Featured Fanpost: From A WVU Fan

by WVUColumbus on Feb 13, 2026 5:50 PM EST

At least one WVU fan thinks the Backyard Brawl should continue. Write your own Fanpost using the link to the right and we may publish it in the main section.

Losing the PITT game is a travesty. Every fan of PITT and WVU should be encouraging the AD’s to schedule this game ANNUALLY in football and b-ball. I can only imagine what Jack Fleming (WVU/Steelers legend) is thinking from above.

I understand it may be required due to logistics, initially, but in the long run these two schools are 69 miles from each other and have one of the best rivalries in all of sports. It doesn’t make sense how so many WVU and PITT fans think that it’s no big deal if this game is played or not. These rivalries enhance BOTH universities.

There were years (very recent ones in fact) when the VPI game was more important than PITT but Maryland? Never. Playing them to me is like playing Virginia, Wake Forest, NC State or Georgia Tech….Meh. Programs with zero football identity.

The PITT/WVU rivalry isn’t one that benefits one school more so than the other. It benefits both equally.

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Too many people are losing their minds

including, evidently, this AD at Pitt. Backyard Brawl is THE rivalry.

by WVUColumbus on Feb 13, 2026 5:52 PM EST reply actions

Rivalry from Hell !

When a Pitt fan lives less than an hour from Morgantown and cannot attend the football game for fear of his and family’s safety . And on game day cannot park a car with Pa plates on it for fear of damage to it. The game no longer should be played !
I travel to away Pitt games every year (Texas AM, Nebraska, Utah, Sun Bowl, ND) but can no longer go to Morgantown because of first hand experiences by an ugly crowd , it is time to stop playing the game.
I have made several trips over the years to Morgantown with several bad experiences,I will not make the trip again. This ugly crowd is not limited to only when Pitt is the visiting opponent other opponents have negative things to say also just ask LSU.
WVU good riddence .

by PittACCfan on Feb 13, 2026 6:09 PM EST reply actions

LSU fans

OVERWHELMINGLY had a positive experience in Morgantown with the exception of an incident involving an LSU fan living in PA.

There are certainly isolated incidents and I’m not denying that you had some less than memorable experiences. However, Mountaineer Field is a safe and enjoyable atmosphere to watch a college football game between 2 heated rivals.

The loss of the rivalry, in all sports, would be quite detrimental to both universities. The Backyard Brawl is a “national” rivalry, not a regional rivalry like so many others (UK/Louisville, UVA/VT, etc.) I’m not saying it’s at the level of OSU/Michigan, Auburn/Bama, etc. but it’s on the next level. Those sorts of clashes only help both schools in terms of recruiting, visibility, etc.

by WVUColumbus on Feb 13, 2026 6:32 PM EST up reply actions

You're right

I felt safe when I was surrounded by 15 or so drunk pitt fans at the 2008 backyard brawl waiting for the bathroom, who were screaming so loud for me to “go home and fuck my cousin” that they literally had saliva running out of their mouths like rabid animals. And I loved it. That’s what a rivalry is. Don’t think the environment at WVU is hospitable for your family? Don’t bring them. I would never consider taking a child to a game at Pitt. Not in a million years.

Never in my life have I had more vile profanities about incest and poverty screamed at me by drunken morons. The difference between you and I, is that an incident like this would cause you to run straight for CNN, scout.com, or whatever outlet you could find and post a detailed account of your agonizing experience at the hands of the dreaded hoopies. I just sacked up and moved on. Get it?

by bennywvu on Feb 16, 2026 2:10 PM EST up reply actions

Both sides

I think generalizing about one group on either side is a bit foolish. I’ve been to Pitt games and seen fans of both teams act well-behaved and also act like idiots. It is what it is - there are idiots everywhere.

I think you hit the nail on the head about kids - I wouldn’t bring a kid to a Pitt-WVU game (or a Steelers game, for that matter). Just my opinion.

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by CardiacHill on Feb 16, 2026 8:20 PM EST up reply actions

Rivalries

Did you watch the ESPN special on rivalry week the week PITT and WVU played? The Backyard brawl did not get one mention.
One would think that WVU could provide a safe environment more easily for a home basketball game (inside fewer attendees) than for football games (outside larger crowd).Yet a Pitt basketball coach gets hit in the eye with coins last season and this season your fans through debris on the court. Excuses have been made that its not the WVU students in the past but if that is the case then your adult fans have less sense than the students.
WVU needs the game more than Pitt for recruiting Pa players, ND or PSU will sell more tickets in Pgh than WVU..

by PittACCfan on Feb 13, 2026 7:53 PM EST reply actions

Uhhhh, we don’t recruit western PA in b-ball…never have. We don’t recruit western PA anymore in football (we always did until the 2000s). We own the state of Maryland and we do VERY well in FLA. I’m from tri-state area. I know high school football in eastern OH, western PA, etc. It’s not like the 70s/80s. Western PA isn’t nearly as rich w/ football recruits and 99 out of 100 people in the know would agree w/ that statement. Population shifts have moved young families predominantly to the South, especially Charlotte and ATL. It’s not horrible, by any means, and is obviously much better than the entire state of WV. Both schools need the rivalry despite your eye-rolling comments about Morgantown. Notre Dame and PITT are not rivals and they never will be because ND’s arch rival is and always will be SoCal. It will be like Maryland/WVU game. Rivalry game to them but not to us. Penn St/Ohio St.

Backyard Brawl! Keep playing it!

by WVUColumbus on Feb 13, 2026 10:05 PM EST up reply actions

It's a great rivalry

And one that should continue. But Stevie P isn’t too keen on it (He’s essentially pulling a Joe Paterno) and as long as he’s AD, I doubt it’ll be a regular occurrence. But we shall see how everything shakes out in the future. At the very least, Pitt and WVU should continue to play in basketball. It’ll provide both with a solid non-conference game to add to potential tournament resumes and considering how weak the ACC has been outside of Duke and Carolina, Pitt’s gonna need some good non-conference games.

Football though, I don’t see it happening for a while. At least not until PSU shuts an annual game against Pitt down (can’t let the other main PA school upstage them). ND will still continue to schedule us, but the only way I see Pitt and WVU becoming an annual thing is if ND either a) joins the ACC or b) discontinues the series against Pitt, both of which seem unlikely.

Cardiac Hill contributor

by oaklandzoo12 on Feb 14, 2026 1:21 AM EST reply actions

Exactly why I'm encouraging fans to

plead w/ the ADs (Pederson for Pitt and Luck for WVU) to keep it alive, and not on this rotating years b.s.)

I’m certainly not confident, given the job performance from Pitt’s A.D., and it is not surprising that he would botch such a terrific series. The reason people are allowing this rivalry to slowly fade is because of the lack of national implications of the game in football (from mostly PITT in recent years…not a shot, just the truth). That doesn’t take away what a great, historical rivalry it’s been between the hated universities.

We find your school’s arrogance to be unqualified and you announce that our fans married our siblings.

Backyard Brawl! Make it happen.

by WVUColumbus on Feb 14, 2026 7:56 AM EST up reply actions

Regardless of where Pitt fans come out on this

As you point out, no one can dispute that this is a great historical rivalry.

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by CardiacHill on Feb 14, 2026 7:24 PM EST up reply actions

Go home

Brokeback Mountaineer

Bees Bees Everywhere

by VoteforPedro on Feb 14, 2026 9:58 AM EST reply actions

Get your own Blog

Surely you should be reading the thoughts of a WVU alum… oh right that would require an alum that knows how to read and write

Bees Bees Everywhere

by VoteforPedro on Feb 14, 2026 10:16 AM EST up reply actions

brokeback moutaineer

classic.. but for what it’s worth i really want this rivalry to continue. there is no team i love to hate more than wvu.

by panthro on Feb 14, 2026 10:21 AM EST up reply actions

Agreed

I’d trade the stupid Notre Dame game for the Brawl any day of the week

Bees Bees Everywhere

by VoteforPedro on Feb 16, 2026 10:25 AM EST up reply actions

Nothing can be done right now

There isn’t anything that can be done with the brawl until the schedules comes out. In both the ACC and Big 12 there will be 9 games, which mean certain years there are only 4 home games scheduled and 5 road games. If Pitt and WVU sync up where there both have 4 home games scheduled in the same year there will be no way the rivalry can continue. Neither team is going to annually take on a road game in addition to five conference road games.

by twink on Feb 14, 2026 10:29 AM EST reply actions

Pitt

could make much more money and national notoriety playing Notre Dame and Penn St., so you can’t blame Pitt’s AD if they decide to stick with ND and/or Penn St. with 2 cupcakes on the non-conference schedule.

As OaklandZoo said recently, I absolutely expect Notre Dame will extend their contract with Pitt past 2016 for another 8 to 10 years and long into the future. Look, with only 3 non-conference games for both schools, it is just too difficult to continue the Backyard Brawl. This is why I oppose a 9 conference game schedule, because it gives little flexibility for the non-conference slate. You will now have teams playing the same AQ non-conference team + 2 cupcakes every year. Not fun.

by PittGuy on Feb 14, 2026 12:05 PM EST reply actions

Money

Someone will need to explain to me why there’s much more money involved with playing ND or PSU than WVU. The national notoriety thing I get, but not sure I see where there’s tons more money to be made by playing those games as opposed to WVU.

Maybe I’m not as smart as I thought I was.

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by CardiacHill on Feb 14, 2026 7:05 PM EST up reply actions

Attendance

is higher with the ND game and the prices are also jacked way up as well.

by PittGuy on Feb 14, 2026 7:17 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah

I can see how those games are more attended, but a Backyard Brawl is generally close to a sellout, isn’t it? The prices may be slightly higher, but I guess I was thinking in terms of outside of attendance.

You’re right that the ticket price is higher for ND. But if Pitt gets back to the days of selling season tickets at a good clip, that will become less of an issue because there are fewer individual tickets to sell at a higher rate.

Either way, I get your point, though.

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by CardiacHill on Feb 14, 2026 7:22 PM EST up reply actions

Despite seemingly 8 out of 10 WVU fans

and 6 out of 10 Pitt fans wanting to discontinue this great rivalry, I hold out hope that we can play annually in b-ball and every other year in football (if not every year).

Major reason from WVU side: Pitt is no longer “competitive rival” it once was
Major reason from PITT side: WVU fans not hospitable to Panther fans

Ridiculous on both accounts. Play it!

by WVUColumbus on Feb 14, 2026 4:59 PM EST reply actions

Football

I think it’s reasonable to try to play every other year. The thing about it is, too, that the game would be so hyped because it would be even rarer than it has been.

The Olympics are a huge deal because they’re played every four years. If Pitt and WVU found a way to commit to playing every other year, there would be even more hype for the game.

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by CardiacHill on Feb 14, 2026 7:00 PM EST up reply actions

But how would they do that

if Pitt also wants to play Notre Dame or even possibly Penn St. every year as well? 2 of the 3 non-conference games have to be cupcakes, which only leaves 1 non-conference game for someone else.

by PittGuy on Feb 14, 2026 7:03 PM EST up reply actions

Schedule

Definitely couldn’t be done that way. I don’t even see how they could play both PSU and ND every year because that means scheduling only one cupcake.

Only way it works is playing ND OR PSU every other year. Pitt clearly has a desire to play ND every season and I don’t blame them. To get onto the Irish’s schedule every year is a huge deal.

I’m not necessarily saying I’d want to play WVU every other year - just saying it could be done if Pitt wasn’t able to get ND or PSU as much as they’d like.

Manager of Cardiac Hill - SB Nation's Pitt Panthers blog
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by CardiacHill on Feb 14, 2026 7:09 PM EST up reply actions

Good point

But I doubt ND would want to play Pitt every other year. They would probably want it as an every-year thing. As I think you said previously, I do get the sense that Pederson would rather play ND or Penn St. than WVU, and I can’t blame him. As you said, getting on ND’s schedule on a yearly basis is huge. Heck, I have made both games at South Bend when Pitt played them there (the only away games I’ve ever been to). There is way more $$$ and notoriety with ND.

To be honest, I am starting to get the impression that Pitt may never play WVU again for a long, long time. As long as ND or Penn St. wants a yearly game with Pitt, I just don’t see it, and I am fairly certain that ND will extend the contract with Pitt long past 2016.

by PittGuy on Feb 14, 2026 7:15 PM EST up reply actions

Rivalry

I should have realized a WVU fan wouldn’t understand that WVU needs Pa for recruiting FOOTBALL players, hell Pitt doesn’t recruit basketball players in the Pittsburgh area.
This was the first year that WVU didn’t get a Western Pa football recruit and there were none to recruit in WV period.
Remove the Pa players from your roster and you would have a hard time fielding a team.
You Fl recruiting will suffer when you no longer play Fl teams with your Big 12 membership.

by PittACCfan on Feb 14, 2026 5:55 PM EST reply actions

Yeah, but...

WVU will always get some kids by default just because some will want to play close to home and go to a rural school (and they might be able to get into Penn State).

As far as how many PA kids they need, I think they jury’s out on that. Holgorsen clearly relies on speed for his system and while PA may be less of a priority, I expect he’ll be able to get more Texas kids … especially now in the Big 12.

My motto is always that it’s far less important where the players come from than it is ensuring you have kids who can play. There are probably lots of kids who may have passed on WVU in the past because they didn’t want to play Big East football. Now in the Big 12, I think the Mountaineers’ recruiting will be fine.

But we’ll see -

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by CardiacHill on Feb 14, 2026 7:20 PM EST up reply actions

You are correct.

Our new defensive coordinator : Houston, (former WVU assistant) Doc Holliday : South Florida

by WVUColumbus on Feb 14, 2026 7:52 PM EST up reply actions

Your continuous

eye-rolling comments about WVU fan behavior and potential recruiting whoas are tired.

We will still be successful in pulling kids from western PA that fit our system, but our emphasis is (and has been in the recent 5-7 year history) owning Maryland and doing very well in FLA. The Florida Rivals writer stated on Sirius College Sports (on the eve of signing day) that besides the 3 big schools in the state, Alabama and WVU easily were the most successful in collecting promising recruits. He went on to state that WVU doing well is becoming an “annual thing”.

So we have done so well in Dade County/Broward County because of an annual game with a 2nd tier school in Tampa? Huh.

Bitter much?

by WVUColumbus on Feb 14, 2026 7:50 PM EST up reply actions

While you may be good at recruiting Florida for now...

Moving to a conference where you have no Florida schools to play annually will undoubtedly hurt your recruiting efforts in the future. These kids want this not because of what school you are playing against, but because it is a chance to be back in their home state. A chance for their family to come out and see them play a game. It is extremely important to a lot of these kids’ parents, which means it is important for the recruiting of the kids.

by swatkins818 on Feb 14, 2026 8:37 PM EST reply actions