Pitt-West Virginia Backyard Brawl sounds dead for now

Athletic director Steve Pederson talked about the Backyard Brawl recently and if you're hoping for a rejuvenation of the series, don't hold your breath:

Pederson said he spoke with West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck briefly when it looked like the two teams might meet in the Pinstripe Bowl, but that's about it. It doesn't sound like there's much significant traction to get it restarted in the near future, although Pederson did say now that the Penn State series (his No. 1 scheduling goal) was squared away, Pitt can get moving on some other games. Pederson indicated that it would be unlikely that Pitt would play both West Virginia and Penn State in the same year.

We've basically known this for a while so it doesn't come as too big of a surprise. But you can almost feel the apathy about this game in the article by the Post-Gazette's Sam Werner.

Plus, as we've been over in the past, with a nine-game conference schedule, there just isn't room for everyone. And if the game doesn't happen in the next few years while Pitt is waiting to renew their series with Penn State, it just doesn't look like it will happen at all. The Panthers have clearly placed a priority on the series with the Nittany Lions and after you throw in a cupcake game and a random series against other BCS foes as Pitt has played recently with teams like Iowa and Utah, there's simply no room.

It doesn't sound like the game will be happening anytime soon. But if you're a Pitt fan wanting the game to happen, the one thing you can keep in mind is that the Pitt-Penn State series seemed to be reborn out of nowhere. No speculation, no talk about it happening - it just came out of thin air.

That said, Pederson doesn't sound like a man all that interested in playing the game again right now.

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