Ole’ Dick Rod has agreed to pay the $4 million buyout to the Hoopies. Damn.

I wanted this to go to trial. I wanted to have his wife deposed. Pastilong. Everyone. It was just so much fun to follow, watch and laugh.

Unless it is absolutely explosive, this will hopefully be the only mention of this on the blog.

Mark Wogenrich, one of our Penn State football beat writers, tells us that ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” investigative TV show is pursuing a story about the legal issues involving the Lions’ football team since April 2007.

It’s such an easy target, it almost seems surprising that they hadn’t done the piece yet.

That said, they hardly seem worse than so many other teams. But like other schools/fans that play the self-righteous, higher standard card any chance they get, they really can’t turn around and claim they are no worse than any other school.

You can’t have it both ways. Either you are no better/different from other schools and their fans, or you are on a higher standard and have to deal with extra scrutiny when those standards aren’t met and even ignored.

In the matter of proving Sampson was “knowingly” violating NCAA recruiting rules.

Senderoff, who facilitated the three-way calls, said he didn’t remember reading an e-mail from an IU administrator June 13, 2006, stating the NCAA’s clarification that three-way calls were not allowed. Sampson acknowledged seeing the clarification but said he thought the subsequent three-way calls at issue were two-way calls.

In the case summary, the NCAA enforcement staff flatly challenges Sampson’s claim, citing several interviews with recruits.

Recruit DeJuan Blair, now a player at Pittsburgh, told an NCAA investigator he was “100 percent” sure he was on the phone with Sampson and Senderoff at the same time.

“If coach Sampson said something funny, coach Senderoff would laugh; or he would ask a question and coach Senderoff would answer; or coach Senderoff would ask a question and he would answer about Indiana,” Blair said.

I swear I will get to spring practice stuff. Really. But before I can, I have to make a plea to Pitt basketball. Get Penn State back on the schedule. I don’t care how. Just for a couple years. Even if Pitt has to go to State College twice for one trip to the Pete for next season.

This just has to happen. At least as long as Stanley Pringle remains with the Nittany Lions. He has his defense.

Pringle told police he has “a bad habit of putting his hand down his pants,” and demonstrated for the officer by placing his hand down the front of his sweatpants, according to the complaint.

“Why would I need to masturbate?” he told police. “This is how I chill, ma’am.”

Disturbingly, Pringle could, uh, get off. The woman didn’t actually see him actually see any shaking.

According to the criminal complaint, a woman said Pringle sat down on top of a desk behind her and asked if she wanted to purchase some hand lotion he was selling for the basketball team.

Sports Information Director Brian Siegrist declined to comment.

The woman told police that after 15 minutes of conversation with Pringle, she heard the sound of adjusting clothing followed by a “smacking sound, like Pringle’s hand was smacking against the skin of his body.”

The victim said she did not turn around because she was afraid, adding that she believed this to be the sound of masturbation and could see a reflection of Pringle’s hand moving back and forth, according to the criminal complaint.

…

The victim told police that after walking through the bookshelves while answering her phone, she saw Pringle rubbing his hands together, “as if he had just put lotion on them,” and when she returned to her seat, she said she saw Pringle tying the drawstring on his sweatpants.

Oh, please, please, please, please put Penn State on the home schedule for 2008-09.

As a friend told me, nothing pops like a Pringle.

Penn State Police confirmed today that they have filed charges against Nittany Lions basketball player Stanley Pringle in an incident involving public masturbation that occurred last Thursday in Pattee Library.

Police said Pringle, the team’s point guard, sat behind the victim in the stacks section of the library, attempted to start a conversation with the woman and began masturbating. Police have filed charges of public lewdness and disorderly conduct against him in connection to the incident…

A similar incident occurred on March 21 on the second-floor landing of McElwain Hall’s main stairwell between 8 and 8:15 p.m, when police said a man entered the building behind the woman and followed her to the stairwell landing where he began to masturbate. A similar description of the man was given in both incidents, police said. No charges have been filed for the McElwain Hall incident.

Classic.

I knew it was good for me to write about Pitt’s season having already been enough. Win or lose against Michigan State, it was enough. I’ve already reread that post five times – I’m positive it’s kept me from saying something I’ll regret later. I’ve had about 40 hours to digest it – I think it’s time to move on.

Having said that…ouch. That’s a tough one to lose. I can’t wait to hear the people saying Dixon still can’t win the big ones – I don’t think any coach can win when your team shoots like that. He wasn’t the one shooting 2 of freaking 17 on three pointers. Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin both played like crap and there’s no denying that. I’ve been pretty tough on both all year (especially Ramon) and this game didn’t help their cause. Still, thanks to them for giving so much to this program over the years and I hope them both the best in whatever their life takes them to next. It’s not like the seniors were the only ones to drop the ball though – everyone except for Fields played like #%@&. I’m not even mad anymore because, well, it’s over.

But hey, when Drew Neitzel is going to hit every shot he takes then you’re already fighting a losing battle. As Chas mentioned, Neitzel frustrated the hell out of everyone by both his crazy shots and his attitude. Someone I watched the game with, not a Pitt fan, commented on how much of a jerk he was and somebody from Pitt needed to foul him hard at the end of the game. I responded with some harsher words (one f-word followed by a different f-word) but whatever. Just add him to the list with Gerry McNamara and Chris Quinn – certified Panther killers.

Please don’t bring up the argument that they were worn down by the Big East Tournament. I’m not buying that excuse at all. These are 18-22 year old kids in the best shape of their lives. Sure four games in four days was tough but it was a whole week ago. The game against Oral Roberts was so easy and boring that it was like a day off anyways.

It also would have been nice for them to win for the simple fact it would have given us something to write about for another week. Blogging the offseason sucks.

Two weeks ago I wrote about how the way the coaches handle LeSean McCoy would be of high importance. It was speculated that he might get the “start” this week, but the two-deep in the game notes still has him listed below LaRod Stephens-Howling. LSH has some type of rib bruise and that perhaps could have lead to McCoy listed as the starter. No matter who is on the field first, they are each going to get the number of carries they deserve, but Shady being able to say he’s the star could really boost his ego — for better or worse.

Pitt isn’t the only school who has a recently vacated AD position. Michigan State filled their’s yesterday with senior associate athletics director Mark Hollis. He replaces Ron Mason who retired in late June.

More people want to see the Pitt offense attack the opposing DB’s with deep passes.

ShadyForHeisman: Paul – If need be on Saturday against MSU and Kevan Smith needs to complete a deep pass – can he do it? Or they are going to pretty much try to throw everything underneath and run the ball to keep things simple?

Paul Zeise: He did complete a long one to Oderick Turner on Saturday so yes.

He hit Turner nicely, but I think more than one or two attempts per game would be in line. Smith has the arm — we’ve seen that — but do the coaches believe in him enough to let him work the defense?

New Spartans head coach is Mark Dantonio from Cinci and you knew that. He reiterated that point in his press conference this week. He’s familiar with what Wannstedt is trying to do and with most of the players. There is one very important guy he hasn’t seen — LeSean McCoy.

Q. What type of different look does Pitt’s freshman running back give them compared to their starting tailback?

COACH DANTONIO: I think McCoy is a little bit bigger guy. Howling is a little bit of a scat back, more in that form. Both of them catch the ball pretty well, and there’s been times where they’ve used both of them in the game at the same time, even this early, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of that. But just a little bit different tempo, a little bit bigger. McCoy reminds me a lot of Ashton Leggett, the way Ashton runs for us. He’s a good back, he’s got some speed, and he’s confident.

One guy who can play a huge part in the day our running backs have is TE John Pelusi, but his status for the game seems up in the air. Zeise says in his Q&A that Pelusi is expected play but when I asked one of his family members if he is, their answer was one of those “Ehh…” with a shoulder shrug. Pelusi is our best blocking tight end and can be a huge help against MSU’s huge d-line.

Last post before I hit the road for East Lansing at about 2:00 this afternoon. Hopefully we come home with a win — it’s a long ride home after a loss.

A quick look at stories and links relating to the Michigan State game this Saturday.
Michigan State was installed as an early 8.5 to 9 point favorite. Can’t say I’m surprised, and I expect the number to rise as people look closer at the injuries for Pitt and the questions about the O-line. Add in MSU’s domination of UAB followed by UAB giving FSU a hard time the following week, along with a respectable Bowling Green team being taken down by MSU; versus Pitt’s soft and chewy opening games.

Even the Pitt defense had to acknowledge that they haven’t exactly been challenged to this point.

Pitt middle linebacker Scott McKillop agrees that it is impossible to tell just how good the Panthers are on defense until they play Michigan State. He said the Spartans embarrassed the Panthers’ defense last year and could do it again Saturday if Pitt doesn’t make tackles.

“There is no question we are aware of the fact that we’re stepping way up in class [Saturday] from the level of competition we’ve faced so far,” McKillop said after the Panthers’ 34-10 win against Grambling Saturday. “But at the same time, it was important that we took care of business in these first two games and that’s what we did. We know Michigan State is our third game, but we didn’t want to get caught looking ahead and I think we’ve played very well.

“Now, we can focus on Michigan State and we can use that as a gauge to see how far we’ve come and how much we’ve actually improved in stopping the run because, ultimately, our ability to stop the run will dictate how successful we can be. And I’m sure the coaches are going to remind us a lot about last year [against Michigan State] because that was a game where I felt like we got a lead and then shut it down and they made a lot of plays.”

We’ll all get an idea. Michigan state returns 4 of the 5 starters from last year’s O-line. There’s a big difference in the style this year for Michigan State. If anything, it might be a reason for some hope. Mark Dantonio is now in charge and he’s got the Spartan followers believing.

Oh, sure, there was a flashy offense in Spartan Stadium. But it belonged to Bowling Green. The Falcons spread the field, passed twice as much as they ran … and Michigan State was fine with it. Dantonio figured that as long as the Spartans kept Bowling Green’s receivers in front of them that eventually Michigan State would make a big play to end a drive.

“You’ve seen it here for the past number of years,” Dantonio said of Bowling Green’s spread. “You can convert, convert and convert. But at some point if you take a sack, or if you have to run the ball and you can’t run it, then it becomes long-yardage situations. So it wears on you over the course of the game.”

I’m not ripping the spread or pass-first offenses. The point is that, no matter the style, a team has to play with intelligence and discipline.

The spread is dead. That’s some good news. The offense is straight ahead, run first, traditional style. It means, it is at a level DC Paul Rhoads might comprehend (I know, gratuitous cheap shot). Pitt will still have to show that it can stop a real running game, but the good news is that the runner won’t be the QB.
I’m also hoping the Spartans like this writer, might be peeking ahead on the schedule.

But had Dantonio been around 10 years ago when opponents were penciled in — or even within the past year when a second-week replacement for Western Michigan had to be found — he couldn’t have set things up much better for his first season.

…

Next up is Pittsburgh (2-0) at noon Saturday in Spartan Stadium (ESPN). The Panthers, of the Big East, will be MSU’s first opponent from a BCS conference.

The following week the Spartans will make their first road trip to play traditional rival Notre Dame before opening conference play at Wisconsin, which has been picked to contend for the league championship.

I just wish the ND-Michigan game was on at the same time, rather than at 3:30. That would be a good distraction for Spartan fans and hopefully the players. Not surprisingly, Spartan fans have been really enjoying the Michigan woes.
With Dennis heading to the game to be an eye-witness, he would be advised to make sure he claims his seat early (read the article and the comments underneath).

It’s Michigan State week, and not only am I pumped because we finally play a real team, but I’m also heading up there to see it. This will be my first time in a Big Ten environment and the first time in a (probably) full stadium since going down to WVU in 2005. The game will be on ESPN with Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Andre Ware (color) and Quint Kessenich (sideline).

Unless you dropped off the face of the Earth and didn’t see how the Grambling game unfolded, you’re aware that Kevan Smith is going to be starting under center. Coach Wannstedt, your thoughts…

On things that Kevan Smith needs to improve on:
As simple as this sounds, just hitting open receivers and taking what the defense gives him. He needs to work on those little things. It’s not sitting back there and reading the defense, that’s not the problem. He made some great throws on his deep balls. He had a great throw to Nate Byham. I think he just needs to continue to work on the little things, and he will.

On preparing Kevan Smith for his first game in a hostile environment:
We’ll bring noise out there on Wednesday and Thursday. That will benefit not just the quarterback but our entire football team, particularly the offense. He’ll be fine. We’ll continue to practice Pat Bostick. He’ll take half the reps in practice and we’ll continue to get him ready just in case we would need him.

On playing Pat Bostick:
We’ll play him if he’s needed, but we’ll have to see how the game unfolds.

There are some people out there who think Smith is even more talented than Stull, but I don’t see how any type of comparison can be made seeing them each in one game. Then taking into account the type of teams we played, and it’s nearly impossible right now to say one is more skilled than the other. Get used to Smith though, he’s going to be leading us through the next few weeks because Bostick didn’t look nearly as great as we expected.

How did the Spartans do last week? Saturday Sound Offs gives them a B letter grade.

Michigan State-They looked alright out there against the Falcons. Brad Hoyer was efficient through the air and the MSU ground game was the difference. The run defense also didn’t let Bowling Green do too much.

Pitt was graded as a B+.

EDSBS doesn’t buy or sell MSU at this point, but merely holds on them.

Michigan State Held off Bowling Green. Simmering until the inevitable collapse at some point over the next month. At the point the Spartans really start to look like a ‘buy,’ unload them. Fast.

Last year, after running all over Pitt (by using the same 2 plays — a RB dive and a RB stretch), MSU looked like a team to “buy”. They then proceeded to throw away their season by blowing a huge lead against Notre Dame. As Stuart said in the comments, “Can MSU please vomit away their season 1 week early this year? We all know they’re going to fold, its just a question of when.”

I didn’t do this last week, but I’m hoping to make this a weekly thing.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Middle Tenn. St. vs. (8) Louisville, 7:00 pm EDT
MTSU gave up over 400 yards in last week’s loss to Florida Atlantic, while Louisville’s offense picked up 655 over Murray State. Brian Brohm will tear this defense apart.
Pick: Louisville

Oregon St. vs. Cincinnati, 7:30 pm EDT
Oregon State’s running back Yvenson Bernard looks good this year, and although Cincy beat up on Directional Missouri, I’m not completely sold on them.
Pick: Oregon State

Friday, September 7, 2007

Navy vs. (18) Rutgers, 7:00 pm EDT
ESPN’s Friday night game is an interesting one for Pitt fans since we play both teams. Rutgers beat up on Buffalo while Navy beat Temple 30-19. I have Rutgers for the win because of their evolving, multi-demensional offense.

While Ray Rice rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns, the Scarlet Knights showed there is more to the team than just their senior running back – who’s rushed for 2,914 yards in his previous two seasons. Junior quarterback Mike Teel was 16-for-23 for a career-best 328 yards and two touchdowns, and junior receiver Tiquan Underwood caught 10 passes for a school-record 248 yards and two TDs.

Pick: Rutgers

Saturday, September 8, 2007

(3) West Virginia vs. Marshall, 11:10 am EDT
Five words: Pat White and Steve Slaton.
Pick: West Virginia

Grambling State vs. Pitt, Noon EDT
Watching Michigan lose to a I-AA (or whatever they call it now) team puts the smallest slice of doubt in my mind. In reality, I expect us to win by at least 3 touchdowns — even with Smith or Bostick starting under center.
Pick: Pitt

Maine vs. Connecticut, 7:00 pm EDT
UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen (any relation to Jared?) threw for 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Duke. In my book, Duke and Maine are comparable.
Pick: UConn

Syracuse vs. Iowa, 8:05 pm EDT
The ‘Cuse managed to make people feel embarrassed for them last week. Iowa, while not amazing, managed to receive one vote (one whole vote!) in the AP poll. If the Orange manage to keep the loss to 16 points or less, we’ll call it a moral victory.
Pick: Iowa

South Florida vs. (16) Auburn, 9:00 pm EDT
Everyone’s Big East sleeper team will have a tough test playing War Eagle on the road. One guy who can make a difference for USF is freshman RB Mike Ford, a former Alabama recruit. Meanwhile, Auburn’s ground game was nonexistent (62 yards) against Kansas State. Matt Grothe and his great passing accuracy helps the Bulls knock off the ranked Tigers for the upset.
Pick: South Florida

Track the scores here.

(Rankings used are from the BlogPoll.)

Two days ago the Des Moines Register published an article about Big Ten commish Jim Delany talking about possible expansion from 11 to 12 teams (link via USA Today). Since then it’s been a strong point of discussion on TV, in newspapers, and on blogs.

The expansion talks come with the upcoming release of the Big Ten Network. The network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, could use another big-name university in a large television market to gain more exposure for the network and its sponsors.

So who could be that extra team? Obviously the first team that the conference will give significant attention to will be Notre Dame, but it’s more than likely that ND will quickly turn down the offer. A national TV deal, the ability to schedule whoever they want, and the fact that they can take the Big East’s bowl bids. As long as the Big East is getting a BCS bid then ND will gladly take it. Might as well cross the Irish off of the list of possibilities right now.

Then next tier of possible teams include Syracuse and Rutgers. Syracuse first: they allow the conference’s reach to extend to upstate New York. It’s a decent media market but wouldn’t get the attention of NYC residents. Plus they’re primarily a hoops school and the Big East, while not one of the top two or three football conferences, is one of the best for basketball.

What about Rutgers? They might feel as though if they add Rutgers they will gain a hold on New York City, the #1 US market, but that’s hardly true. Piscataway is over 40 miles from NYC and even after the RU football team has picked up a ton of hype, the NYC market barely notices. NYC is a pro sports town dominated by the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, and both NFL teams — not much room left for a college team, located a half hour away no less, to get attention.

The last tier of possibilities likely includes the following teams: Louisville, Missouri, your Pittsburgh Panthers, and maybe a handful of others. Louisville is a program that as a whole is on the rise…but they’re TV market isn’t all that appealing. It’s no secret that Missouri wants to join the Big Ten and adding them opens up the state of Missouri including possibly St. Louis. But what about Pitt? Well, what are the current B10 members saying about Pitt? One of the best college football bloggers (Brian Cook) on one of the best CFB blogs (MGoBlog) has this to say about the Panthers:

PROs: Geographic and academic fit. Also provides natural rival for Penn State. Football program has rich history; basketball program would be a fine addition.

CONs: Michigan and OSU are already raiding the hell out of the WPIAL. Adding Pitt opens no new recruiting grounds and only marginally raises interest in the Pittsburgh market. Their football fanbase would be amongst the worst in the conference.

Verdict: I guess. I would rather take a chance on Rutgers, personally.

Black Shoe Diaries has this to say…

2. Pitt – This isn’t the smartest choice for the Big Ten, but then this is my wish list. For all the crap I give Pitt around here, I want to see this rivalry played every year. Everyone does. Adding Pitt makes that happen.

But this doesn’t jive with Delany’s wish to expand the market for his new network. If it’s true he has an eye on the New York market, Pitt isn’t going to work.

Basically it comes down to this — the pros vs. the cons. We’re here in Pennsylvania, so we’re close enough for consideration. We have a long traditional rivalry going with PSU. As Brian says, we have a football program with a strong history and I don’t think things are going to be much worse than last season — things can really only go up. Our basketball team has been one of the best in the nation over the last 5 years and it doesn’t look like it’s going backwards any time soon. Pitt is also more than a two sport school. Many of our other sports are doing well, including a women’s hoops team on the rise. We have great facilities for football, basketball, and swimming, and with the planned renovations, the “Olympic sports” will have upgraded facilities as well.

That’s the good stuff…so what about the bad? Firstly, adding us doesn’t exactly open up a whole new market. Whether we like it or not, there’s a large contingent of Penn State folks here in Pittsburgh, so the Big Ten already has a portion of the city’s attention. We’re not in a recruiting area that hasn’t already been tapped into by Big Ten teams like they might get from a team like Missouri.

So what are the actual chances that we’d ever get seriously considered/invited? If I had to guess, I’d say the list looks like so (remember this is not who the B10 WANT, but the chance of it actually HAPPENING):

1. Rutgers
2. Missouri
3. Pitt

MGoBlog has the same three but instead has Pitt at #2 and Mizzou at #3. Black Shoe Diaries has Pitt at #2.

Say next year we do, in fact, have an offer extended to us. What’s our answer? Do we stay put in the Big East or take it? Personally I don’t know what I want us to do. Maybe we’ll just have to wait and cross that bridge when it comes, but the fact that we’re even in the consideration is interesting enough.

For the Big East media days, Rivals Radio interviewed a player from each Big East team. Pitt’s representative was Derek Kinder and the interview can be heard here. Before even finishing greeting one another, the interviewer immediately asks, “Who is going to be your starting quarterback?” The answer was pretty much what you’d expect: he’s seen three different guys in practice and didn’t say if any where ahead of the others.

He says the upcoming season isn’t looking too bad and that last year’s 6-6 record was a failure in the end. When he talks about them needing to finish games better, I automatically gag and think of the Michigan State and UConn games. In all, it’s a quick little interview, and not a bad listen.

Also, for your Penn State fill of the week, two articles about PSU and more specifically, their fan base. The first is from Rakes of Mallow, a Notre Dame blog. Penn State and Notre Dame are two of the three teams I dislike the most (WVU the third) but the ND writer makes some great points; highly recommended reading.

I don’t blame Penn State for trying to find a rival, as they don’t really have one. Ohio State is considerably more concerned with Michigan, and vice-versa, while the Irish are more focused on the Wolverines and Trojans. They could restart the local rivalry with Pitt, but the Lions envision themselves on some sort of blue-and-white pedestal when it comes to playing the Panthers.

There was also a reader submission from Mondesi’s House about college allegiances. The reader says that his Penn State co-workers dislike his favorite coach, Jim Tressel.

You would think Jim Tressel stole some of these fans’ dates to the prom, they HATE him with such passion.

This is the classic case of where PSU fans are looking for a rival. They try to act all tough towards Ohio State when Buckeye fans simply shrug it off since they have more important teams to throw their animosity towards.

By now you’ve heard that Joe Paterno has decided on a punishment for his football team after some inexcusable behavior: have the entire team clean the stadium after a game day and give all of the money earned to the club teams which use such income to fund their sports. Sounds pretty good, right?

No doubt Paterno is a smart man, at least in some sense. Not smart enough for a few people to see right through his punishment though.

If you peel back the warm and fuzzy blanket, it’s as much a preemptive strike at the University’s Office of Judicial Affairs as it is corporal punishment for the players.

Consider the timing of the announcement. It comes before the Judicial Affairs folks begin their hearings into the incident.

In the pecking order of justice, the legal system is first, then Judicial Affairs and finally, Paterno’s court.

It is also a calculated move to undercut the Judicial Affairs office by taking matters into his own hands and meting out his own punishment. That will make anything Judicial Affairs decides to do look like overkill and further advance the perception that Judicial Affairs has some vendetta against the football team.

Yes, Joe Paterno is smart, but Ron Bracken is just a step ahead.

Any time a WPIAL player gets any sort of recruiting buzz, Pitt is assumed to be on their list until they narrow down their search and we find out that Pitt didn’t make the cut. That’s the exact case we have with Andrew Sweat, the standout LB from Trinity.

Sweat has just announced this “final six” and unfortunately Pitt isn’t one of the final six. Sweat told Bill Kurelic from BuckeyeGrove.com that “I really like Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame. And also Penn State and maybe LSU or Florida.”

He’ll most likely land at Ohio State you can tell he is definitely getting attention from teams that are always in the hunt for national titles. What are some people saying about him in the comments section?

To say Sweat is overrated is not entirely incorrect.

I cover high school sports locally, and I have seen him play many times. Although I think he is a good player, I noticed he disappeared against other big-time talents. I’m not claiming he is going to be a bust in college, but I could name several other big-named WPIAL recruits from the past few seasons who haven’t lived up to their billing.

The truth is no one knows how a kid is going to perform when he lines up against other talented college athletes. Sweat not including Pitt on his “Final Six” list might be a bit disappointing, but the Panthers should only be interested in players who want to play here.

Well said. Very well said.

According to spokespeople from Penn State, renewing the football rivalry isn’t going to happen anytime soon. PSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, has a story on the rivalry that made me sick, especially hearing what this Penn State spokesman says.

“Current discussions by the Big Ten regarding the possibility of adding another conference game to the football schedule would limit our ability to schedule out-of-conference games,” he wrote.

Yes, it must be very hard to schedule and fit in all of those games against the Florida International’s and Buffalo’s of the world.

MacCarthy also said an additional football game would be a financial burden.

Yeah, it’s a huge financial burden to have the stadiums full at both schools while local hotels and bars fill up for the weekend. Other than the big wigs at Penn State, everybody else wants to see these games happen.

Borghetti said it is a shame that students at both universities do not know the importance of the rivalry that he “knew and appreciated.”

Some Penn State students said they would like to see a Penn State versus Pittsburgh rivalry reinstated.

Penn State doesn’t even have a real rival right now. They play Michigan State every year for a stupid trophy, but a yearly trophy doesn’t make a game into a rivalry (see: Pitt vs. Cincinnati).