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At last, West Virginia and Pitt agree to revive their historic rivalry
In the five years since both schools declared they were leaving the Big East to join other conferences, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has always pushed to get longtime rival Pittsburgh back on his schedule.
Soon he’ll finally get his wish.
West Virginia and Pitt announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to a four-year series that will begin during the 2017-18 season. The Panthers will host the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl in 2017 and 2019 and will visit Morgantown in 2018 and 2020.
“I think this is great not only for both schools but for college basketball,” Huggins said in a statement. “This has been such a great rivalry, and it is a game that fans of both schools look forward to. I have great respect for Kevin Stallings, and I have followed his teams throughout the years. Pitt has been our biggest rival since I can remember and we have been theirs. The game makes sense.”
Pitt and West Virginia have played 184 times since 1904, with the Mountaineers holding a 96-88 lead in the series. The two schools split their final two games as Big East rivals, each winning on the other’s home floor during the 2011-12 season.
When Pitt left for the ACC and West Virginia bolted for the Big 12, it put the future of the rivalry in doubt. Huggins repeatedly told former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon that he’d like to restart the rivalry as soon as possible, but the Panthers were non-committal.
“I’ve said we’re willing to play,” Huggins told Yahoo Sports in 2012. “It’s a great rivalry. Why wouldn’t we play Pitt? You want to talk about the betterment of the student-athlete and doing what’s right by the student-athlete? We’re talking about an hour and a half drive. We’re not talking about flying across the country. It just makes sense. There’s not a downside.
“It’s great for the fans. The players really enjoy it. You can play the game and be home. There’s no problem waking up and going to class the next day. You’re not missing class time. All the reasons anyone could give for starting a series or maintaining a series, they’re all there. They’re all positive.”
The key to the series being restarted was surely the regime change at Pitt. Former Utah State athletic director Scott Barnes replaced Steve Pederson in April, 2015 and ex-Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings succeeded Dixon earlier this year.
“I saw the passion and intensity of the Pitt-West Virginia series from afar and felt it was important that we work to renew the series,” Stallings said in a statement. “Our goal in scheduling is to put together games that will generate great interest from our amazing fan base as well as prepare our team for conference and postseason play. Bob Huggins is an outstanding coach and competing against his program enables us to accomplish both of those things. I can’t wait to witness this rivalry firsthand.”
The rebirth of the rivalry is welcome news for a sport that has suffered greatly during conference realignment because so many of the football- and TV revenue-driven decisions came at the expense of basketball tradition.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has vowed never to play Maryland again after the Terps left for a payday in the Big Ten. Kansas coach Bill Self says he has no interest in scheduling longtime rival Missouri anymore after the Tigers bolted for the SEC. Texas-Texas A&M and Xavier-Dayton are both on hiatus as well thanks to lingering bitterness or scheduling conflicts created by conference switches by one or both schools.
Credit Stallings for being shrewd enough to recognize that Pitt-West Virginia is a rivalry with regional and national appeal. At a time when numerous historic rivalries have disappeared because of conference realignment, Pitt and West Virginia have ensured theirs won’t be one of them.
As Huggins said, “The game makes sense.”
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
