In sports there is an old maxim that the fans will overestimate the talent their team gave up versus what they acquired (this does not apply when it comes to salary dumping trades like what the Pittsburgh Pirates did this past summer).

I mention this because it applies to the beginning of this article on the Pitt-Penn St. Basketball game today:

The Pitt basketball team will do something this afternoon that it shouldn’t do again any time soon unless the current athletic climate in the Commonwealth changes dramatically.

The Panthers will play host to Penn State, which they should not do until the football rivalry is restored. The same goes for Pitt visiting Happy Valley for a little roundball.

No sense doing Penn State any favors when a favor won’t be returned.

The rest of the article is actually devoted to the subject of Pitt’s play so far, but this opening bothered me.

Now, everyone here at PSB wants the football rivalry restored. The lack of a football game with Penn St. is one more of Joe Paterno’s sins. Pitt has been ready, willing, and able to play the annual game (though not on Paterno’s self-serving terms of 2 games in State College for 1 game in Pittsburgh). Really, both sides want the rivalry restored. The only one against it, is a vindictive, bitter old man out in Happy Valley.

So at first blush any advantage Pitt has should be pushed. Pitt is much better than Penn State in basketball, and even though Pitt has had some extended bad runs, they have the historically stronger basketball program and history. This quickly breaks down on a closer look.

1. The annual basketball game is not even close to equal value in terms of money, national attention, alumni pride, and exposure.

2. Pitt is, at present, a top-25 team. It has been a top-25 team for the previous 2 seasons. Prior to that, it had been almost a decade since Pitt had even cracked the top-25 in during a season. Pitt holds no great reputation as a basketball power. Unlike Penn St. football, the mention of Pitt basketball does not cause national sportswriters and tv people to wax poetic about the tradition and history (and yes, these days when they talk of PSU, it tends to be in the past tense and with a little wistful sadness to see Paterno fall so far). Pitt has no historical elite reputation like Duke, UNC, Kansas or Kentucky. It doesn’t even reach perennial contender or top-25 standards like Cinci, Arizona, Syracuse, Temple, Mich. St., or UConn. Pitt is trying to get there, but it isn’t yet.

3. How much would Penn St. basketball be harmed by an end to playing Pitt? Prior to 2000, Pitt and Penn St. played each other 3 times between 1981-1999. Did anyone notice? Not exactly much of a hammer. It’s not like football, where there is a battle for local recruits. There aren’t that many recruits worth fighting over in Western and Central Pennsylvania.

4. It makes more sense to build up a good relationship with the other athletic programs and the athletic department, so that it is easier to resume the football rivalry after Paterno is put out to pasture retires.

So, Pitt should keep playing Penn State in basketball. If for no other reason, it is a good reminder of what a pale shadow it is compared to what the annual football game was.