2017 Pitt football spring date and details announced

The Pitt football Blue-Gold spring game date was announced on Monday and it's set for Saturday, April 15th.

Admission, as usual, is free. Parking is in the gold lots for $10 and it starts at 1:00 p.m. (gates open at 11:30 a.m.). Finally, there will be a school-sponsored tailgate with food, drinks, etc. And with the way our weather is going here, it will be approximately 90 degrees outside by mid April.

Other than the day typically known as Tax Day when it's on a weekday, that date is also significant this year because it's the Saturday before Easter. Not super convenient since some people will be out of town but my guess is that most people who want to go will find a way to get there.

This isn't the first year there's been a bit of a date conflict, either. You might remember last year that the game was during Pitt's Bigelow Bash - a major school event in Oakland that students attend. I'm sure there's a valid reason for some of the date situations. It just sort of an inconvenience when they clash with things like this.

The game will again be at Heinz Field, which I think is the right move despite it not being a venue that gives Pitt a full house. If you've been reading this blog for some time, you know that I'm on board with that over the high school/Riverhounds stadium thing for any number of reasons.

Pitt has really thrown its weight behind the spring game and, in my estimation, done a great job in trying to generate enthusiasm. Last year, many alums attended to sign autographs, etc., and many tickets were given for a pre-game experience for the Penn State game.

Jim wrote up a bit on the game experience and more than 8,000 people attended. That isn't a ton and there's still room for improvement. According to this site, Pitt was 37th in the nation of schools with a reported a spring game attendance. That isn't great but it was enough to beat many P5 programs, including the likes of West Virginia, Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and several more. Pitt was close to passing a few more up, too. Even Wisconsin, a top ten team, had only about 1,000 more people.

There's work to do, but Pitt has put some real effort into the event over the past few seasons after the Paul Chryst years. The event is really tailor-made for a guy like Pat Narduzzi, who loves interacting with fans, etc.

That's the deal - you going?

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