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Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia and a Unique Rotating Schedule

Pat Narduzzi: Pitt, Penn State, WVU should renew rivalries despite scheduling hurdles

Avatar photoTJ Chapman
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By TJ Chapman

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi made an appearance on FM 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh Friday morning and made headlines with his comment about Pitt’s rivals. 

“That Penn State/Pitt one, which we’re still trying to figure out why we don’t play that game still,” Narduzzi said. “We should be playing West Virginia and Penn State every single year and I’ll go on record as saying I’m ready to go right now. Let’s line it up.”

Hurdles to Overcome

In today’s college football there is no way that is possible, but there are ways to make that work, in a way. To get to the solutions we need to first unpack the situation. It is utterly absurd that three Power Four football programs, with a truckload of history, are within a three-hour drive of each other and are in three different conferences. But I digress, that is another conversation for another day.

However, that fact plays a large role in why these programs do not face off more often. Breaking down the inter-conference scheduling for each conference we come to the first hurdle in that situation. Pitt is in the ACC, who has eight conference games. Penn State is in the Big Ten and West Virginia is in the Big 12, both of which play nine conference games.

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With the “win now” mentality in North American sports, college football coaches are looking at job security when scheduling. Penn State uses the revenue from home games to help fund their athletic department.

Penn State and head coach James Franklin are also vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff each year, they have little benefit of playing Pitt and/or West Virginia every year. If Penn State wins the game, it gives them a win over a Power Four opponent, which looks good to the committee only if Pitt or WVU is having a good year. However, if Penn State loses that game it could prevent the Nittany Lions from hosting a playoff game or possibly making the playoff at all.

When it comes to the criteria from the playoff committee, they have shown winning is more valuable than a loss, no matter who that win or loss comes from. It benefits Penn State more to play an FCS program or Group of 5 program and get that win.

New West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez is lacking a solid rival in the Big 12. Until Cincinnati joined the conference in 2023, WVU’s closets conference opponent was Iowa State, a whopping 860 miles away. Even with Cincinnati in the conference WVU still lacks a solid, historical rival. Pitt and Marshall are the Mountaineers’ closest rivals, but Marshall is not a Power Four program. So, the Backyard Brawl is WVU’s one true Power Four rivalry game.

Pitt Needs Rivalries

Pitt is the one program of these three that needs the rivalries the most. Unlike Penn State and WVU, Pitt has trouble selling tickets to their home games. Unless the Panthers are playing Penn State, WVU or Notre Dame, Acrisure Stadium is not close to being full on game day. And with Pitt not regularly fighting for a playoff spot the Panthers need all the help they can get filling the stadium.

While it is not the responsibility of Penn State to help out WVU nor Pitt, most college football fans who love the traditions and rivalries feel that these are games that need to be played on a more regular basis.

How do we make that happen? Obviously, the schools will have to be willing to agree on the scheduling, something Penn State has been unwilling to do. There are no future games scheduled by Penn State against Pitt nor WVU. The Panthers and Mountaineers play this year in Morgantown, W.Va., then have a three-year hiatus until the series picks back up for four years starting in 2029.

The solution to this, which would require some give by all three schools, but will also benefit all involved, is go with a 2-2-4 system. No matter what Pitt and WVU fans think of Penn State, the Nittany Lions are far and away ahead of the Panthers and Mountaineers as a program. Actual game attendance, not just tickets sold, back that up. So, Pitt and WVU will need to give Penn State more in this agreement to make this work. And that “give” would be to play the Penn State series less frequently.

And no matter what Penn State fans think of Pitt and WVU, the Nittany Lions would benefit from the games against each team. That “unrivaled” nonsense, no matter how lopsided the series records are, is ridiculous. With NIL/revenue sharing and the transfer portal, rivalries out of conference are, unfortunately, going away. 

Whether they win or lose, Penn State needs these rivalries as that is one of the backbones of college football. It’s the bragging rights of fans that drive the passion of the game. There’s nothing like ribbing a family member, co-worker or neighbor who is a fan of your rival after you win.

The 2-2-4 system would be a two-year series between Pitt and Penn State, then two-year series between WVU and Penn State, then a four-year series between Pitt and WVU. This would still free up Penn State to schedule whomever they want to play during the four years they don’t play Pitt or WVU.

Nonconference Foes

WVU’s out-of-conference future opponents mix FCS and Group of 5 schools with some Power Four schools. Teams like Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia are on WVU’s future schedule along with the renewal of the Backyard Brawl in 2029.

Pitt’s out of conference future opponents are similar to WVU’s, mixing FCS, Group of 5 and Power Four schools. Pitt has a two-year series with Wisconsin and UCF over the next four years. They also have five games scheduled with Notre Dame through 2036.

Penn State’s out-of-conference future opponents are only available through 2028. Of the 12 teams on that schedule, only a home-and-home series with Syracuse provides a Power Four opponent. And of those 12 games, only two are played on the road. That is the model I mentioned above—get the easy wins at home and get the money.

Theoretically the 2-2-4 system can start in 2033 for Penn State as that is the year that ends the four-game series of the Backyard Brawl. That is eight years of paychecks for Penn State before beginning the series with Pitt and then WVU.

This is all probably a pipe dream, though, as Penn State would never agree to something like this. Pitt and WVU have shown a willingness to schedule each other, as have other Power Four out-of-conference rivals. But for some reason Penn State has no interest in playing its rivals.

Keeping Rivalries Alive

The Big Ten schedule is brutal, I will give Penn State that. But look at Georgia playing Georgia Tech every year. Look at Oregon doing whatever they can to keep Oregon State on their schedule. Those schools, in the SEC and Big Ten, also have brutal conference schedules but still play their rivals.

For college football fans, not just the fans of these teams, these games need to be played. Pitt is willing to do it, as is WVU. It’s time for Penn State to realize that while they are well ahead of their rivals as a program, they need these games too.

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