Pitt could have gone to Berkeley this season if things had broken differently.

Many years ago, Cal contracted to play three games with Louisiana Tech, the second of which was scheduled this year for Sept. 16 in Berkeley. In November, Tech officials told Cal that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana was cutting Tech’s operating budget by 10 percent. They desperately needed a “guarantee game” and asked out of the 2006 date so they could play at Auburn for between $600,000 and $800,000.

Louisiana Tech agreed to come to Berkeley in 2007 (the third meeting is at Cal in 2010), but Cal was missing a 2006 home game.

“Now, you scramble because it’s November, less than a year from the opener,” Cal schedule-maker Steve Holton said.

He sent e-mails to every Division I conference in search of a school with the same open date, or one willing to shuffle commitments in order to play Cal. “We had no response from Division I-A teams,” he said. “There were 8 to 10 teams from I-AA teams that were looking for a good payday. Our preference was to stay at the I-A level.”

A few I-A schools were open on Sept. 16, but Indiana officials made another commitment before Cal could approach them, and Wyoming and Pitt decided to use the date to book home games.

The home game that day will be with Michigan St. Wonder what year the return game with Cal would have been scheduled.