Where does the University of Pittsburgh stand in this world of calamitic change? The conference musical chairs is upon us and where does Pitt land when the music stops?
The answer to both is, “I don’t know!”
One can make an argument that Pitt will land on it’s feet; whilst at the same time; one can make an argument that Pitt will be left behind.
Pitt has a quality football brand with a rock solid history. Pitt has won Nine National Champions, a Heisman winner, several College Football Hall of Fame inductees, as well as several NFL Hall of Fame Inductees.
One must ask, is Pitt’s brand strong enough to watch a Pitt vs Michigan game with neither team being ranked and having losing seasons? People will turn in to watch Pitt vs Rutgers if both were in the Top 5. But brand strength and quality is really determined when teams are relatively struggling.
Take Notre Dame for instance; ND hasn’t won a major bowl in nearly thirty years; however; they’re deemed the richest prize in the realignment game (second to possibly the University of Texas). People are vested in Notre Dame, despite their lack of bowl success. They’re historically a Top 5 program with one of the largest fanbases in the United States.
The Pittsburgh media market is a top thirty media market in the country; however, the Big Ten Network already has coverage in Pittsburgh. Are there enough Pitt fans in the Pitt DMA to increase the ratings for games across the board on the network? That’s really a tough question to answer.
In relation to Oregon, Stanford and Cal, Pitt actually draws more fans to the home games than Stanford and Cal, and drew higher attendance against Wake Forest in the ACC Championship than Oregon drew against Utah in the PAC 12 Championship. So despite being touted for having poor fan-fair, Pitt is on par with it’s Big Ten expansion candidate peers from the west coast.
Now all of this doesn’t mean that Pitt is a great expansion candidate. Pitt compared to Texas, Notre Dame, Florida State or Clemson is just not even remotely in the same stratosphere; however, that’s also why those schools are mentioned first in these discussions. Pitt is likely that last, or next to last school in (if it is in), and our comparable schools are schools like Texas Christian University, Texas Tech, University of Louisville, University of Arizona, University of Colorado, Arizona State University, Baylor University and so on. Many of these could easily be included, while Pitt gets excluded.
The bulk of those are state flagships that carry new markets, and bring in fertile recruiting grounds. Western Pa is still a quality recruiting are, but it’s on the decline and schools like Michigan and Notre Dame already recruit WPA.
I don’t know if Pitt is 100% in or 100% out; it’s going to come down to which school sales itself the best. It’s going to be an interesting couple of days, weeks and months. There’s going to be plot-twists along the way.
Grab your popcorn and enjoy the show. The fireworks tonight on the fourth will not compare with the fireworks realignment will provide, especially in relation to the Pitt Panthers.
And yo, will someone FedEx me a Schneider’s Ice Tea for the show? Paweese!!!
joeweasel 