Pitt Revisited

by whiteoutonly on Dec 4, 2008 2:40 PM EST Comment 59 comments

I don't know why I haven't thought about this before but, it popped into my head today and I feel it is a pretty decent idea.

What if we play a 13th regular season game against Pitt every year? It would solve our 7 home game issue, some years giving us 8 or even 9 homes which is just more money for the Athletic dept. The Big12 and SEC champs play 13 games a year, so it would put us on more equal footing with them. Other Big10 teams have played 13 regular season games before: Ohio State in their national title year, and Wisconsin has done it a few times when they have played at Hawaii to end the season. Also, we would be playing on this weekend opposite the championship games, which can only be a good thing.

The only con I see is the possiblity of an extra loss (which could ruin an otherwise great season)

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Then we would have to play AT Hawaii every year as well

Only way you can get 13 games in a season (without conf championship and bowls counting)

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 4, 2008 2:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Is that a rule or something?

by whiteoutonly on Dec 4, 2008 2:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry

NCAA rules say you can only play 12 regular season games, a conference championship, and a bowl game.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Dec 4, 2008 3:08 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I've been trying to find the rule

but I can’t. How did Ohio State and Wisconsin get away with this in the past then?

by whiteoutonly on Dec 4, 2008 3:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ohio St. Played in the "Pig Skin Classic" against Texas Tech that year

I guess playing in those types of “Classic” game series doesn’t count toward 12 games. We played USC in a “Kickoff Classic” a few years back….

by millzners on Dec 4, 2008 3:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This seems way too ambiguous

does anyone have a link to the actual rules?

by whiteoutonly on Dec 4, 2008 3:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NCAAF Ambiguous? That IS the rule

We’re talking about an organization that sanctions a “National Championship Game” without declaring the winner a national champion. Ambiguity is the name of the game.

by millzners on Dec 4, 2008 3:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The NCAA does not sanction a National Championship Game at all.

That’s the Bowl Championship Series Coalition, which is an entirely separate entity from the NCAA.

by Bleed Blue 'n White on Dec 4, 2008 7:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hawaii

I’ve read somewhere there is a special rule for Hawaii to encourage people to go out there and play, aka you get a 13th if you go to the island for a game.

Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries

by Kevin HD on Dec 5, 2008 8:33 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No Link

But Mike is correct. I think the “Classic” games were considered “exhibitions”

by JIMPSU on Dec 4, 2008 3:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

so why don't we make up a dumb name

call it a classic and get around the rules?

by whiteoutonly on Dec 4, 2008 3:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Banned

The NCAA has banned those games from happening.

by psuphiman80 on Dec 4, 2008 4:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i would love nothing more

than to play pitt at the end of every year.

Meadville, PA born and raised.

by mikeissurreal on Dec 4, 2008 3:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I would love nothing more

than to stop hearing about PSU playing Pitt. I’d rather focus and discuss interesting teams and opponents.

by Laaaaazzz on Dec 4, 2008 10:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, this is a great idea

There’s no way Pitt could beat a top-ranked team on the last week of the season and eliminate them from the national championship game.

by pjk on Dec 4, 2008 3:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I’ve always contended that Pitt is beneath us. This game will only help Pitt while offering nothing to PSU — because they would get to fill their stadium and get some sweet primetime TV spot. The best thing that happens for us is we beat a crappy team we were supposed to beat anyway.

Pitt hasn’t had more than 9 wins in a season since 1981. This mediocre season of theres is one of the best they’ve had in 20 years.

Think about that for a while…

Screw Pitt. When they pull themselves out of the gutter maybe we can consider playing them a real team. Until then let them rot in that hell-hole of a conference and pretend a 9 win season is fantastic.

by millzners on Dec 4, 2008 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I say put Pitt in the Big Ten

It would give us a great yearly football game, a decent basketball school, and as far as I know Pitt has a decent academic record.

We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley

by psu on Dec 4, 2008 4:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pitt in the Big Ten

I would love that. But they’re not leaving the Big East. They love them some Big East basketball.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Dec 4, 2008 5:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Never gonna happen

Pitt would be a fine fit for the Big Ten in virtually all regards, but they wouldn’t bring any additional TV markets or revenue to make it worthwhile for the Big Ten to even consider them. Any new member for the Big Ten is going to be a team that is going to increase the revenue for the conference.

by Laaaaazzz on Dec 4, 2008 10:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

so basically

ND or Rutgers (not that the team itself will increase anything, but I’m sure the Big 10 would love some of that NYC market)

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 5, 2008 8:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Look at Syracuse's schedule

They’ve got a WHOLE LOT of big ten games lined up. Just saying, they get that thing turned around….who knows.

Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries

by Kevin HD on Dec 5, 2008 9:05 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

well, growing up in the NYC area (northeast Jersey)

Syracuse was never really a household name. Sure, they’re in the state of NY, but they’re not really attached to NYC quite like Rutgers is. Not saying Syracuse would be bad, and I’m sure the NYC market would latch onto them if they did join the Big 10, but Rutgers has a lot more ties to the city than Syracuse does, since it is just a short car ride to the stadium (and you can see the city from New Brunswick)

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 5, 2008 9:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pitt or Notre Dame

in the Big 10. They make the most sense. We need to get a thread going discussing the qualifications of each canidate…

PSU Softball

by QBsneak12 on Dec 4, 2008 4:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I want to play Alabama every year

Now that was a rivalry, and it could still be one.

by Aaron PSU on Dec 4, 2008 4:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I cannot believe that we had them scheduled this year and they chickened out.

That would have been a great game, and I bet we would have won.

We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley

by psu on Dec 4, 2008 4:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wrong

We had Alabama scheduled in 2004 and 2005, not anywhere close to this year. Alabama postponed them because they went on probation and lost scholarships and wanted to lighten their schedule. We are now scheduled to play them in 2010 and 2011.

by Laaaaazzz on Dec 4, 2008 10:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

doh, it still would have been a good game this year.

We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley

by psu on Dec 4, 2008 10:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, I'm not sure where 2007-8 came from

but for years that’s when I thought the matchups would be. I would have sworn I saw them on our “future schedule” for 2007-8 a few years ago (specifically summer of 2005 when I became friends with an Alabama student, and we made plans to visit each other’s places for the home & home), but looking around I find no mention other than the 2004-5 series and then 2010-11

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 5, 2008 8:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's a good idea in itself - what teams would be on our IDEAL schedule??

lets see…

Pitt, ND, Ohio State, Alabama, MD, Va Tech, WVU, Miami, LSU, and a small rotating cast of the USC’s and UT’s of the world…

by brubby on Dec 4, 2008 4:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

oh yeah... and Rutgers

cause New Jerseys gettin a little uppity

by brubby on Dec 4, 2008 4:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hawaii

Because of the expensive travel costs going from Hawaii to the mainland, the NCAA has rules in place that help out all Hawaiian schools by allowing participation caps to be circumvented if school’s play there.

Football teams can play a 13th game if they play at Hawaii. Baseball has a game cap (55 I think) that can be exceeded by playing the Hawaiian teams in Hawaii. Same for sports that have capped dates instead of games, like softball and volleyball.

Considering there are five NCAA schools in Hawaii (Hawaii, Hawaii-Hilo, Hawaii Pacific, Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii), they can usually get a few games out of different schools.

by The Mess on Dec 4, 2008 4:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Here's the writeup.

In the 1960s, the NCAA started exempting participation in certain in-season tournaments from its maximum games limitation in response to concerns about the inability of teams in Alaska and Hawaii to schedule regular season games. In order to encourage teams to travel from the mainland to those states to play, the NCAA decided to allow the games to be played for "free," meaning that they would not count toward the total number of games teams were allowed to play each season.

For college football, this means the University of Hawaii.

One interesting point of note: Notre Dame will play Navy in Dublin, Ireland in 2012. Does one of them get a free road game? I can’t find a conclusive answer to this.

by Cairo on Dec 4, 2008 5:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

One example:

Wisconsin played 12 regular season games in 2005 since they took a trip out to Hawaii in November.

PSU played 11 regular season games in 2005, the max then.

by Cairo on Dec 4, 2008 5:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

So does this only apply

When a team plays at Hawaii? i.e. you won’t get a 13th game if you play Hawaii on the mainland.

by whiteoutonly on Dec 4, 2008 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

correct

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 4, 2008 5:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ireland

Doesn’t count. That game is between two teams playing at a neutral site (that just happens to be in Ireland).

Wouldn’t be any different than us playing Syracuse in Toronto.

by The Mess on Dec 4, 2008 5:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The ultimate neutral site game

Penn State vs. Florida

Where will it be played? In Arctic Alaska! Let’s see how fast they are when they’re freezing to death and being attacked by polar bears!

JoePa for governor

by ReadingRambler on Dec 4, 2008 9:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm thinking more like

PSU vs. Florida in Siberia. Renovate a former gulag, and start some serious international PSU branding!

'People are about as happy as they decide they want to be'

by Pete the Streak on Dec 5, 2008 7:05 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You know

It’s not like our offense really lit it up in the cold weather (Michigan State aside). You really think we lose to Iowa on a fast track? I don’t.

I think that is actually going to be an advantage for us in the Rose Bowl. Believe it or not I’d rather play USC in good conditions that bad ones.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Dec 5, 2008 8:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wind

I think Iowa was more an issue of wind than cold. Iowa’s game didn’t skip a beat b/c they don’t have much in the way of a passing game…not as true for Penn State.

Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries

by Kevin HD on Dec 5, 2008 8:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

cold hands didn't help, either, though

with some very uncharacteristic Norwood and Butler drops on “easy” catches.

As for Iowa, yeah they actually had a fairly productive passing game, but a lot of their yards/TDs came on high floaters in broken (destroyed might be a better word) coverage that the receivers could adapt to. Perhaps that could be put as an error for PSU coaches and/or Clark (not deciding to do similar type plays), but those really did come down to their WRs having about 30 yards of space around them to make those catches.

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 5, 2008 8:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No kidding

I still remember playing touch football on Thanksgiving as a kid. When you can’t feel your hands and the quarterback rifles a ball at you all you can think about is how bad it’s going to hurt to catch that ball.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Dec 5, 2008 9:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I broke a finger

in IM football because it was so cold out I couldn’t feel my hands catch the ball

by whiteoutonly on Dec 5, 2008 6:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Which was kind of my point

this offense is not exactly built for bad weather any more than Florida’s is.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Dec 5, 2008 11:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Dude, I wish you could come around more

This place needs your alternative thinking…..

pax et amor

by jtothep on Dec 5, 2008 2:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

SHUT UP

About PItt. Get over your little hometown school. Who gives a rats ass whether we play a middling Big East school?

Pitt is for losers.

People who think about how they can be added to Penn State’s schedule are idiotic.

by NittanyBadger on Dec 4, 2008 10:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No way...

There is something special about being hated and hating someone else right back. We might never have that in the Big 10.

Pitt isn’t worthy – they suck – yes and that’s what makes it great.

When the season is a middling 8-3 you know what makes you feel better? Beating the bejeesus out of those oakland crack heads.

When the season is perfect – what more satisfaction than rubbing your arch enemies face in your success…

Plus I’m sick of seeing their 9 time national champions banner hanging in the endzone at their unfilled stadium – they need to get knocked down a couple more notches

by brubby on Dec 5, 2008 11:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They actually added pictures of 9 Sears Trophys

with the Crystal Footballs this year, even though they were never awarded the trophys for the alleged titles. Next year I think they are going to photo shop pictures of Wanstdedt holding them up after winning the BCS Title Game.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Dec 5, 2008 11:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Give them time

Maybe they’ll start claiming the titles won by the Steelers.

JoePa for governor

by ReadingRambler on Dec 5, 2008 11:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Which ones are alleged?

Would that be like PSU claiming 4 national titles? What’s the deal with 1911 and 1912 anyway? HELP I NEED A HISTORY LESSON

by The IC Lion on Dec 5, 2008 12:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

re: "alleged" national titles. See: Notre Dame

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 5, 2008 12:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Every NC before...

the AP waited until after the bowls to award it is total dogshit.

Anything before about 1960 is total fantasy dogshit.

Pitt won the 1976 National Title. That’s it. Frankly, it’s too much as it is.

The rule of thumb I use is if it happened before Joe Paterno started coaching at Penn State, it’s irrelevant.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Dec 5, 2008 4:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I use a similar metric

but then all the ND kids start whining that their 1911 South Bend Press National Championship wouldn’t count.

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 5, 2008 4:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

National Titles

Didn’t I read somewhere they were counting their Lambert Trophies as national championships? If that’s the case Penn State has won 26 National Championships.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Dec 5, 2008 5:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NO

no pitt
no pitt
no pitt
not freakin’ ever

Ben and Alex... first commits for 2024

by 3Yardout on Dec 5, 2008 12:58 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Getting Pitt

back on the schedule one way or another would be far preferable than the endless parade of Eastern Illinois and Youngstown State we have now.

by Joe 96alum on Dec 5, 2008 12:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Unless Pitt is willing to come to Beaver Stadium without any return visits, then that point is moot. You wouldn’t be replacing Eastern Illinois with Pitt, but rather repalcing Notre Dame or Syracuse or Alabama with them.

by Laaaaazzz on Dec 5, 2008 2:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You have

Eastern Illinois & Akron on the schedule instead of Pitt. Teams like ND & Alabama come around every 20 years if we’re lucky.

by Joe 96alum on Dec 6, 2008 12:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

no, you aren't replacing Eastern Illinois and Akron on the schedule

you are replacing the Syracuse/Temple/other division 1-A schools that we do home & homes with, since as Laaaaaazzz points out, the Eastern Illinois and Akrons don’t require a home & home, and will just come and play us at our home, while Pitt won’t do that (they won’t even do the 6-4 rotation) and since Penn State maintains that they need 7 home games a year, we can’t have all our OOC games be with home & home people.

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 8, 2008 8:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs