From Blue-Gray Sky, it is all about the rivalries. This is football, so the choices are limited. The questions are a little more involved than they appear, hence the further details

1. Who are your rival(s)?
West Virginia. It is the Backyard Brawl. They hate Pitt and we look down upon them like the backwater bumpkins they are. During the games, a favorite chant is, “Hoopies rape Sheep!” 75 miles separate the 2 schools, but the cultural divide is far greater.

When old Pitt Stadium was around and I was an undergrad in the late 80s, there was a chain link fence dividing the bleachers in one endzone. This served to separate antagonizing fans who would shout obscenities back and forth throughout the games. After a while, the empties — cans, bottles, whatever projectile could be found would start getting hurled back-and-forth. Inevitably some idiot would get enraged and drunk enough to decide he would scale the fence and take on his antagonist. Almost with out fail it was one of the inebriated, inbred hillbillies. As he would scale, he would get tangled in the fence and forcibly dragged down and pummeled by the waiting Pitt fans who were equally inebriated but not as stupid. Hey, the Pitt fans still had teeth that weren’t worth losing.

2. Size up your chances in your rival games this year.
Slightly Above Average. It is frustrating to actually respect the rival’s coach, but I respect Rich Rodriguez. He is doing a very good job with the Mountaineers’ program. He gets the entire team up for the Backyard Brawl, because as an alum, it really matters to him. In recent years the series has see-sawed (4-4). Neither team winning more than 2 games in a row. This year’s game is in Morgantown on a Thursday night. Given the way family grates for most on Thanksgiving, this could be very dangerous for the fans. I expect the Morgantown police will be out gathering couches from the porches for 2 weeks prior this time.

3. If you could start up a new rivalry with another team, who would it be?
Multiple answers here.

We should be playing Penn State annually. The fact that the old man cancelled the rivalry and refuses to renew it out of spite and vindictiveness has been hashed, re-hashed many times here.
Many Penn State fans reflexively defend their coach and his pettiness by saying Pitt was the one who refused to join Paterno’s Eastern Conference dream in the 80s — even if history reflects there wasn’t much support for that dream much beyond Rutgers and Temple. In their view if Pitt had signed on, everyone else would have fallen into line. Right.

I grew up on that rivalry. Both my parents are PSU alum. I chose Pitt. Sparks flew every fall. It mattered in the state. Now it fades. Penn State fans now try to claim that they don’t need it or any rivalry game (which is a good thing since they don’t have one).

I think where the best potential for a new rivalry will be with UConn. UConn and Pitt have been going at it fiercely in basketball for the last 4 years. There is real potential for it to carry over to football if their program continues to develop.

Louisville is another possibility, but they the teams have only met 8 times. The last time being 1994.

4. Overall, what do you think the best rivalry in college football is?
I want to say the Wagon Wheel between the Zips and Golden Flashes (Akron and Kent), but I haven’t started drinking yet.

I hate to have to admit this, but it is the Ohio State-Michigan game. The vitriol and hatred is so strong. It is impressive, despite my urges not to.

5. Lastly, game trophies. What are the best and worst rivalry trophies out there?
Best: I’m partial to most anything involving symbols of alcohol. Unfortunately, Kentucky “retired” most of its trophy games titled for alcohol — Beer Barrel (Tennessee), Bourbon Barrel (Indiana).

I’m going to have to go with Paul Bunyan’s Axe — Minnesota-Wisconsin. Sure it’s a little cheesy and ridiculous. But you have to go with trophy where there is a potential to cause a decapitation and mayhem. Seriously, have you ever watched those players start swinging that thing around after the game? It’s a wonder there hasn’t been a Chris Hanson incident.

Worst: This is easy. Pick the Land Grant Trophy — Michigan State-Penn State. This one was created for them when Penn St. joined the Big 11. They made MSU their rival, because there was no other team to use. This is one of my favorite quotes to describe the players passion:

“The only thing we know about the trophy is that it leaves a big empty space in our trophy case when we don’t win,” Penn State senior offensive lineman Matt Schmitt said.

Hate when that happens.

Lamest Attempt: A few years back, the Hoopies alumni association offered up some ancient moonshine jug as a trophy for the Backyard Brawl. There was no interest.