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August 22, 2011 – | No Comment

With under two weeks to go until Penn State’s season opener against Indiana State, we’re officially back in football mode here at quebecpenspinning. We might be a bit late with this set of season previews, …

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Nitt Links finds a Pitt rivalry reference, officially declares the start of the offseason

Submitted by on February 15, 2011No Comment
Oh look, a Yellow Out!

You know it’s that time again, the months just after football when Penn State fans finally come to the realization that regardless of how talented a team we might have, being led by DeChellis means the inevitable underwhelming end to a promising season with no tourney invitation is looming, when columnists begin beating up the dead horse that is the Pitt rivalry.

“When the football team plays schools like Notre Dame and Alabama, it’s billed as a big game because of the history of the programs. But these teams meet too infrequently to be considered true rivals.”

Nevermind that once Nebraska officially enters the conference next season and the Big Ten moves to a 9 game schedule, Penn State will actually be far more limited in their non-conference opponents considering that during alternating seasons, the Nittany Lions will have only 4 home conference games scheduled and only have the flexibility of 3 non-conference games instead of the 4 we have now. In order to reach the 7 home games required to remain in the black, all 3 non-conference games during those seasons would need to be hosted at Beaver Stadium.

Sure there are those alternating years when Penn State will have the luxury of 5 home conference games and only need to schedule 2 of the 3 non conference games at home, but then you have to ask yourself whether you would prefer to watch Penn State take on Notre Dame, Alabama, Miami, Syracuse, Rutgers, Navy, in subsequent home and home series or the revival of a increasingly insignificant rivalry with a program whose media and recruiting market Penn State already has a strong foothold in. Nostalgia aside, the recruiting and exposure benefits of Penn State barnstorming New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, South Bend and Tuscaloosa far outweighs Pitt hijacking a possible Penn State game at Heinz as an opportunity to sell a required 3 game ticket combo just so Nittany Lion fans can watch their alma mater a mere 3 hours away.

The columnist of the article Michael Oplinger, seems lost on the fact that should Penn State even want to revive an outdated rivalry with Pitt, it will come at the cost of giving up the marquee nationally relevant programs like Alabama, Notre Dame, and Miami because Pitt would agree to nothing short of a home and away.

And if we keep scheduling programs like Youngstown State, Temple and Akron who are far more flexible in agreeing to guarantee games with no return trips or 3 for 1 series, thus allowing Penn State to continue scheduling marquee opponents nationally in the coming years, I’m all for it.

  • Quick Hits… The official 2011 White Out shirt designs are out, head on over and vote for the one you like. … Penn State Division I hockey takes another big step forward today when Paul and Nancy Silvis pledged an additional $1 million donation on top of the $88 million given by Terry Pegula. The main lobby of Pegula Ice Arena will be named after Paul and Nancy and the couple will also co-chair the Penn State Ice Campaign Committee, which will help to raise an additional $10 million to complement the gift from the Pegulas for the ice arena and ice hockey program endowments. … Rivals has an updated offer board for the Class of 2012. … There are less than 800 seats left for the #3 Penn State wrestling team’s final home dual against the #12 ranked Badgers on Friday Feb 18, at 7pm. …If you weren’t lucky enough to attend the BCS Championship game last month at the University of Phoenix Stadium, here’s a nifty panoramic high def shot during pregame from the press box. … And THON is only 3 short days away, donate now to an amazing cause if you haven’t already. FTK!
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