Shocker: Penn State Has No Rival

[CuyahogaCuse]

From Yahoo Sports: No rival for Nittany Lions

Shocker, I know. 30 years later, and the reality sets in.

Conference home cooking in 2024 against Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers and UCLA.

Hope they’ve enjoyed all the B1G cash.

Here’s their all-time opponents list: link.

Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, Maryland, Temple. Still the top five. By a long shot. Navy #7. Rutgers #10. Army #12.

Noticing a pattern? Penn State started the conference shifting shenanigans 30 years ago. And three decades later, they have no rival. Kicked to the curb by their conference mates. You just hate to see it.

 

[Bayside44]

Penn State's average attendance last year was 107,000.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Penn State's average attendance last year was 107,000.

And?

Did you read the article? It had nothing to do with attendance.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

They don't have a rival because they are the only real program in the Northeast. It has nothing to do with the B16.

Also they have been in the B16 for about 1/4 of their history. So why would any B16 team be in their Top 5? That being said Maryland is 4th.

The SEC started the conference changes. Penn State was not a factor in this mess.

 

[WoadBlue]

They don't have a rival because they are the only real program in the Northeast. It has nothing to do with the B16.

Also they have been in the B16 for about 1/4 of their history. So why would any B16 team be in their Top 5? That being said Maryland is 4th.

The SEC started the conference changes. Penn State was not a factor in this mess.

JoePa had successfully wooed the BT before the SEC decided to expand back to 12 members. The BT wanted to get control of the northeastern TV market, which would seriously hurt northeastern independents, and acted before the SEC could act to destabilize the SWC.

 

[sufandu]

From Yahoo Sports: No rival for Nittany Lions

Shocker, I know. 30 years later, and the reality sets in.

Conference home cooking in 2024 against Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers and UCLA.

Hope they’ve enjoyed all the B1G cash.

Here’s their all-time opponents list: link.

Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, Maryland, Temple. Still the top five. By a long shot. Navy #7. Rutgers #10. Army #12.

Noticing a pattern? Penn State started the conference shifting shenanigans 30 years ago. And three decades later, they have no rival. Kicked to the curb by their conference mates. You just hate to see it.

And that's with good success. The people that think it's a certainty that we'll establish a great rivalry again may end up waiting a loooooong time.

 

[Bayside44]

And?

Did you read the article? It had nothing to do with attendance.

Didn’t mean to be a jerk but with the numbers they pull the rival thing seems unimportant.

 

[sufandu]

Didn’t mean to be a jerk but with the numbers they pull the rival thing seems unimportant.

It's important because it's not just about numbers. Rivalries help make sports fun, especially in college sports. Of course, if Penn St wanted a rivalry that both sides could care about, there's nothing stopping them from annually scheduling a non-conference rival like Pitt or us. Clemson does it with South Carolina and Florida does it with FSU.

 

[Bayside44]

It's important because it's not just about numbers. Rivalries help make sports fun, especially in college sports. Of course, if Penn St wanted a rivalry that both sides could care about, there's nothing stopping them from annually scheduling a non-conference rival like Pitt or us. Clemson does it with South Carolina and Florida does it with FSU.

They’re getting 107k per game. Seems fun.

I sorta get the rivals thing just think PSU isn’t a good example.

 

[sufandu]

They’re getting 107k per game. Seems fun.

I sorta get the rivals thing just think PSU isn’t a good example.

You're really caught up on the attendance. It doesn't tell the whole story. Duke sells out every basketball game. Do you think Wake Forest moves the needle as much as UNC?

Nobody said you can't care about your team without a rivalry. But rivalries make it better. Anybody that was around for the height of the SU/Gtown rivalry knows the difference between what it's like to have a good one versus not having one. They matter. Your right though, PSU may be a bad example because it's been so long since JoPa arrogantly killed all of theirs off that their fans don't remember what they're missing.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Didn’t mean to be a jerk but with the numbers they pull the rival thing seems unimportant.

No offense taken.

My key takeaway was the irony in that article, bemoaning the fact that Penn State won’t see Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State making biannual trips to Happy Valley anymore, plus the fact that they are the only B16 without a protected annual rivalry game.

It’s not too different from the situation their own old eastern rivals were in three decades ago when they folded up their playpen and headed west.

And despite 30 years in the B16, when all is said and done, their 107k fans have no true rival. No game to circle on the calendar each year.

They started it all long before the SEC. And what do they get for it? Illinois and Minnesota. Rutgers and UCLA. That and a mountain of cash, I guess.

 

[DilemaCuse]

It's important because it's not just about numbers. Rivalries help make sports fun, especially in college sports. Of course, if Penn St wanted a rivalry that both sides could care about, there's nothing stopping them from annually scheduling a non-conference rival like Pitt or us. Clemson does it with South Carolina and Florida does it with FSU.

They don't need a rival, they need to beat who ever is on their schedule. They think they have a good chance to do that this year after winning a rose bowl. They are healthy, thriving, rivals be damned.

 

[tep624]

They have no rival and they have no soul.

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

It's important because it's not just about numbers. Rivalries help make sports fun, especially in college sports. Of course, if Penn St wanted a rivalry that both sides could care about, there's nothing stopping them from annually scheduling a non-conference rival like Pitt or us. Clemson does it with South Carolina and Florida does it with FSU.

Pitt should be that game.

But I wouldn’t complain if Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia and our Orange could figure out some regional non-conference scheduling agreement where Cuse-Penn State and the Backyard Brawl happened one season and then Penn State-Pitt and Cuse-WVU happened the next. Rotate those two sets of games among the four teams annually and you’d be on to something.

 

[DilemaCuse]

They have no rival and they have no soul.

Can't argue with that but wake me up when the cfp committee makes having a rival a requirement for a cfp berth.

 

[DilemaCuse]

I bet they are giddy they don't have to play osu and Michigan every year. USC won't be easy but they are not yet to osu and Michigan level right now

 

[tep624]

Pitt should be that game.

But I wouldn’t complain if Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia and our Orange could figure out some regional non-conference scheduling agreement where Cuse-Penn State and the Backyard Brawl happened one season and then Penn State-Pitt and Cuse-WVU happened the next. Rotate those two sets of games among the four teams annually and you’d be on to something.

I don’t really see the upside to playing PSU with any regularity. James Franklin makes my skin crawl.

 

[Orangezoo]

No offense taken.

My key takeaway was the irony in that article, bemoaning the fact that Penn State won’t see Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State making biannual trips to Happy Valley anymore, plus the fact that they are the only B16 without a protected annual rivalry game.

It’s not too different from the situation their own old eastern rivals were in three decades ago when they folded up their playpen and headed west.

And despite 30 years in the B16, when all is said and done, their 107k fans have no true rival. No game to circle on the calendar each year.

They started it all long before the SEC. And what do they get for it? Illinois and Minnesota. Rutgers and UCLA. That and a mountain of cash, I guess.

Bit of a weird article and topic. A good 20 of my friends went to Penn St. Half my hometown is PSU football fans. A rivalry means very little to them as they see themselves as a staple of college football and thus there are always big games in conference with massive draws. Penn St football is a massive event for nearly the whole weekend starting Thursday nights. It really doesn't matter who they play- good teams playing at PSU- it's a monster game. Not to mention almost all B10 matchups with Pst are seen as some form of a rivalry.

I'll just add I loathe PSU and the creepy cult that they have there.

 

[Cheriehoop]

No offense taken.

My key takeaway was the irony in that article, bemoaning the fact that Penn State won’t see Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State making biannual trips to Happy Valley anymore, plus the fact that they are the only B16 without a protected annual rivalry game.

It’s not too different from the situation their own old eastern rivals were in three decades ago when they folded up their playpen and headed west.

And despite 30 years in the B16, when all is said and done, their 107k fans have no true rival. No game to circle on the calendar each year.

They started it all long before the SEC. And what do they get for it? Illinois and Minnesota. Rutgers and UCLA. That and a mountain of cash, I guess.

I read an article saying that Penn St not playing Ohio ST, Michigan, Michigan St is a real scheduling plus for them and their future record. It said other B16 teams aren’t happy with what they believe is Penn St’s much easier schedule.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Pitt should be that game.

But I wouldn’t complain if Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia and our Orange could figure out some regional non-conference scheduling agreement where Cuse-Penn State and the Backyard Brawl happened one season and then Penn State-Pitt and Cuse-WVU happened the next. Rotate those two sets of games among the four teams annually and you’d be on to something.

Nope. Pitt is way beneath them. It wouldn't be a real rival anymore than Michigan State was.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

JoePa had successfully wooed the BT before the SEC decided to expand back to 12 members. The BT wanted to get control of the northeastern TV market, which would seriously hurt northeastern independents, and acted before the SEC could act to destabilize the SWC.

Penn State was an Indy how did the shift from a conference? The B10 was the 1st to announce going to 11, but they were 2nd to play with 11, 4th to go to 12 (the SEC went to 13 before the B10 went to 12), 3rd to go to 14, and 2nd to go to 16. Penn State going to the B10 had nothing to do with the SEC, B8, or ACC expanding. The B10 wasn't the ones to kill off the SWC or the Big East or the B12 as Power conferences (they did with the P12 though). They didn't raid another conference until 2010, and if ND had accepted the invite as #12 the B10 wouldn't have raided another conference until 2012.

 

[Eric15]

Penn State/Ohio State is definitely a rivalry. Both those places are electric for those games. It's just not as big as Ohio State/Michigan historically.

Similar to how Bama/Tennessee is a rivalry (but not at the level of Bama/Auburn). Or ND/USC is a rivalry (but not at the level of crosstown UCLA/USC).

 

[CuyahogaCuse]

Penn State/Ohio State is definitely a rivalry. Both those places are electric for those games. It's just not as big as Ohio State/Michigan historically.

Similar to how Bama/Tennessee is a rivalry (but not at the level of Bama/Auburn). Or ND/USC is a rivalry (but not at the level of crosstown UCLA/USC).

Spot on.

Guys, this isn’t hard. The premise is simple.

Penn State leaving the eastern independents and staking their claim (first) with the B1G ended generations of annual rivalry games with Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, etc. It also set in motion the conference expansion era.

Thirty years later, that very same expansion, continuing unbridled, is taking away annual rivalry games with Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.

It’s just ironic. That’s it.

 

[Hoo's That]

No offense taken.

My key takeaway was the irony in that article, bemoaning the fact that Penn State won’t see Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State making biannual trips to Happy Valley anymore, plus the fact that they are the only B16 without a protected annual rivalry game.

It’s not too different from the situation their own old eastern rivals were in three decades ago when they folded up their playpen and headed west.

And despite 30 years in the B16, when all is said and done, their 107k fans have no true rival. No game to circle on the calendar each year.

They started it all long before the SEC. And what do they get for it? Illinois and Minnesota. Rutgers and UCLA. That and a mountain of cash, I guess.

What? No Michigan State? How can they possibly let the world-famous Land Grant Trophy just sit in a corner gathering dust?

 

[sufandu]

They don't need a rival, they need to beat who ever is on their schedule. They think they have a good chance to do that this year after winning a rose bowl. They are healthy, thriving, rivals be damned.

Nobody NEEDS a rival. You're missing the point, maybe because it's been so long since we had one. You're only looking at this from a strategic point of view. College sports are about more than making a playoff or winning a NC. They're about pride in your team and fun. Rivalries enhance the experience of both, especially for those teams that don't make the playoff, which is most of them.