It is conference media time once again in the Big Ten and the ACC, which can only mean one thing around these parts. The media day quips about when Penn State and Pittsburgh might get back together for some non-conference football again. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has once again tried kicking up some dust on the subject by suggesting his Panthers are ready for more games against the Nittany Lions.
The only problem is Penn State has little interest in reviving the in-state rivalry, so it seems. Narduzzi made a quick comment about Penn State not wanting to play Pitt when commenting on the revival of Pitt’s backyard rivalry with West Virginia (Pitt and West Virginia resumed their rivalry last season with the Mountaineers winning 17-6; Penn State also revived its series with West Virginia with a 38-15 victory in State College).
“They won’t play us,” Narduzzi said about Penn State. Narduzzi and Pitt have continued to claim the door is open for a continued series with Penn State, but Penn State has failed to show much interest in doing so.
Penn State and Pitt played a four-game series that ran from 2016 through 2019. After losing the first game in the four-game scheduling agreement, Penn State won the next three.
James Franklin is among the scheduled speakers on Wednesday at Big Ten football media day. You can bet Franklin will be asked about Penn State’s scheduling philosophy moving forward in a changing landscape for the sport, with a slight focus on a possible matchup with the Panthers. But if that question is also posed, do not expect Franklin to take the bait.
As long as Pitt and Penn State fail to play non-conference games against each other, this conversation is going to be recycled time and time again. This is not something that will go away as much as some would prefer it to do so.
Penn State will face West Virginia to open the 2024 season and will play non-conference games against Bowling Green and Kent State this season. The Nittany Lions have a fully booked non-conference schedule in 2025 (Nevada, FIU, and Villanova), 2026 (Marshall, at Temple, and Buffalo), and 2027 (Syracuse, Delaware, and Temple). Penn State currently has one schedule vacancy to fill in 2028 (Ball State, at Syracuse).
Pitt has a schedule vacancy to fill in 2025 and 2026 and at least two vacancies to fill in 2027, 2028, 2030, and beyond.
[lawrence-related id=46240]
Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.