Pitt calls for 'gold rush' at the Pete for Louisville game

Pitt is set to square off against Louisville for the second time this season, as the Panthers will host the 11th-ranked Cardinals at the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night. And for the high-stakes ACC tilt, the team is requesting that their fans come clad in gold.

The Panthers have made similar requests in the past, with their most recent event being a blackout at the Pete for the matchup in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge with Rutgers on Dec. 3. Pitt would win that game 71-60. However, while Pitt has called for blackouts on a regular basis in recent years, goldouts have been less common, and this is the first time the event has been referred to as a “gold rush.”

With that said, calls for fans to wear gold are nothing new, and at Pitt, they date back at least to 2013. Back then, a letter from the Oakland Zoo to Pitt fans was used to issue a request.

”Wear the gold, be loud, stand up, and cheer with us,” the letter read, in part. “This won’t be the normal Zoo, it will be one that fills the entire Petersen Events Center.”

Pitt’s last goldout was exactly one year ago, as the team hosted No. 11 Florida State on Jan. 14, 2018, amid a gathering of fans in gold. The Panthers would pull off a major upset in that game, beating the Seminoles 75-62.

As for Pitt and Louisville, they last met on Dec. 6, and the result left much to be desired from the Panthers’ perspective. Although Pitt hung tough for most of the game, a questionable call by referee Teddy Valentine with about nine minutes left in the second half derailed Pitt’s momentum. The team would never recover, ultimately falling 64-46 in Louisville.

The Panthers bring an 11-5 record with them into the matchup, while the Cardinals sit at 13-3. Both teams have dropped two of their last four games. Tipoff from the Petersen Events Center is set for 7 p.m. ET.