***my eyes were to tired, and still are***

if some of you were talking about people saying why didn’t we go to the Big Ten instead of the ACC, then yes, you are correct.

No offense to Pitt, but we didn’t add another tv market, we were never in their sights.

So, my apologies if that is what you were countering.

That’s why Swofford has to swing for the fences and try to land Penn State or Texas. If he cannot convince them, Pitt needs to be on the phone with the Big 12 and hope they are interested in creating an Eastern pod so WVU has traveling partners. The Big 10 doesn’t want us since we don’t offer any new TV sets. The ACC schools remaining will go where the money is. The low ball contract by ESPN has led to this. Adding UConn and Louisville won’t put a stop to this. The Big 10 has its eyes set on Virginia, NC and Ga Tech while the ACC is targeting NC St and Va Tech. Fl St, Clemson and Miami will be poached by the Big 12. The Cuse has a better shot at landing in the Big 10 than Pitt. Pitt might be screwed again. How does playing Wake, Duke and a bunch of former and existing Conference USA teams sound? The Big 12 is the better play at this point. And Texas loves Pitt. Don’t ask me why but they do.

I can’t think of a $ingle good rea$on why Texa$ would leave the Big XII to join the ACC. In fact, I think the AD would be fired on the spot for even considering it.

Back when it looked like the Big XII was on its death bed, I think I read that Texas reaps something like $60M per year between the league’s TV package plus its own Longhorn Network. The ACC pays, what, $17M per year?

If Pitt’s AD proposed to leave the ACC and join the Sun Belt Conf and take a 75% pay-cut, I’d join the chorus that Stevie-P must go.

Penn State would be cool, it would resume the rivalry game. The Nits too would take a pay-cut, but at least it wouldn’t be as severe…

@ Imma
If Texas joined the ACC revenue per team would probably increase dramatically as a new deal with ESPN would be worked out. There would probably have to be some concessions regarding Texas’ tv network though. Also, Texas would probably want to bring along some of their little Big XII brothers with them and require ND to join full-time. There would be plenty of additional revenue for all.

What ACC needs to do…
Is create an ACC network… basically copy Big10..
make more money…
therefore, won’t lose teams to other conferences.
It’s all about money…
If the money were equal… many teams would not leave..

@TX Panther – when my sons tell people where they went to school or, for that matter, when I tell people they went to Pitt, the reaction we get is, “wow, great school.” No one asks about the football or even the basketball teams. The image of Pitt, particularly in the NYC area, is one of a terrific academic institution that happens to have a long and storied history of athletic success.

@TX Panther If football defines your degree, then you went to the wrong college. Seriously, your whole rant is ridiculous. Hiring managers do pay attention to what university your degree is from. As Pitt’s academic reputation grows, the value of the degree will only increase. I mean seriously you act as if being worried about academics is a bad thing for a university. I’m 100% positive that what I learned in college from good professors and good classes is more valuable than Pitt appearing in a BCS bowl game. By the way, being affiliated with other like minded universities that do a lot of research helps save money. So affiliation means something. There is a reason why most of the Big 10 universities are universities that do a ton of research.

I like how the two examples of small schools competing with the big boys is TCU and Baylor. TCU is in football crazy Texas and beat up on less motivated schools in a small conference. Now they are in the Big 12 and not doing so well. And Baylor minus the RGIII years has been pretty bad. So yeah they are great examples to point to.

Bigger schools can compete much better in the Olympic sports because they have a lot more money. And catch up to PSU in academics? Pitt and PSU are on the same level a couple spots in flawed ranking in U.S. News doesn’t really matter. It’s not like rankings are BCS polls.

Finally, you say things like “And Texas loves Pitt. Don’t ask me why but they do.” If you can’t see the appeal of Pitt then you might as well give up.

You should really save yourself the angst and pick a new university to root for.

A few years ago when the Big Ten expansion talk began, I was hopefull that they would consider Pitt. But after hearing Jim Delany talk about already having the PA market covered with Penn State and looking towards the New York market, I realized that it wasn’t going to happen. It did’t matter that they had two teams in Michigan and two in Indiana while still lusting after a 3rd with Notre Dame. Yet, they didn’t need 2 teams in Pennsylvania. The Big East was unstable and it’s future didn’t look promising. We got lucky when the ACC threw Pitt a life line. It would have been smart for the ACC to take Rutgers and UConn as well, because it would have secured the New York area and the northeast.

Justinian..
Yep… ACC should have taken Rutgers and UConn… they were begging for a bailout…
That would have made 16 teams and they still could have added Notre Dame as “non-exclusive” and 5 games a year.
Rutgers is a better choice than Louisville.. my opinion… why, the NYmetro loves ACC basketball in addition to Big East..

Question…
Anybody know or have a link to an article which outlines what the various conferences pay to colleges??
ACC
Big10
Big12
SEC
Pac12

Tx Panther let me tell you very simply that if you do not recognize the difference in value of a degree from, Stanford, Rice, Duke, UVA, Michigan
Northwestern vs. a football power like Alabama or a basketball power like Kentucky you are a doofus!!

A degree by itself is nothing. And how is my degree back in 1992 any better now that the university has marginally improved its standing? Pitt is a decent mid sized school like most other Eastern public/semi public schools. I hire the best person for the job and much of that is based on one’s experience and not where they were schooled. I’m no academic elitist. I see no difference in a degree from Pitt compared to a degree from some other like school…that never tips the balance in the inetrview. There may be a difference between WVU and Pitt but thats only because the WVU grad didnt have the smarts to get into an above average school out of high school. Pitt is ONLY above average. Its overall athletic program is well below average. Pitt will NEVER become elite in either but I’d rather spend money on the athletics since there is potential to become at least average. Please dont tell me your Pitt degree is anything close to an Ivy. I’m stuck rooting for Pitt as an alumnus but I dont live in fairy land. I do brag about my school’s B-ball team. If I wanted to brag about academics, I would be on Pitt Blather for nurds. If a school invests money in their programs, success typically comes. Pitt has NOT made that investment relative to other schools (still waiting for a track Stevie). Louisville and Rutgers have. Pitt is no better academically than Rutgers and quite frankly I would take a Louisville degree and job if it meant bragging rights on the football field. Texas loves Pitt because it has a good brand (thank you Marino and Dorsett), its a new TV market and will be a whipping boy much like A&M was. But, I would rather be Texas’s bitch and be in a stable conference than an outsider looking in. The ACC is on its death bed now. Pitt had better be on the phone with Texas. On the bright side, Pitt gets the Backyard Brawl back.

If I’m a doofus, must be because of my Pitt degree. Thanks for the name calling. You can do better.

I got my Pitt Engineering degree in 1964. At that time Pitt wanted to get into the Ivy League and came very close to getting in.

If Pitt got into the Ivy League then, how would you like Ivy League football?

Comments?

link to ncsasports.org

the goal should be to get on this list. It combines academics with athletics. Pitt’s Director’s Cup standings have tremendous opportunity for improvement. That’s putting it nicely.

In academic rankings, Pitt’s anywhere between 40 and 70 depending on the methodology used and none is perfect. I still don’t think we’ve caught up with Penn State on the undergrad side based on the various rankings that I see, but we are closer than we were 20 years ago and thats a good thing.

In my passionate opinion, Pitt needs to aim higher and become more balanced across all sports and academic programs. Tha’s why new leadership is needed. These are new times and require new ideas and a bold vision.

Regardless of what anyone says the academic profile of the university has improved dramaticly under Nordy, which is good. Pitt will never be a Duke or Stanford. But it’s nice to see the school improve in its selectivity and in its stature as a research university. Now, what I would love to see, is contunued improvement with the football program. Winning football not only fills the seats, it draws interest, applications, and students. I remember the Majors/Sherill ereas
and there is nothing I would rather see than a return to national prominance in football.

Agreed. A good football program can help attract quality students. It worked for me.

But, Pitt lost focus over the last 15 years and has not devoted the money and resources to the football program. Some of that is caused by the AD’s alienation of boosters. Some is caused by Pitt’s lack of on the field success.

I am hopeful that a new Chancellor will focus more attention on the overall athletic side of the university with particular attention to football. As leader of the university, you have to be comfortable about talking sports and understanding the importance of balance between academics and athletics.

However, one good thing about the athletic department is that they are not operating in the red.

I’m just a believer that you have to raise and spend money using it wisely to generate success. I don’t believe that one can be cheap when it comes to football and have that result in consistent success on the field. Pitt needs to shell out the bucks for better assistant coaches and a recruiting budget that allows them to go back into Florida.

If Pitt isn’t serious in becoming competitive in sports, we might as well apply for admission into the Ivy League or go the Division 1 AA route.

Good question FRANK MD. Well, it would depend, wouldn’t it???

If you were at an IVY, simplistically, I think you could break it down into 3 categories.

1. Don’t care about sports at all.

2. Go to the football games to tail gate and schmooze with other Ivy’s, and maybe you know someone on the team, so, you go, but it’s more an event than a game.

3. You are actually a college football fan.

In this case, you would cheer for your Ivy team, but whoever your main team is that you cheer for (from the town you came from, from where your parents went, from what helmet you liked as a child), would probably be the one that really mattered football-wise.

No, you wouldn’t press your Ivy team to become great, it just happens to be there, and you’ll root for them, but no big deal.

If you grew up being a Nebraska fan, and went to Columbia, your heart would be with Nebraska. If Nebraska was on at 1:00 on the tube, you would not be attending the Columbia game. (Again, pre req, that you are a college football fan. I’m sure many Ivy students could care less about sports.)

Which brings me to Pitt. Great school, love my degree, why I went, and happy to see our academic side growing. No doubts about these statements.

However, I am also a sports fan.

If you come out and tell me, “we’re here to win championships”, call me ad nauseum for donations, including to my office at work about a month ago, send mail and emails soliciting donations, threaten to move my basketball seats if I don’t donate to a higher donation level……….

then you need to produce!!!

If we’re just an academic institution, with sports as a side note, that’s fine, but, just come out and say it, so we all know where we stand!!!

If you’re telling me we’re playing big boy sports, then, people will want you to produce a good product, especially when you’re soliciting for more money often.

If sports aren’t a big deal, just come out and say so. That way, we can just cheer the boys on and root for Dear Old Alma Mater if we want, without any expectations.

If you’re telling me it’s important, and want my money, time, and to invest my heart in the program, then we should be allowed to expect a winning program.

Those of you who believe Ivy League students and Alums don’t care about success in sports are woefully uninformed. There is a significant group of Yale Alumni who are up in arms because Yale has reduced the number of athletic recruits it admits from 18% to 13% of each freshman class. Admittedly, given the size of the class, this represents only about 65 student athletes but it is still creating great distress to these alums. Harvard hired Tommy Amaker (Duke) away from Michigan to coach their basketball team.

Ivy League football, while not on the level of the FBS programs, still matters to its students and alumni and not just for the tailgating.

Thank you Dan for your poetic and eloquent thoughts…I mean that in all seriousness. I just need my Chancellor to tell me where we stand. He says he values athletics and is serious about winning, but I don’t see it with his actions. I give credit to Nordy for improving our academic standing (although it wasn’t all that shabby to begin with). Where Nordy fails is on the athletic front. We are 131 in the 2011/2012 Director’s Cup rank and our football team hasn’t won the Big Least conference outright…EVER. PLEASE, lets finally get serious about football and spend the money. Then lets hope we get the results. Generally, you do see substantial improvement when the money and real focus is there. And, Pitt has plenty of room to improve so I think its a wise investment.

Win or lose, I’ll ALWAYS root for Pitt in ALL sports. But, rooting for dear old alma mater is so much less frustrating when your school is a consistent winner.

One thing about the Ivys, they come up with funny slogans and T-shirts. Several years ago I was at Princeton when they were playing Dartmouth and the students were selling T-shirts. The T-shirts in Dartmouth’s forest green colors with, “Duck Fartmouth” printed on the front.

@PittDad, I wasn’t implying that. I was just giving one of the options as an “out”, before anyone started lecturing me “at Ivy league schools, academics come first” LOL

Yes, I would imagine quite a few do, as do fans at Division II, III and NAIA schools.

I would also expect, that those fans, are hoping their schools are doing everything they can to win the conference championship and national championships if available.

I have a nephew who plays hockey for Robert Morris, and he is as dedicated and given as much time as any other athlete.

Again, that was a beat em’ to the punch before someone told me, “you have your priorities all wrong”!!! LOL

I understand it’s a school first quite well!!!

If you say we want to compete in some sports, then COMPETE!!

Correction – it was “A Century of Women on Top”

Lots of hard hitting pieces all over the Net, about the money grubbing Little 11 and questioning how two debt ridden wrecklessly run athletic depts get rewarded with big pay days.

Sounds just like an athletic version of the Bank Bailouts. lol

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaab–maryland–rutgers-cash-in-on-their-incompetence-with-move-to-big-ten-19541709.html

Does not much matter why MD and RU are in the Big 10, they are in. In the race to leave the BE it looks like RU is the big, big winner…Heard on the radio today that the Big Ten payout could hit $40M per school after the next round of TV negotiations. In the long run, I don’t think they will get crushed in Big 10 FB as is being predicted. They can certainly be as competitive as Purdue and Minnesota. I think this will definitely help thier recruiting. I think all of the BE teamns recruiting was hurt by being in the BE from a perception standpoint. I also think this will make it more difficult for the PSU’s and Pitt’s to recruit NJ’s top talent away from RU. I am happy for RU and hope that good things follow for UCONN, Cincy, Liville and SFla. Those schools have worked hard to be a part of D1 football.

This is one piece on Texas/ACC from about a year ago.

link to businessofcollegesports.com

On a basketball note:

Somebody forgot to tell NC State they had a better basketball program than PITT, as some on here suggested. That #6 pre-season sure didn’t last long.

link to wralsportsfan.com

Which means that big TV game that ESPN had scheduled for Michigan#5 & then #6 NC State for this weekend isn’t going to come off as planned.
(with both being ranked back to back in the Top 10)

We can now beat Michigan tonight !

Let’s Go Pitt !

idk HbgFrank,

When I watch a college football, I’m not really calculating if this team or that team is making $15 Mil/year on TV, $5 Mil/Year or $30 Mil/year.

Case in point I’d rather watch a Boise State/ Fresno State game than Indiana/Minnesota ?

How about you ?

someone likes to cause doubt on the Blather.
(only time this person posts btw)

When Twitter done blowed up real good, Weaver clarified his initial statement (which suggested the SEC might “potentially” have some interest in Tech, not the other way around, by the way):

“We’re not in discussions with anyone. We’ve always wanted to be in the Atlantic Coast Conference. We’re there and we’re pleased to be there.

There’s nothing happening in regard to Virginia Tech going anywhere. I don’t know how to say it any clearer than that…

I’d rather watch Boise/Fresno too, but the fact is that the television contract that Indy, MN and all the other Big 10 schools are connected to is simply gigantic. Frankly, RU and MD just got a deal similar to the Pirates. They don’t even have to try and put a first rate product on the field because under the Big 10 system, they are guaranteed to make a lot of money. I’m just talking about the business end of this thing, RU hit the lottery. Does not mean they will now be on par with Mich and OSU, just that they can now be just OK, or even horrible, and make the same money that Mich and OSU haul in. It’s a great deal for the school.

The whole thing makes me sick. Rutgers has done almost nothing, since playing in the first recorded college football game against Princeton, a 100 years ago. When the Big Ten expansion talk first started I had hoped they would consider Pitt.

@Justinian – it was actually 143 years ago. Since then they did have a sprited rivalry with Lehigh and Lafayette for many years. It was known as the “Middle Three Conference” and they played for the “Little Brass Cannon”. Isn’t that something?

Grinning

@Pitt Dad, don’t you have a son that plays hockey in the Ivy League, or a NYC college???

Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

Just waiting for the governor of MD to give U MD a Christmas present that says “Hell No, You can’t go!” because most alums, fans and MD residents want you in the ACC. You never know, it could very easily happen.

As far as the UConn or L’Ville discussion goes, isn’t Boston College already on record in saying that UConn is out of the question? That’s how Pitt got in in the first place.

Besides, Jim Calhoun is retired now….UConn’s FB stadium is small….

My frame of reference is that I have a Pitt degree
1963 and an MA from The University of Pennsylvania 1965.

I am proud of both of my degrees. My Penn degree was well worth the effort because it gave me entry in to the world of broadcasting and a 37 year career in radio advertising..”Fight on Pennsylvania”!!

Pitt is my #1 school in terms of donations and by a wide margin sports interest. I bleed Blue and Gold. I, however, get charged up and emotional when I read the comments of alums like Tx Panther who place sports on such a high plane. The purpose of a University is to educate its students…not to win sporting events. Obviously if winning at sports can be achieved while maintaining and growing academic prestige ….CONGRATULATIONS.

Pitt has a proud athletic history which unfotunately has been in decline in the past decade..Smiling Steve should be fired, however, I will never accept placing academics and sports at the same priority level…NEVER!

I am curious as to whether any of the posters on this board have attended an IVY League College. I am 99% positive that you will understand where my thoughts originate.

PITT and PENN PROUD!!!

Justinian, I think Pitt did the best it could with the move to the ACC. My guess is that Pitt had an invite from the Big 12 and knew they were in the ACC mix as well. I would bet they called the Big 10 one last time to see if they were interested before we made a choice between the ACC and Big 12. As this is all about expanding the Big 10 markets, Pitt had no shot at the Big 10. The Big 12 is no more stable than the ACC. The ACC was the correct move. We just have to ride this thing out. Hail to Pitt!

Isnore, I’m not Ivy grad. The closest I come to that is through my children. One went to Princeton and two went to graduate school at Pitt. Although I followed Princeton while having someone there, I bleed Blue and Gold. I remember walking up Cardiac Hill on game days as a kid. I consider myself a Pitt guy through and through. Hail to Pitt!

Sorry isnore but your Pitt degree is overrated. Unless you are a recent grad, experience is what matters. My undergrad from Pitt along with good references and test scores got me into a better grad school. That grad school got me a well paying job. I don’t talk academics with employees and clients. I talk sports. So sports is the higher priority and something most people connect with. This is a sports blog isn’t it???

So yes I want my degree from Pitt to now be worth something and tied to football success. My degree 20 years ago paid off but how the hell is it working for me today if I change jobs.

Stew on that Ivy leager.

@tx panther,

I don’t think you are a doofus… your post never stated you wanted to forego academics for athletics..You want a commitment to both, like the stanfords, michs. even the psu’s.. I’m a doofus because I would have been beaming with pride and screaming to the world I was a pitt alum if we had beat ND..not the fact that we are a top 5 research school..I’m sorry.

Tx Panther

?????????????????????????????????????????

isnore

@Dan – nope, not me. Both my sons are Pitt Grads (hence the name), proud members of the Marching Band. We are all proud to be associated with the University of Pittsburgh. Personally, even though I grew up on LI, I have been a fan of Pitt (and the Steelers and Pirates (except for 1960) – but not the Pens) since the 60s.

Now, it is true that I played intramural hockey at an Ivy but not very well.

Ivy league schools have much healthier varsity sports than does Pitt…hell, Bucknell has about twice as many varsity sports as does Pitt.
The difference is level of athletic scholarship support versus other aid.
I recently donated to the Pitt Crew team because I admire what they do with no athletic department support.
Pitt athletics is behind the times. That can change but not as long as it treats it supporters like enemies.

Ok Pitt Dad. Must have been someone else. Someone on here has a son or nephew that plays hockey for Cornell or Dartmouth or someone.

Steve1, is it you by chance???

why is the big ten network in demand. i have watcheted it occasionally but its nothing great. no good games, maybe i am not a big ten guy thats the reason i dont care for it. does anyone like the network, and what are its benefits

@teezy
Those schools are huge and have the larges alumni base in the US and with retirees living across the US, the fan base is wider than the footprint of the schools.

yeah i do understand that point, and they r all state schools. but to bring in that much money seems a little high to me. also so bringing in rutgers also brings in the rest of the ny area i find that to be a stretch. thats like the acc saying they wanted pa, and wv tv markets so they brought pitt in. my wvu friends are not watching pitt, if they do its to watch them lose.