Shocker: Penn State Has No Rival

[Hoo's That]

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

Definitely. They're one of the biggest winners in any conference by having divisions scrapped. Before taking in USC and UCLA, I thought the B1G would give PSU Michigan State, Rutgahs, and Merlin as their permanent 3.

 

[sufandu]

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 agree. The in state aspect and close proximity make that the best choice. I threw us in there because there was a time that it was big for both teams and vitriol for them from our side still exists.

I'd love to see what you suggest. Those would be fun end of season games like Georgia/Georgia Tech and Clemson/South Carolina. Way better than the pseudo-rivalry with BC the conference has manufactured.

 

[Eric15]

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.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your OP. You said "And three decades later, they have no rival." I responded with an example of a great rivalry they have (Ohio State)." And then you said "spot on."

 

[Hoo's That]

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.

The adoption by the NCAA of the championship game rule was much more of an influence than PSU's move. The NCAA has said they never expected any D-1 conference to expand to 12 and thereby qualify to have a championship game. The SEC's expansion caught them totally by surprise. The economic success of the championship game made everybody want one.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I agree. The in state aspect and close proximity make that the best choice. I threw us in there because there was a time that it was big for both teams and vitriol for them from our side still exists.

I'd love to see what you suggest. Those would be fun end of season games like Georgia/Georgia Tech and Clemson/South Carolina. Way better than the pseudo-rivalry with BC the conference has manufactured.

In the 60s Penn State pulled away from Pitt and SU as a program. Them playing Pitt to end the year is no different than us playing BC. Pitt is a regional rival but they aren't a true rival.

From 1960 and on Penn State is 30-10-1 vs Pitt, that is not a rivalry. From 1967 and on Penn State is 24-3 vs SU.

 

[WoadBlue]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your OP. You said "And three decades later, they have no rival." I responded with an example of a great rivalry they have (Ohio State)." And then you said "spot on."

But Ohio State does not consider the a big enough rivalry for it to request that the BT make it annual.

In the BT, PSU will always be in that spot: it considers itself too big to be a 'rival' of Marylnd or Rutgers or Michigan St, and Ohio St and Michigan don't consider PSU worth their sense of rival status.

 

[WoadBlue]

In the 60s Penn State pulled away from Pitt and SU as a program. Them playing Pitt to end the year is no different than us playing BC. Pitt is a regional rival but they aren't a true rival.

From 1960 and on Penn State is 30-10-1 vs Pitt, that is not a rivalry. From 1967 and on Penn State is 24-3 vs SU.

But the Pitt-PSU game mattered to CFB fans in other regions even in 1990. So it remained very much a rivalry, because it metered even when one team began pulling away.

PSU--Pitt and PSU-Syracuse would once again come to matter not very long after the goes began being played annually.

 

[Eric15]

But Ohio State does not consider the a big enough rivalry for it to request that the BT make it annual.

In the BT, PSU will always be in that spot: it considers itself too big to be a 'rival' of Marylnd or Rutgers or Michigan St, and Ohio St and Michigan don't consider PSU worth their sense of rival status.

Agreed. Like anything else, I think the term “rival” is a grayscale. You have your heated bitter rivals, and then you have secondary rivals. Like with SU hoops it was Georgetown and then UConn, but I would still consider Pitt, Nova, etc. “rivals” albeit just a notch down.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

I'd be happy with this if I was them it means they play everyone a little more often and don't have a likely annual loss to Ohio State and Michigan on the calendar.

Their fanbase probably wishes they were on the easier side of the Big Ten this whole time getting a bye into the title game vs having to go through both of those two.

I absolutely ing hate playing Pitt every year and would love to drop that game in favor of a rotating conference member. Hate hate hate it. And despite living in Boston kind of sick of the BC game going to Chestnut Hill 1/4 years would be enough. I do think BC is about to fall off and become the clear cut worst ACC team though so I'll take it. Hopefully they cut the BS and schedule it early for once 2020 was supposed to be opening weekend Friday before c19 ruined things.

I think an annual FSU matchup is OK as I expect them to take Clemsons spot as the #1 ACC team and think we might be able to pull off a few upsets. But we might go 0-10. Couldn't even pull that game off my sophomore year in 2004 or the 2021 game with the ridiculous hold.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

I don't want to bring basketball into this but the Georgetown game is my least favorite of the year we have nothing to gain and just risk an embarrassing loss we never play well.

Scheduling Maryland and Rutgers teams we used to play a lot didn't go well for us did it? One game @ Maryland when we were ranked threw the program into a terrible 3 year downspin and almost got Dino fired. Tommy DeVito couldn't even pull out a win against a NJ team and then quit the program a couple weeks later. C19 pandemic saved us from 2 more embarrassing losses to them no chance we beat Maryland in the Dome or win in Piscattaway that year.

 

[DilemaCuse]

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.

I don't see how they haave been kicked to the curb. I see them not having to play osu and Michigan every year in 24 and 25 which the league is trying to scheme to get 2 or 3 teams into the playoffs

 

[DilemaCuse]

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.

I don't disagree and your right from a fans perspective but not from a decision makers perspective.

 

[CbusCuse]

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.

By PSU being independent and then going BIG It has also hurt the perception and growth of eastern football. If they had been in a conference of eastern foes football in the region would have been bigger in non PSU areas. They are traitors.

Wouldn’t play us anymore once we were a threat to beat them. Cowards. Never liked anything about them.

 

[RF2044]

The certainly have no rival in terms of a fanbase willing to rationalize away depravity.

 

[Eric15]

I don't want to bring basketball into this but the Georgetown game is my least favorite of the year we have nothing to gain and just risk an embarrassing loss we never play well.

I disagree that there is nothing to gain by playing Georgetown. Our game against them this past season was the 4th biggest home crowd of the year (behind Duke, UNC and ND). While it obviously isn't what it was back in the day, the rivalry still has some gas left in the tank. And SU fans in the DMV always come out in droves for the game down here.

 

[Cuse'91]

Autry v. Cooley also may create a little more buzz too. Rivalries are always better when BOTH teams are good.

 

[sufandu]

I don't disagree and your right from a fans perspective but not from a decision makers perspective.

I get that. The decision makers have mixed up priorities. All they care about is money. There's plenty of money to be made without every decision being about maximizing it.

 

[gbo]

Penn State football should have received the death penalty...

 

[Cuse181]

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.

If you’re selling out then rivalries don’t matter. What are rivalries good for other than driving ticket sales? You’re missing the point. If you’re a fan who will pay 150 for a game (base price) against Rutgers, it doesn’t make a difference if the secondary market would be higher if they were Playing Pitt, Penn State only sees the initial rate.

 

[WoadBlue]

Penn State football should have received the death penalty...

But the Big ten covers any number of sins.

 

[WoadBlue]

I disagree that there is nothing to gain by playing Georgetown. Our game against them this past season was the 4th biggest home crowd of the year (behind Duke, UNC and ND). While it obviously isn't what it was back in the day, the rivalry still has some gas left in the tank. And SU fans in the DMV always come out in droves for the game down here.

I agree. I think that Syracuse should play Georgetown in hoops annually. IT is a great OOC game that TV should love.

 

[WoadBlue]

By PSU being independent and then going BIG It has also hurt the perception and growth of eastern football. If they had been in a conference of eastern foes football in the region would have been bigger in non PSU areas. They are traitors.

Wouldn’t play us anymore once we were a threat to beat them. Cowards. Never liked anything about them.

ABSOLUTELY. And JoePa knew that. By then he wanted to hurt everybody else in the northeast.

 

[sufandu]

If you’re selling out then rivalries don’t matter. What are rivalries good for other than driving ticket sales? You’re missing the point. If you’re a fan who will pay 150 for a game (base price) against Rutgers, it doesn’t make a difference if the secondary market would be higher if they were Playing Pitt, Penn State only sees the initial rate.

I don't care about that. It's not simply about money, or at least it shouldn't be. I'm a fan, not a business man. I don't own stock in anything related to college sports, so I don't care about maximizing the money. As a fan I care about other things. My perspective is pretty clear in posts #25 and #42.

 

[CuseCactus]

Penn State is everything that's wrong about college football. And I still miss playing them.

 

[KaiserUEO]

basically, this just proves that ped st doesnt need a rival...hence the 107k week in and week out.

it would take Syracuse 4 games to top that 1 game attendance mark.

northeast football is ped st, a few of D1 schools along for the ride, the Ivy's, the Patriot and D3.

they are Rome.

and it sucks,