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Football Penn State / Syracuse to play home and home series

I like that. Now play Pitt.
Joe and his all eastern university sports league- sorry it got sabotaged by Syracuse and I think Pitt.
 
Starting in 2027 with the first game at Penn State.

What happened to insisting on 2 at PSU for 1 at Syracuse? It seems to me this does more for Syracuse than it does for Penn State.
 
I like that. Now play Pitt.
Joe and his all eastern university sports league- sorry it got sabotaged by Syracuse and I think Pitt.
No thanks as to Pitt. Principally responsible for torpedoing Joe's proposed all sports conference due to greed. Wanted to keep playing PSU home and home in football in order to get the pay day every other year while playing at Happy Valley, but unwilling to give up the then lucrative money they were making in the Big East Basketball conference. Okay for Pitt to look out for its best interests then, but nothing but whining after PSU joined the Big in all sports and no longer able to play Pitt. Despite the fact that PSU played 2 out of every 3 games years ago in Pittsburgh, Pitt was "insulted" when PSU proposed a 2 for 1 a few years back. There is NO benefit to PSU to play Pitt in football and if I were AD, I would schedule Pitt again when hell freezes over.
 
It's fine. Not too sexy, but Syracuse is a reasonable enough opponent and we have a history with them. I actually like the idea of playing all of our old Eastern rivals intermittently in the non-conference schedule. We've played Pitt recently, have WVU and Syracuse scheduled for the future. Rutgers and Maryland are now every year. So, really only leaves BC as the remaining major team that we haven't played for a while in the regular season (though we had the bowl game).

That said, I'd like to see more higher caliber teams at least some of the years. The Auburn game last year was awesome and who wouldn't want to see more games like that?

I'd also like to see Kraft get us out of the moronic series with Temple in 2026/27. Given our limited flexibility in out of conference, that is a huge waste of an away game. Would be awesome if we could buy out Temple and then pick up an elite team home 2025/away 2016.
 
Odd timing.. what's going on with the ACC/PAC 12 alliance? Thought we were getting an ACC and Pac 12 team to play every year.
 
Pitt has scheduled West Virginia 8 of the next 11 years, and as per contract 1 and contract 2 where ND Averages 5 games a yr from 2014 to 2025 with and actually has 5 games per year with the ACC from 2026 to 2037. ND plays two contracts of 60 games. So Pitt is at ND in 2023, home in 2025, 2028, and 2031 away in 2033, home in 2034 and away in 2036. It is wrong for PSU to hold onto things that happened so long ago, where the grudges of a different era affect today. Those people are all dead! It makes PSU look petty and sanctimonious
 
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Odd timing.. what's going on with the ACC/PAC 12 alliance? Thought we were getting an ACC and Pac 12 team to play every year.
It is odd timing. The Big Ten is negotiating its new tv contract for 2023 until ???. I believe the PAC 12 in 2024 negotiates. The ACC will get a look in with their contract which ends in 2036. They have to line things up for the ALLIANCE to schedule interesting OOC games with each other, and to act as a counterbalance to the SEC in the expansion of the playoffs and conference realignment.
 
Not very appealing, especially as the “big” OOC game for in 2027 and 2028.

Penn State OOC schedules-

2022- Ohio, at Auburn, Central Michigan
2023- West Virginia, Delaware, UMass
2024- at WVU, Bowling Green, Kent St
2025- Nevada, Villanova, ?
2026- Marshall, at Temple, San Jose St
2027- Syracuse, Delaware, Temple
2028- at Syracuse, ?, ?

That makes Penn State’s “big” OOC games-

2022- Auburn
2023/24- West Virginia
2025- Nevada (?)
2026- Temple
2027/28- Syracuse

Meanwhile, Ohio State’s scheduling-

2022/23- Notre Dame
2024/25- Washington
2025/26- Texas (Yes, Washington and Texas in 2025).
2027/28- Alabama
2030/31- Georgia
2032/33- Oregon

Michigan’s scheduling-

2022- Colorado St
2023- East Carolina
2024- Texas
2025/26- Oklahoma
2027- Texas
2028- Washington
2033/34- Notre Dame
 
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Odd timing.. what's going on with the ACC/PAC 12 alliance? Thought we were getting an ACC and Pac 12 team to play every year.

The Big Ten basically came out and said the scheduling alliance is dead. The Big Ten (and PAc-12) would need to go to 8 conference games to accommodate it and decided they would rather have more conference games than fewer.

The Big Ten/Pac-12/ACC might still work together as a voting block though. Well, as long as their interests align.
 
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Not very appealing, especially as the “big” OOC game for in 2027 and 2028.

Penn State OOC schedules-

2022- Ohio, at Auburn, Central Michigan
2023- West Virginia, Delaware, UMass
2024- at WVU, Bowling Green, Kent St
2025- Nevada, Villanova, ?
2026- Marshall, at Temple, San Jose St
2027- Syracuse, Delaware, Temple
2028- at Syracuse, ?, ?

That makes Penn State’s “big” OOC games-

2022- Auburn
2023/24- West Virginia
2025- Nevada (?)
2026- Temple
2027/28- Syracuse

Meanwhile, Ohio State’s scheduling-

2022/23- Notre Dame
2024/25- Washington
2025/26- Texas (Yes, Washington and Texas in 2025).
2027/28- Alabama
2030/31- Georgia
2032/33- Oregon

Michigan is scheduling-

2022- Colorado St
2023- East Carolina
2024- Texas
2025/26- Oklahoma
2027- Texas
2028- Washington
2033/34- Notre Dame

Yeah, our scheduling is pretty weak compared to Ohio State, Michigan, and even Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Wisconsin plays Alabama in 24-25, Notre Dame in 26, Utah in 28, and UCLA in 29-30.

Sparty plays Washington in 22-23, Notre Dame in 26-27, and Oregon in 29-30.

Really lame.

Didn't Franklin suggest a few years back that we're dumping Pitt because we wanted to play big time programs instead? LOL.
 
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I’m not sure I see any power five school agreeing to that. It’s a decent OOC addition and a good warm up for the always tough B1G schedule.
I wouldn't expect schools like Auburn or Notre Dame to agree to a 2 for 1 but Syracuse isn't in that category. PSU home attendance is close to 100k while Syracuse home attendance is closer to 35k. So if we agree to a home and home deal there better be some cash compensation involved.
 
Yeah, our scheduling is pretty weak compared to Ohio State, Michigan, and even Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Wisconsin plays Alabama in 24-25, Notre Dame in 26, Utah in 28, and UCLA in 29-30.

Sparty plays Washington in 22-23, Notre Dame in 26-27, and Oregon in 29-30.

Really lame.

Didn't Franklin suggest a few years back that we're dumping Pitt because we wanted to play big time programs instead? LOL.
Yet we hear how great Will Levis is and they play four OOC tomato cans and only one tough conference opponent…can we at least be consistent in our negativity?
 
No thanks as to Pitt. Principally responsible for torpedoing Joe's proposed all sports conference due to greed. Wanted to keep playing PSU home and home in football in order to get the pay day every other year while playing at Happy Valley, but unwilling to give up the then lucrative money they were making in the Big East Basketball conference. Okay for Pitt to look out for its best interests then, but nothing but whining after PSU joined the Big in all sports and no longer able to play Pitt. Despite the fact that PSU played 2 out of every 3 games years ago in Pittsburgh, Pitt was "insulted" when PSU proposed a 2 for 1 a few years back. There is NO benefit to PSU to play Pitt in football and if I were AD, I would schedule Pitt again when hell freezes over.
Paterno was being just as greedy by not wanting to share football money. Both sides were looking out for their own good and refused to compromise for the greater good.
 
Yeah, our scheduling is pretty weak compared to Ohio State, Michigan, and even Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Wisconsin plays Alabama in 24-25, Notre Dame in 26, Utah in 28, and UCLA in 29-30.

Sparty plays Washington in 22-23, Notre Dame in 26-27, and Oregon in 29-30.

Really lame.

Didn't Franklin suggest a few years back that we're dumping Pitt because we wanted to play big time programs instead? LOL.
True. I didn’t have the time to look up Wisky or Michigan St’s schedules- thanks for adding those.
 
Yet we hear how great Will Levis is and they play four OOC tomato cans and only one tough conference opponent…can we at least be consistent in our negativity?
Not sure where Will Levis fits into this conversation, but I take it you disagree with the assertion that our scheduling is lagging waaaaay behind our peers?

I sure hope we're not comparing ourselves to Kentucky these days.
 
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True. I didn’t have the time to look up Wisky or Michigan St’s schedules- thanks for adding those.

Nebraska also has upcoming series' with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, and Cincinnati. Hell, even Purdue has a 4-game series with Notre Dame and games with North Carolina and Ole Miss coming up. Minnesota and Indiana have some respectable series' as well.

So when Franklin said that we can't play Pitt any more because we want to schedule some "major" OOC games, I truly hope Syracuse wasn't what he had in mind. Let's see how we fill our last 2025 slot and our slots in 2028 and beyond.
 
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Not sure where Will Levis fits into this conversation, but I take it you disagree with the assertion that our scheduling is lagging waaaaay behind our peers?

I sure hope we're not comparing ourselves to Kentucky these days.
Just looking for consistency. And when you have to play OSU, Michigan, MSU, and usually either Iowa and Wiscy, and you get no breaks from the conference schedule makers year after year, your OOC schedule should not be that tough. We had one of the toughest schedules in the country last year and will again this year, not sure how we’re not keeping up with our peers. Do we have to have a top three schedule every year?
 
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Just looking for consistency. And when you have to play OSU, Michigan, MSU, and usually either Iowa and Wiscy, and you get no breaks from the conference schedule makers year after year, your OOC schedule should not be that tough. We had one of the toughest schedules in the country last year and will again this year, not sure how we’re not keeping up with our peers. Do we have to have a top three schedule every year?

All those other Big Ten schools also play a tough Big Ten schedule (at a minimum, the schools in the East). So it's not like we're unique. Yet they're all going out and scheduling tough OOC games.

And we aren't.

Nobody said we need to have a top-three schedule every year. But James Franklin himself said that we don't have the room to schedule Pitt anymore because we're scheduling bigger fish. Clearly that's not the case.

It's not the biggest deal in the world to me. But I'd personally like to see more matchups with top-tier opponents. And it makes us look petty when we give Pitt fans the stiff arm but then go out and schedule freakin' Syracuse.
 
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Paterno was being just as greedy by not wanting to share football money. Both sides were looking out for their own good and refused to compromise for the greater good.
Penn State wanted to play in Pittsburgh every year back in the 20's and 30's for exposure. Every other year, the gate was split. So going back to that era and saying Pittt owes all these games to PSU is wrong.

The truth about the Eastern Conference that Paterno wanted was tainted because he would not ;share the football money more than 5 per cent, which made the stronger bball schools dig in on that side. It was a good idea that got defeated in the details. This is all ancient history. Penn State should be scheduling all of the old Eastern rivalries and forget about 2 for one's. No Power 5 school will agree to that. Otherwise, it makes Penn State look petty and sanctamonious
 
All those other Big Ten schools also play a tough Big Ten schedule (at a minimum, the schools in the East). So it's not like we're unique. Yet they're all going out and scheduling tough OOC games.

And we aren't.

Nobody said we need to have a top-three schedule every year. But James Franklin himself said that we don't have the room to schedule Pitt anymore because we're scheduling bigger fish. Clearly that's not the case.

It's not the biggest deal in the world to me. But I'd personally like to see more matchups with top-tier opponents. And it makes us look petty when we give Pitt fans the stiff arm but then go out and schedule freakin' Syracuse.
I am glad to see comments like that on this board. Time to move forward. What happened in the past involved people who are now dead.
 
All those other Big Ten schools also play a tough Big Ten schedule (at a minimum, the schools in the East). So it's not like we're unique. Yet they're all going out and scheduling tough OOC games.

And we aren't.

Nobody said we need to have a top-three schedule every year. But James Franklin himself said that we don't have the room to schedule Pitt anymore because we're scheduling bigger fish. Clearly that's not the case.

It's not the biggest deal in the world to me. But I'd personally like to see more matchups with top-tier opponents. And it makes us look petty when we give Pitt fans the stiff arm but then go out and schedule freakin' Syracuse.
All four playoff teams last year had weak OOC schedules and weaker overall schedules than we did and it didn’t hurt them. And we have plenty of reasons to give Pitt the stiff arm that have nothing to do with strength of schedule. All we need is a season with one loss and we’ll make the playoffs, so scheduling brutal OOC games makes no sense.
 
All four playoff teams last year had weak OOC schedules and weaker overall schedules than we did and it didn’t hurt them. And we have plenty of reasons to give Pitt the stiff arm that have nothing to do with strength of schedule. All we need is a season with one loss and we’ll make the playoffs, so scheduling brutal OOC games makes no sense.

Scheduling big name OOC games elevates the program's national brand/image, it's great for the fans, and if you're a competent football team, winning some of those games does a lot for the program and the end-of-season resume.

Part of why OSU beat us out for a CFP spot in 2016 was because they went to Norman and dominated Oklahoma, while we lost to a crap Pitt team. Recruits from our non-traditional recruiting areas will take notice when we play -- and beat -- the likes of an Oregon or a Texas or an LSU. Of course, we need to win some of those games. But that's why we're paying our coaches what we are, right?

Plus, don't take my word for it. This is basically James Franklin's argument, too. Which is why our scheduling as it stands is so curious. Syracuse???
 
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Most fans like to bring up Paterno’s northeast conference idea, but I think an even bigger ‘what if’ is if all the major eastern independents formed a conference.

Imagine a conference consisting of Boston College, Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Syracuse, and West Virginia. Virginia Tech likely joins later on as their program takes off under Beamer.

At that point, is Notre Dame convinced to join full-time? Do they go on the attack and poach the ACC? Would’ve caused a massive chain reaction…
 
Not very appealing, especially as the “big” OOC game for in 2027 and 2028.

Penn State OOC schedules-

2022- Ohio, at Auburn, Central Michigan
2023- West Virginia, Delaware, UMass
2024- at WVU, Bowling Green, Kent St
2025- Nevada, Villanova, ?
2026- Marshall, at Temple, San Jose St
2027- Syracuse, Delaware, Temple
2028- at Syracuse, ?, ?

That makes Penn State’s “big” OOC games-

2022- Auburn
2023/24- West Virginia
2025- Nevada (?)
2026- Temple
2027/28- Syracuse

Meanwhile, Ohio State’s scheduling-

2022/23- Notre Dame
2024/25- Washington
2025/26- Texas (Yes, Washington and Texas in 2025).
2027/28- Alabama
2030/31- Georgia
2032/33- Oregon

Michigan’s scheduling-

2022- Colorado St
2023- East Carolina
2024- Texas
2025/26- Oklahoma
2027- Texas
2028- Washington
2033/34- Notre Dame

Christ the 2026 schedule is sad. That said OOC schedules of CFP participants have included gauntlets such as:

-Western Michigan, Washington (4-8), Northern Illinois
-Houston, South Dakota, UCLA (4-8)
-FAU, Cinci, Miami (OH)
-FAU, UCLA (3-9), Army
-Louisville (2-10), Arkansas State, Louisiana (not state), Citadel
-Rutgers (2-10), Idaho, Portland State

Texas and Washington are P5 but I'd put more money on them being mediocre opponents than marque matchups. Both coming off losing seasons. Washington fired their coach and Texas has Sarkisian so I'd expect them to be breaking in a new coach by 2024 or 2025.
 
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I am glad to see comments like that on this board. Time to move forward. What happened in the past involved people who are now dead.

I find it hilarious that, every time this subject comes up, the urban myth grows more and more colorful.

I don't pretend to have an answer as to why we don't play. I would bet the mortgage that it has nothing to do with an alleged Paterno grudge from 45 years ago though.

You and other Pitt fans need to shed the mindset that the PSU department of athletics makes scheduling decisions based on any kind of hatred for Pitt. Get over yourselves. You're not that important. I'm confident that scheduling decisions are based first on money, second on recruiting impact and probably a distant third on fan interest. They don't give a crap about hurt feelings.
 
You and other Pitt fans need to shed the mindset that the PSU department of athletics makes scheduling decisions based on any kind of hatred for Pitt. Get over yourselves. You're not that important. I'm confident that scheduling decisions are based first on money, second on recruiting impact and probably a distant third on fan interest. They don't give a crap about hurt feelings.

I don't think it's based on a hatred of Pitt. But it's pretty easy to see why Pitt fans think we're ducking them. Franklin himself said we don't have room for Pitt because we're scheduling big time programs instead. Clearly we're not.

I really think it comes down to this: Pitt has more to gain from the rivalry than we do. We already dominate Pennsylvania recruiting. If Pitt wins a few games, it can swing at least some of that in-state momentum their way. I don't think our administration (whether it be Franklin, the AD, whoever) necessarily wants to jeopardize that.

I'm all in favor of a series with Pitt. 4 years with Pitt, and then 4 years without (in which we have a pair of home-and-homes with strong OOC opponents). That keeps the rivalry alive while also giving us a chance to take a break from Pitt and schedule big name OOC opponents.

Syracuse is a joke. And frankly, most of the old east coast rivals from yesteryear are jokes. Let's go out and get Texas or LSU or Oregon on the schedule.
 
Starting in 2027 with the first game at Penn State.

I started a Penn state in 1963 the old Penn state Syracuse football games were really knock em down, kick them on the teeth abd run over them games. Very little finesse. I think their viach was Swartzwalter and tge always had great offens and defensive lines.

It was real black-and-blue footbal.
 
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Doesn’t pay to schedule Pitt. They are far behind us in recruiting as you said so why help them out? Playing us sells out their stadium and they get to bring in kids and pretend they have a great atmosphere to play in instead of the usual Yellow out with about 25,000 sleeping away the second half.

Not only that they have incredibly terrible ticket sales. We play them and they get a huge boost in their budget for both home and away games. Gives them immediate television revenue. Gives them unwarranted national attention. Hell, they won the ACC this year and no game came close to selling out, tv ratings were poor, and the nation didn’t care.

Why help them overcome all that? Tell them when they consistently sell out that tiny stadium we will consider putting them on the schedule. In the meantime.....don’t call us.
 
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I started a Penn state in 1963 the old Penn state Syracuse football games were really knock em down, kick them on the teeth abd run over them games. Very little finesse. I think their viach was Swartzwalter and tge always had great offens and defensive lines.

It was real black-and-blue footbal.
Had some great running backs. Larry Csonka, Floyd Little, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance. And Jim Brown earlier.
 
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Yeah, our scheduling is pretty weak compared to Ohio State, Michigan, and even Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Wisconsin plays Alabama in 24-25, Notre Dame in 26, Utah in 28, and UCLA in 29-30.

Sparty plays Washington in 22-23, Notre Dame in 26-27, and Oregon in 29-30.

Really lame.

Didn't Franklin suggest a few years back that we're dumping Pitt because we wanted to play big time programs instead? LOL.
That's why we picked up Delaware! 😊
 
Starting in 2027 with the first game at Penn State.

Who is responsible for no ND?
I suspect it ain't ND, too much $.
What doofus is involved with this stupidity?
Lazy, gutless, crap.
I wouldn't pay 2 cents to watch Syracuse.
 
Who is responsible for no ND?
I suspect it ain't ND, too much $.
What doofus is involved with this stupidity?
Lazy, gutless, crap.
I wouldn't pay 2 cents to watch Syracuse.
Or a penny to watch Pitt.
 
Doesn’t pay to schedule Pitt. They are far behind us in recruiting as you said so why help them out? Playing us sells out their stadium and they get to bring in kids and pretend they have a great atmosphere to play in instead of the usual Yellow out with about 25,000 sleeping away the second half.

Not only that they have incredibly terrible ticket sales. We play them and they get a huge boost in their budget for both home and away games. Gives them immediate television revenue. Gives them unwarranted national attention. Hell, they won the ACC this year and no game came close to selling out, tv ratings were poor, and the nation didn’t care.

Why help them overcome all that? Tell them when they consistently sell out that tiny stadium we will consider putting them on the schedule. In the meantime.....don’t call us.

Yeah, it's not a profitable series in that sense. No doubt about it.

But is Syracuse? Temple? WV's stadium holds a whopping 60,000+. What does that series do for us? I'd argue nothing, other than almost guarantee a win over a program 30 years past its prime.

If we're not going to schedule Pitt (because it's neither profitable nor wise to give them a chance to beat us), fine. But let's man up and schedule real teams. If we're going to use the "we don't have room for Pitt because we're scheduling big time programs" excuse, then let's actually do that.

The trend in CFB is to produce more big time OOC matchups. All the Big Ten powers are already on board. We're lagging behind. And for those who want to avoid those kinds of games for the sake of protecting our W-L record, I'd argue that playing in those games makes us tougher come conference play. To say nothing about how such games boost our national profile.

But if we're content being the big dog on the east coast by beating up on Syracuse, Temple, and West Virginia.......okay.
 
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I'm also in the minority here who believes that a rekindled rivalry with Pitt would be great for the state of PA in general. The PSU-Pitt rivalry in the 70s and early 80s was legitimately one of the better rivalries in the country. Who is our rival, exactly? It's sure as hell not Ohio State. It's not Maryland/Rutgers. Michigan State is more focused on Michigan. And so on. No, we don't need an arch-rival, but rivalries are great for fans, the players, and the game itself.

For those who claim that giving them a chance to beat us puts us as risk, I have two responses: (1) they beat us in 2016, and yet the trajectory of our program continued to rise, and (2) if we're that afraid of not being able to win that series, then we have problems.
 
The one constant in life is the play Pitt posts. The second constant is me coming on here saying no one cares about Pitt outside western PA. It gets worse when Pitt has their one good year in 10 to 15 years. And if PSU is a little down at the same time, still worse. If Pitt so badly needs a PA opponent, play Temple. Both produce about the same NFL talent, East PA vs west PA. Perfect. I will try to ignore all the play Pitt posts that will come up, but will probably not be able to and post something stupid like this just to fit in.
 
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