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Finally some good news about scheduling little brother

Speaking as one who lives in a suburb of Pittsburgh, with a Pitt alum for a wife and many good Pitt friends, this is terrific news. I have said many times this series is of no benefit to us. We need to play teams that have a national presence, like USC, Florida State, Auburn, Texas, Alabama, Notre Dame....
 
Speaking as one who lives in a suburb of Pittsburgh, with a Pitt alum for a wife and many good Pitt friends, this is terrific news. I have said many times this series is of no benefit to us. We need to play teams that have a national presence, like USC, Florida State, Auburn, Texas, Alabama, Notre Dame....
Yeah, frankly I don't care if we never play Pitt again. I've totally soured on that program and their 7 fans.
 
Losing to Pitt did not keep us out of the playoff. Losing to Michigan did. In 2016, we had a close loss to Pitt, but won the conference. Clemson also had a close loss to Pitt, and won their conference, but went to the CFP.

What was the difference? Clemson had no other losses, while we suffered a 39 point beat down at Michigan. That was the "unforgivable loss" in the eyes of the committee.

The idea that Pitt kept us out, and not Michigan, is something they like to throw around on the Lair to make them feel better about themselves lol

I don’t agree. It was 2 losses combined that kept us out. As I stated above, 2 losses is a death blow.

Win against either Pitt or UM, and Penn State is in over Washington who had their own bad loss to USC. Granted, it wasn’t by 39 points but it was late in the season and at home for them. Penn State with tougher OOC schedule, higher quality wins, and same record as Washington, gets in over UW even if we had the uglier loss that occurred in September.
 
They will never admit it, but after the way we have pummeled them in recruiting, they want no part of us anymore. They'll blame it on the cult or JS or whatever, but the truth is, they know they can't compete.

A win against them does nothing for us, anyhow. They are on a race to the bottom that they will likely win.


It’s funny scanning their board sometimes. After the blowout PSU win this year, (and as recruiting results came in), many there went from ‘this game should be played every year’ to not wanting it at all. They know they’ll lose badly most years.
 
Speaking as one who lives in a suburb of Pittsburgh, with a Pitt alum for a wife and many good Pitt friends, this is terrific news. I have said many times this series is of no benefit to us. We need to play teams that have a national presence, like USC, Florida State, Auburn, Texas, Alabama, Notre Dame....
Any reason there has been no talk about scheduling the Fightins? I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I think of playing the Irish
 
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Losing to Pitt did not keep us out of the playoff. Losing to Michigan did. In 2016, we had a close loss to Pitt, but won the conference. Clemson also had a close loss to Pitt, and won their conference, but went to the CFP.

What was the difference? Clemson had no other losses, while we suffered a 39 point beat down at Michigan. That was the "unforgivable loss" in the eyes of the committee.

The idea that Pitt kept us out, and not Michigan, is something they like to throw around on the Lair to make them feel better about themselves lol

Wrong. Pick which one kept PSU out, it makes no difference. Win either one and the chances of PSU getting into the playoff increase exponentially.
 
Ahem.
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Yes, exception not the rule
 
Losing to Pitt did not keep us out of the playoff. Losing to Michigan did. In 2016, we had a close loss to Pitt, but won the conference. Clemson also had a close loss to Pitt, and won their conference, but went to the CFP.

What was the difference? Clemson had no other losses, while we suffered a 39 point beat down at Michigan. That was the "unforgivable loss" in the eyes of the committee.

The idea that Pitt kept us out, and not Michigan, is something they like to throw around on the Lair to make them feel better about themselves lol

They equally kept us out. If we beat Pitt and lose to Michigan we're likely in especially since Pitt beat Clemson who got in. Losing to Pitt hurt us more than Michigan IMO but you can say they're equal. You absolutely can not pretend that the Pitt loss didn't impact us
 
Any reason there has been no talk about scheduling the Fightins? I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I think of playing the Irish
They are welcome to join the conference. Hope the ADs come together to blackball them, which is fine since their guy basically said that they have no intention of playing a tough schedule going forward (as though they have in years).
 
Pitt fans are so dumb when it comes to this subject. They can't seem to understand they play 8 conference games (P5) and we play 9 (P5). They play 2 P5 teams OOC and we play 1 which equals 10 P5 teams each.

They clamor about how difficult their schedule is while playing in the ACC coastal with a crossover game of Syracuse every year. You can't fix stupid
 
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This is a problem with college football, the next 2 years have some poor competition. It looks like a SEC schedule. Playing great early season games gives everyone something to forward to all summer. I know I am cheap, but tickets cost too much for games like that.
 
A sellout with a good chance to win serves no purpose? How about Akron? Buffalo? Eastern Michigan?

Make up your mind. Do you want tough games or easy games? Do you want to make the playoffs or not? If PSU misses the playoffs by ONE game and loses a tough OOC game by 1 point will you still want the tougher games?
Yes
 
It is a mistake. We should just beat up Pitt. Recruiting is already top 5. Is it going to get better? Auburn and Vt are not easy games. We missed the playoffs by losing tough games. The Pitt game is also a big draw.
Speak for yourself... in my opinion, playing Pitt in a recurring home and home is the worst possible scheming mistake possible. We already have tons of exposure in western PA, and playing Pitt doesn’t add anything to our resume when we win and kills us when we lose. If you are going to play home and homes, it should be against a good P5 program and in a part of the country where you want to boost recruiting.

The only way I would play Pitt on a recurring basis is to have a Penn State get two home games to every one that Pitt gets. They desperately need us and our program doesn’t need Pitt at all. I just wish that some of our older and/or western PA alumni and fans would give up their interest in Pitt. If you ignore them, they will shrivel up and die.
 
Our state legislators have a hard enough time trying to do the jobs they were elected to do. If they prioritize PSU vs. Pitt over running the commonwealth, they should all be kicked out of office.
Why doesn't the Pitt alum call out the clowns at his alma mater for not playing 2 for 1 at PSU? Instead he is going to pop off that the government should get involved? PSU traveled to Pitt for ever....... Clearly, Rick needs to simply focus on his coverage of the next local high school game he needs to cover.
 
Pitt will not be a pushover this year!
Ok against my better judgment I will bite. They have an inexperienced QB, lost their best linemen and best receiver and their defense will be in rebuilding mode. Why do you think they will be good?
 
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Their O line, D line, and lbrs will be weak. Game breakers? Nope. Call me scared. However, their QB is better than Trace, just ask them.
 
It is a mistake. We should just beat up Pitt. Recruiting is already top 5. Is it going to get better? Auburn and Vt are not easy games. We missed the playoffs by losing tough games. The Pitt game is also a big draw.
We should only play Pitt if it helps recruiting (which it doesn’t) or if it helps our SOS (which it doesn’t). The only team that benefits from it is Pitt. They get one sell out at their stadium and if they win, they get bragging rights for a year. If they lose, they’re expected to so it doesn’t hurt them plus they won’t ever be in a playoff hunt so it doesn’t hurt them at all. Why enter into a no win situation?
 
With a 9 game conference schedule financially and competitively it doesn’t make sense to schedule more than 1 power 5 non conference game a year.
 
Ok against my better judgment I will bite. They have an inexperienced QB, lost their best linemen and best receiver and their defense will be in rebuilding mode. Why do you think they will be good?

You forgot they lost their best defensive player, their only explosive offensive player on offense or special teams and best returning lineman went out early.
 
The problem with Pitt is simple math.

PSU gets 3 pre-conference games and two of those need to be at the Beav -- that's for the budget and also for PSU fans.

Two teams every year will be App State/Kent State type teams that play at the Beav for cash.

So that means there's only room for ONE home-and-home opponent on the schedule. If that team is Pitt, that means Penn State will never be able to play competitive non-conference games. Well top programs play other top programs in the preseason.

Ohio State schedules Oklahoma. Michigan plays Florida and Notre Dame. Alabama plays Florida State. Prestige games against tough opponents are important for picking playoff teams, they're important for recruiting and they're important in player development. Even if you lose, they help get your team ready for conference play - imagine how much better Ohio State practices were last year after they lost to Oklahoma.

If PSU is serious about being a top 10 or top program they have to schedule one serious opponent in the noncon. And Pitt is just not at that level and not likely to be in the future.

If you think Pitt is a rivalry game that has to be played every year, you are essentially holding back Penn State from trying to be a top 10 program.
 
The problem with Pitt is simple math.

PSU gets 3 pre-conference games and two of those need to be at the Beav -- that's for the budget and also for PSU fans.

Two teams every year will be App State/Kent State type teams that play at the Beav for cash.

So that means there's only room for ONE home-and-home opponent on the schedule. If that team is Pitt, that means Penn State will never be able to play competitive non-conference games. Well top programs play other top programs in the preseason.

Ohio State schedules Oklahoma. Michigan plays Florida and Notre Dame. Alabama plays Florida State. Prestige games against tough opponents are important for picking playoff teams, they're important for recruiting and they're important in player development. Even if you lose, they help get your team ready for conference play - imagine how much better Ohio State practices were last year after they lost to Oklahoma.

If PSU is serious about being a top 10 or top program they have to schedule one serious opponent in the noncon. And Pitt is just not at that level and not likely to be in the future.

If you think Pitt is a rivalry game that has to be played every year, you are essentially holding back Penn State from trying to be a top 10 program.

This is as accurate as you can get. Hit the nail on the head

Pitt fans and media are living in the glory days. Pitt has finished a season ranked 3 times since 1985. They were a great program for a 7 year stretch but they are nothing now. It would be like USC scheduling Indiana out of conference. Penn State gains nothing from beating them at the end of the year when resume becomes a factor
 
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I think Penn State should play Pitt, I for one think it is a and could be a pretty good rivalry. I also think PSU should play WVU on a regular basis. Schedule Pitt for a 2 for 1 or home at home for a cycle and then WVU for a cycle. Both play in a power 5 conference both have been bowl teams(WVU more so) and both are natural rivals. Now I understand wanting to go out and play other teams and PSU should but I think they should find a way to play these two teams on a semi rergular basis. Lastly Pitt should play Temple every year, and that could be a great rivalry as Pitt should play WVU every year. Anyway I see both points of view I just like the home cooked rivalry is all
 
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