played them in several years now. Wouldn’t mind seeing them in the ACC one day.

 

[USN_Panther]

I mean you aren't left with many schools to choose from. The answer currently is VT. If we still played in the same conference I might go with Cincy.

Same. I feel an extra bit if satisfaction beating them over others.

 

[ratking17]

Pitt rivals in my opinion:

Tier 1: PSU, WVU
Tier 1b: Notre Dame

Only rivals because of series length and history..not because of any hatred: Syracuse.


In terms of fans:
Penn State: absolutely insufferable and complete douchebagery.
WVU: mostly insufferable, cringeworthy( I am thinking of the guys that always managed to sit near me at heinz that wore barrels around themselves and nothing more)
Notre Dame: actual south bend residents have always been top notch while their visitors that never went to the school rival penn state in complete assholeness.
Cuse fans: what fans? Don't know any.

Virginia tech fans have always been horrible in my opinion. You have the west virgina Appalachia rednecks with a hint of snobbiness.

 

[WVUinColumbus]

Pitt rivals in my opinion:

Tier 1: PSU, WVU
Tier 1b: Notre Dame

Only rivals because of series length and history..not because of any hatred: Syracuse.


In terms of fans:
Penn State: absolutely insufferable and complete douchebagery.
WVU: mostly insufferable, cringeworthy( I am thinking of the guys that always managed to sit near me at heinz that wore barrels around themselves and nothing more)
Notre Dame: actual south bend residents have always been top notch while their visitors that never went to the school rival penn state in complete assholeness.
Cuse fans: what fans? Don't know any.

Virginia tech fans have always been horrible in my opinion. You have the west virgina Appalachia rednecks with a hint of snobbiness.

Are there VPI fans from SW VA? Ones I’ve met are from DC. Fine folks of Wytheville, Roanoke, Bristol, etc. are smart. They don’t follow college football. They fly fish, hunt, hike, and do shit that’s actually worthwhile.

Come to think of it, most of southern WVians are same way.

DC game with VPI a few years back was big fun. Lots of awesome tailgating and bar gathering with Hokie faithful. We have tons in common. Pitt fans and WVU fans have NOTHING in common and don’t tailgate together for most part. Kinda boring from that respect. Still a great rivalry on field!

Tennessee and WVU easily the best. Alabama and WVU was also big fun....strictly from fan interaction standpoint. I’d say the 3 best times I’ve had were VPI (any number of games either at home or away), Tennessee and Bama. Syracuse is easily the worst. I also think ND and PSU are overrated from fan interaction standpoint. Pitt way better than both.....but it’s also a great rivalry (Backyard Brawl).

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

If we still played in the same conference I might go with Cincy.

You just can't beat this thing:

Even if you use a stick.

 

[ratking17]

River city rivalry

 

[Ski11585]

Nobody.

 

[Burgh15]

I get pretty excited for the Pitt-Virginia Tech games. Pitt has beat some good VT teams over the years and the series is balanced in terms of record. The only thing that we've really missed is having any truly meaningful games between the two teams. No one else really moves the needle for me in terms of a rivalry game.

 

[pitt-girl]

Agree that that we have history with VT but for whatever reason I now abhor UNC waaaaay more than VT. Not a traditional rivalry but coming close.

 

[Pantherguy4]

New Mexico

 

[RaleighPittFan]

Agree that that we have history with VT but for whatever reason I now abhor UNC waaaaay more than VT. Not a traditional rivalry but coming close.

UNC’s fans are a good enough reason.

I lived in Roanoke twice and used to work w/ a former Tech football player. Their fans are loyal, but nice. UNC fans, not so much.

 

[Upg bobcat]

Agree that that we have history with VT but for whatever reason I now abhor UNC waaaaay more than VT. Not a traditional rivalry but coming close.

I have the exact same feelings as you. That six year losing streak to UNC was heartbreaking. We never lost by more than a touchdown, and our teams those years seemed even if not superior than them but UNC always found ways to pull it out and seemed to always have the lucky breaks. The notion of "tobacco road doesn't favor us" I feel like has a bit to do with some of those games.

 

[pittmeister]

ESPN’s College Football Twitter account “tweeted” this question earlier today:

View embedded media

Assuming our biggest traditional rivals (West Virginia, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Penn State) are off limits, who is Pitt’s “biggest” rival?

For me, a few that come to mind are Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, and Duke. Two of them are long time opponents dating back to the pre-Big East days and all are current ACC Coastal members. UNC likely wouldn’t consider us due to the game being mostly a one-sided affair, while we’ve had many crazy games against Duke since joining the ACC in 2013. If I had to choose one, I’d have to go with Virginia Tech.

So, what say you?

The administration has been our rivals for years...

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

VT. But I can argue that they are a traditional rival.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

VT. But I can argue that they are a traditional rival.

But, we didn't play them before the BE.

The question is how far back it takes to become traditional.

 

[pittdan77]

Must be Duquesne the way people moan around about Pitt not playing them in basketball and now football.

 

[ThePanthers]

VT was the first team that came to my mind.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Out of those teams, its VT. In fact, VT is more of a rival than Syracuse

 

[ratking17]

If pitt would do its part in the coastal, clemson could be the future answer....

 

[Seneca_Valley]

VT. But I can argue that they are a traditional rival.

Well you can argue all you want and still lose he argument. Actually ski correctly answered NOBODY.

 

[NKSplitter]

Well you can argue all you want and still lose he argument. Actually ski correctly answered NOBODY.

Tend to agree with this. The question isn't a great one as stated and could use additional clarification as to what constitutes a "Traditional Rival". As stated, I interpret it as "Who is a rival to your school that your school seldom plays?" Another 50 years with few or no new games in the series and the answer could be Penn State(assuming we start playing WVU more frequently). My answer for Pitt (and for most teams) would be nobody.

If I had to name a school, I'd probably go throwback to schools Pitt used to complete with like Fordham and Carnegie Mellon/Tech. For a team Pitt has played this century, maybe Navy fits the bill?

 

[Dointhatrag]

VTech primarily because we have had a pretty balanced rivalry over the last decade and been able to beat them when higher ranked. UNC and NC state for that matter we seem to never be able to beat.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Well you can argue all you want and still lose he argument. Actually ski correctly answered NOBODY.

We have been playing VT almost annually for about 30 years now. Mostly within conference, we have been fairly close as a series, we recruit alot against each other....

 

[Seneca_Valley]

We have been playing VT almost annually for about 30 years now. Mostly within conference, we have been fairly close as a series, we recruit a lot against each other....

We have history I grant you that but they are not local or in state, Don't agree that we really compete for recruits like our traditional rivals, not any more than a lot of other schools. Our fanbase doesn't hate VT or its fanbase. And no one cares about their other sports. To me, BC, or Miami are better candidates and I would not rank them as non traditional rivals,

The NOBODY comment stems from the fact that we no longer play our traditional rivals with any degree of regularity and it is an absolute crime. A key determent IMO, Sadly, we are on an island in that respect.

 

[Burgh15]

The NOBODY comment stems from the fact that we no longer play our traditional rivals with any degree of regularity and it is an absolute crime. A key determent IMO, Sadly, we are on an island in that respect.

There seems to be a weird sense of pride about not playing any yearly rivalry games either. Don't want to play Penn State because of the cult. Don't want to play WVU because we're too good for them and does nothing for recruiting. Would rather play teams to expand recruiting to areas we aren't going to get 4-star recruits from regardless as opposed to a packed stadium with genuine dislike for the opponent.

 

[pittdan77]

There seems to be a weird sense of pride about not playing any yearly rivalry games either. Don't want to play Penn State because of the cult. Don't want to play WVU because we're too good for them and does nothing for recruiting. Would rather play teams to expand recruiting to areas we aren't going to get 4-star recruits from regardless as opposed to a packed stadium with genuine dislike for the opponent.

I think most of us have grown accustom to not worrying over it but I also believe those rivalries were nurtured by the impact that the outcome of the games would have. There really isn't anything to play for now but pride and that really doesn't mean that much. An in conference rival would actually mean something. Would love to see Pitt get to the point where one ACC opponent could determine who is going to win the Coastal most years.

 

[hoclaw]

UNC!

 

[NNFAN]

Notre Dame doesn't consider us a rival.

 

[ratking17]

Notre Dame doesn't consider us a rival.

I would absolutely agree. Our history with them makes them a rival for pitt though

 

[Seneca_Valley]

I would absolutely agree. Our history with them makes them a rival for pitt though

Rivalries are not one way. It takes two to tango.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Rivalries are not one way. It takes two to tango.

Penn State doesn't consider us a rival because they feel they are above us. We don't consider WVU a rival cause we feel we are better than them. So I guess we have no rivals.

 

[zookeeper2000]

Penn State doesn't consider us a rival because they feel they are above us. We don't consider WVU a rival cause we feel we are better than them. So I guess we have no rivals.

Nor does PSU….hahaha…

 

[RaleighPittFan]

We have been playing VT almost annually for about 30 years now. Mostly within conference, we have been fairly close as a series, we recruit alot against each other....

Not true. We played 11 times as BE foes. There was an eight year period with no games. We have played nine times as ACC foes.

it is a close series at 9-11, but still only 20 games.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

The 2003 Pitt vs VT was the best game day atmosphere I ever experienced. The pregame had Gameday and the game itself was great. If both teams are good, then VT vs Pitt provides the best opportunity for a rivalry. We had some good battles over the years.

 

[Dan1911]

Va Tech is one of if not our main rivals.

Penn State is not. Haven’t been for ages.

WVU rivalry is gone.

VPU, UNC, Duke, Syracuse are our rivals. Miami is not because you have to be competitive in a rivalry. Aside of the year we pulled a 13-9 type job on them, they humiliate us regularly.

 

[Burgh15]

Penn State is not. Haven’t been for ages.

WVU rivalry is gone.

The fan interactions and game-day atmosphere over the four-year series with Penn State would suggest otherwise. The instant WVU appears on the schedule, it instantly becomes the hot ticket of the season. The schools are just missing out on playing rivalry games. I mean it's cool Pitt is playing Tennessee this year, but I'd much rather be playing WVU over rivalry weekend.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

I voted for VT but the question is confusing. Maybe it should have read...

Who is our rival outside of WVU and Enabler U?

 

[ratking17]

The 2003 Pitt vs VT was the best game day atmosphere I ever experienced. The pregame had Gameday and the game itself was great. If both teams are good, then VT vs Pitt provides the best opportunity for a rivalry. We had some good battles over the years.

I would rank cincy 09, psu 2016, notre dame (jon baldwin game) up there but as far as overall game experience at heinz and then pitt actually delivering a memorable performance (loooooooouuuuusaka) your VT choice probably is the correct answer...