When West Virginia announced its move to the Big 12, fans were enthusiastic about leaving the Big East and playing schools such as Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State each season. The Mountaineers weren’t the only school to leave the Big East however, as Pitt and Syracuse both announced they will be leaving the conference to join the ACC in a couple years. Fans of the respective schools were also excited about the new possibilities. When the Mountaineers released their schedule last week after they learned they would become official Big 12 members July 1, something didn’t look right.
Sure the Mountaineer-nation is excited about hosting Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU at Milan Puskar Stadium this upcoming fall, but for the first time since 1962, the Mountaineers and Pitt Panthers won’t face each other in one of the oldest and biggest rivalries in the nation, the Backyard Brawl. The rivalry between the teams is up there with Michigan and Ohio State, Florida and Florida State, Texas and Oklahoma and Oregon and Oregon State. The question that fans of both schools and college fans in general have is have we seen the final duel between the schools?
While Pitt leads the all-time football series 61-40-4, if the series ended right now, West Virginia fans would have the last laugh as they have won the potential last football game and basketball game. Ending any shot that Pitt had to win the Big East this past November, the Mountaineers outlasted the Panthers 21-20 in an epic showdown in Morgantown. As for the basketball team, last week West Virgina, which leads the all-time series 96-88, defeated the struggling Panthers 66-48 at the Peterson Events Center.
The rivalry is important to the fans, but also to the players as well. While Pitt has had rivalries with Penn State in the past and Notre Dame, who they play every year, nothing compares to the games with West Virginia.
“I can’t really speak on playing Penn State, because I never had the chance and the Notre Dame game is big, but it doesn’t compare to playing WVU,” said former Pitt linebacker and current NFL prospect Brandon Lindsey.
Lindsey, a two-year starter, recorded six tackles and two sacks in the defeat against the Mountaineers this year and hopes to keep the rivalry alive, even after his departure.
“I think it’s really important to keep it going,” Lindsey said. “It’s one of the best rivalry games we have in the game and to see it end like this is ridiculous. If not every year, we still should play every other year.”
Many fans echo Lindsey’s words. While it is hard with the football schedules to include room for everyone, as Pitt has tried for Penn State, an every other year match up would hold the fans over. Pitt fans are able to look forward to Notre Dame every year and the match ups with Penn State in 2016 and 2017, but what rivalries will the Mountaineers have? With becoming members of the Big 12, there are no geographical rivalries that the fans can drive to and actually hate that team and their fans. If you had your choice between a non-conference game with Pitt or Marshall each year, no disrespect intended, but would anyone actually prefer Marshall?
West Virginia sophomore and Steubenville graduate Shaq Petteway wouldn’t mind seeing the rivalry continue, but has his eyes on the bigger prize.
“I think the fans would love for it to continue to happen,” Petteway said. “I wouldn’t mind it either, but we are mainly looking forward to competing in Big 12.”
Athletic Director Oliver Luck admitted a bit of melancholy about losing the Backyard Brawl, but said that he has high hopes of retaining the age-old rivalry in the near future in all sports. For now, Pitt and West Virginia fans are hopeful that a basketball rivalry can still continue to take place.
According to the cardiachill.com, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said he will speak with Pitt coach Jamie Dixon about continuing the popular basketball series between the two schools after the season. With the Mountaineers are moving to the Big 12 in the fall, there are no scheduled games in the future. Basketball schedules are put together during the summer, but Pitt also has to want to continue the series. Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said he would have to “evaluate his options” concerning the football series with the Mountaineers. Dixon does the basketball schedule on his own. He was noncommittal on the WVU series when asked about it in October. Huggins said he would be surprised if the two schools did not find a way to continue the series.
While the football rivalry is the bigger event, fans can take solace in knowing that the basketball programs seem more than willing to continue the annual series. With 30-plus games on the schedule for basketball, instead of playing Colgate University or Youngstown State each season, a non-conference match up is still likely to take place and makes sense.
While both schools could very well make new rivals in their respective conferences, none of these games will match the intensity of the Backyard Brawl.
“The atmosphere before the game is electric,” Lindsey said. “They do their little circle and talk junk and we stand right there and talk back. Their fans do such outlandish things and we just look at them and laugh. During the game, its the same. We love talking back and forth. It’s what college football is all about. Two teams playing who don’t like each other and battling it out.”
Lindsey is right. That is what college football is all about. Pitt fans saying they are hiding their couches so the Mountaineer fans don’t burn them and the West Virginia faithful chanting “Eat Sh*t Pitt” throughout the game. It’s hostile, violent and gets out of hands at times. Ask any Mountaineer fan or Panther fan, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Photo Credits: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
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