College Football: Top 15 rivalry games we’d like to see return in 2020

8. Pitt vs. Penn State

Games played: 100
Series record: Penn State leads 53-43-4
Last played: 2019
Next meeting: No future date

The Pitt Panthers and Penn State Nittany Lions played their 100th and final matchup of the in-state rivalry in 2019, completing a four year reboot of the rivalry which had previously been dormant from 2000 until the series resumed in 2016.

With just 137 miles and countless alumni between the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh to Old Main at Penn State, the rivalry had been played every year from 1900 through the 1992 season with a temporary three-year hiatus between 1931-35.

The first game between the schools occurred in 1893 and Penn State took an early lead in the series winning the first six games. Pitt eventually took over the rivalry in the 1920s going on a 14-game win streak while the game was played in Pittsburgh every year from 1903-1931. The series then took a turn again beginning in 1960 when the Nittany Lions went on a 30-9-2 run through the current end to the series in 2019.

Despite Penn State’s dominance in the series in more recent decades, the two schools often competed against each other over Thanksgiving weekend with national implications on the line, making the rivalry one of the best in the north. The Panthers and Nittany Lions met with both teams ranked in the top 25 from 1973-1981, an era where both consistently played in the major New Year’s Six bowl games, along with a national title by Pitt in 1976. Penn State would then go on to win the 1982 and 1986 titles.

Due to the changing landscape in college athletics in the late 1980s the series would take a major hit when Pitt joined the Big East in 1991 spurning Joe Paterno’s East Coast football conference for the primarily basketball focused conference.

The Nittany Lions were later turned away from the Big East in 1992 with a 5-3 vote including a “No” from Pitt leading to their eventual move to the Big Ten in 1993.

With fewer scheduling opportunities due to the new conference affiliations and the pettiness between the two universities, including Penn State’s response to only play Pitt in a 2-1 series with two games in State College to make up for the earlier stretch of games played in Pittsburgh, the rivalry ultimately ended in 2000 following a four-game series. The two would resume their series in 2016 with Pitt holding off a Penn State comeback in what was the largest attended sporting event in Heinz Field and crushed the Nittany Lions late season bid for the College Football Playoff.

The Nittany Lions would then win the remaining three match-ups, including a 51-6 return blowout in Pittsburgh and finished the series winning a thrilling 17-10 finale in State College after Pitt’s coach Pat Narduzzi decided to attempt a short field goal which was missed late in the fourth quarter after a three and out at Penn State’s goal line.

While Penn State does not appear to have an out of conference slot until the 2030 season, the rivalry will once again be on another hiatus. Pitt would like to continue the series with their second most played opponent, while Penn State does appear to be interesting in renewing the series with their most common played opponent. If the recent series has shown anything, the intensity still exists between the fanbases and head coaches and with the dramatic results the game could once again be one of college football’s great rivalries.