Pat Narduzzi can keep whining because Pitt needs Penn State, not the other way around

In classic Pitt fashion, coming off a 3-9 season, the Panthers’ longtime head coach Pat Narduzzi couldn’t keep his mouth shut or keep Penn State off his mind at ACC Media Days in Charlotte, North Carolina this week. 

Pitt and Penn State haven’t met on the football field since the Nittany Lions’ 17-10 victory in 2019. Yet, both have West Virginia on the schedule this season, and the mere mention of the Mountaineers was enough for Narduzzi to open fire on State College Pennsylvania in the shadow of Mount Nittany. 

“At Pittsburgh, we embrace rivalries,” Narduzzi began, “We’d love to play Penn State, if they would play us,” he continued, “if they won’t play us we’d love to play West Virginia as many times as we could play them.” 

Since joining the Big Ten and eventually losing its yearly matchup with Pitt after the 2000 season, Penn State has been in an interesting position. The Nittany Lions have plenty of rivals, matchups with Ohio State and Michigan demand all the vitriol the fanbase can muster, yet those two longtime Big Ten combatants always have a bigger game on the schedule, the one against each other. Pitt is Penn State’s most natural rival, but even the Panthers have West Virginia which is arguably more important to the Western PA fanbase, if not the team’s head coach. 

So, could Penn State use a meaningful rivalry game on its schedule every season, sure, but what value does Pitt bring to that equation? The Panthers are not only coming off a 3-9 season, but they also have won double-digit games just twice this century and the highest ranking they’ve reached in the College Football Playoff era is No. 12 in the 2021 season. 

That was one of just three seasons in which the Panthers cracked the CFP rankings at all. The program's previous high-water mark was No. 23 in 2016, largely due to an early season win over Penn State.

The Big Ten schedule isn’t quite an SEC slate, but with the addition of UCLA, USC, Washington, and Oregon, an already difficult conference has gotten even tougher to navigate. Adding an emotional rivalry game against an inferior non-conference opponent is an unnecessary pitfall that James Franklin and athletic director Pat Kraft would much rather sidestep. In 2016, the first year the rivalry was renewed, Pitt’s 42-39 win at Heinz Field was the only thing that kept Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley from leading the Nittany Lions to the four-team CFP. 

Yes, the expansion to a 12-team playoff system allows big-time programs to bounce back from an unfortunate loss and still have a chance to play for a national championship, but between Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon, Penn State has enough potential losses on its yearly schedule already. That’s before considering the overwhelming possibility of a 10-game conference schedule which could arrive in the near future and give the Nittany Lions only two non-conference slots and much less breathing room. 

If the 10-game conference schedule does come to fruition, then there's a realistic possibility that Pitt and Penn State never play again, at least not for a long time. Pitt fans will counter and say that Penn State is scared to play Pitt, and yeah, rightfully so. The Nittany Lions, who would have qualified for the 12-team playoff in six of the last 10 seasons, have much bigger fish to fry. A win for Pitt would make the entire season, even one that ends at 3-9, a success, but a win for Penn State is the expectation and would quickly be forgotten if Franklin still couldn't get over the hump against Ohio State and Michigan.

Pitt and Narduzzi would love to play Penn State. Not only would a win make the entire season for the Panthers, but it could sway in-state recruits, and would be the biggest win on Pitt’s unimpressive ACC schedule. Especially if Clemson and Florida State finally make their daring escape from the weakest of the Power 4 conferences and its awful television contract.

Without the league's only two CFP contenders, the conference would crumble and Pitt would be left clinging onto its rivalries with Penn State and West Virginia in hopes of receiving an invite to the Big Ten or Big 12. Like the senior who still lives in the on-campus dorms showing up to the frat party and begging to get in because he helped one of the brothers get a B- in biology freshman year. 

Pitt doesn’t bring anything to the table for Penn State and until Narduzzi can build a program that would represent a resume-building non-conference win or at least a loss that wouldn’t unravel the entire season, then he can stop whining about getting turned away at the door. At least show up with a case of beer next time Pat, because the Big Ten party is just fine without you.