Good rundown of some Backyard Brawl history by reader lturk. Create your own Fanpost over to the right and we may publish it here.

2008 - McCoy carried the Panthers to a 19-15 win over West Virginia before 63,019 fans at Heinz Field in the 101st meeting of the rivalry known as the Backyard Brawl. With the Panthers trailing by 15-13 late in the fourth quarter, McCoy carried the ball nine times — all but once on Pittsburgh’s final possession — and rushed for 59 yards. After putting the Panthers ahead with a 1-yard run with 52 seconds remaining, McCoy stood in the end zone with his arms stretched wide and a smile spread across his face.

2007 - A season of college football upsets ended with one of the biggest in Backyard Brawl history.  Unranked Pitt toppled No. 2 West Virginia, 13-9, in the Big East upset of the season before a stunned crowd of 60,100 at Milan Puskar Stadium.  Pitt running back LeSean McCoy led both teams in rushing with 148 yards on 38 carries. He broke the Big East rushing record for a freshman with 1,328 yards this season.  The Panthers' defense took it from there, holding West Virginia to 104 rushing yards -- 206 yards under its rushing average per game.

2004 - Pitt overcame the Mountaineers in the Backyard Brawl after being down 13-9 in the fourth quarter, Pitt QB Tyler Palko lead a drive that consisted of four third-down conversions that ended with a two-yard run by Palko for the score.  Palko's fourth quarter heroics earned Pittsburgh a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.  The most memorable play of the game came when Palko hurdled over defensive back Pacman Jones in the second quarter on a scramble for a first down.

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Thoughts on Pitt from Reader SlicenDice112 (Write your own Fanpost over to the right)

If Jamie Dixon doesn’t switch it up on both offense and defense, Pitt is in trouble this year. What has made Pitt so good throughout the years is the fact that they don’t need to score 80 points to be in a game. They would hold teams to the 60 point range through solid defense and dominating the glass. In order for Pitt to get a top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament this year, I think they need to make the following changes:

Defense: Their starting lineup right now is 4 guys under 6’6" and no Dejuan Blair, Aaron Gray or Gary Mcghee underneath to compensate. Since we don’t have a monster in the middle this year, we need more size to be more effective on defense and dominate the glass. We can’t start Travon Woodall at the 1 and Nasir Robinson at the 4, that’s way too small. We need to start Talib Zanna (or maybe Malcolm Gilbert – I haven’t really seen him but hear good things) at the 5, move Dante Taylor to the 4, Robinson to the 3 and Lamar Patterson to the 2, to give us more size and rebounding. Bring Woodall off the bench. Is this our best offensive team, no, but we have the size and quickness to lockdown on defense and control the boards. Plus bringing Woodall off the bench will give us a veteran spark to complement/spell Gibbs. Last year, Robinson could start at the 4 because you had Mcghee at center, Gilbert Brown (6’6") at small forward and Brad Wannamaker (6’4") at the 2. Brown and Wannamaker were insane athletes, something Patterson and Gibbs aren’t.

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It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, it really is. Football and basketball weekends are glorious. Some silly thoughts from Friday night.

You know that Dante Taylor smile, where he runs down the court with a certain giddiness, that should only be reserved for kids on their first day at Kennywood. Well, in Friday night's game, the smirk and child-like mannerisms were in full force. He looked super excited to play this year and for good reason.

To start the game, he had a strong, one-handed put back that showed his improved athleticism and, hopefully, non-lingering knee problems. Later in the first half, off a nifty pass in the post from Ashton, he converted on a nice, turn-around baby hook shot; something we've all been looking for the last two years and has been praised by Coach Dixon coming into this season. 

He's always been vocal, skipping around and Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky to START games, but the key for me is how he performs in the second half, especially down the stretch. He has never been called upon to be a major contributor late in games, with McGhee filling that void these last few years, but he will have to step up his game when Ashton and, based off Friday night's game, T-Wood aren't hitting their shots.

Quick Thoughts on Albany

Albany's coach, Will Brown, had an exceptional hair part; the kind reserved for your local bowling alley guy that only fixes the gutters. Brown, in his eleventh year at Albany, just looks rugged, Rust Belt-ish and like the Operations guy that has worked at your company for the last twenty two years.

In more hair-related news, Gerardo Suero had a nasty 'Fro, which may have propelled him to the charity stripe a stupid 16 times. There is no reason any America East player should be getting to the line that many times. Could this be harbginger-ish to last year, where really good guards found a way to exploit our soft backcourt defense - Hansborough, Hardy, Hopson, Mack and Kemba?

This is is my biggest concern for the year. Who will guard the really athletic Big East guards? Seriously, who is going to man up J-Lamb or DJO? Dixon has always been a M2M guy, but he might have to swallow his pride and employ some zone defenses to offset this team's defensive weaknesses.

Broadcast Team on ESPN3/SNY

I watched the game on SNY with the stellar crew of Greg Linelli and Curtis Aiken, almost as good as Nantz and Kellogg. Here are the best lines from the evening:

Greg Linnelli:

"Cam takes the ball at the top." This is the first game of his career and you're already informalizing his name. That's like calling your blind date, Caitlin, "Cait" by the end of the night. Give it some time Greggo.

"BANK. GLASS. GOOD," after T-Wood hits a runner in the lane. He was so emphatic with the call that you knew it was in his announcer toolbox before the game started. I mean, if I was an announcer it would definitely be in my go-to-lines toolbox.

"You're on the Comcast Network," as I'm watching it on SNY and it's also being streamed on ESPN3. The folks carrying distribution rights couldn't have been too pleased with the constant promotion of another network.

Curtis Aiken:

"This kid is hungry," (when describing Gibb's work ethic) but then says a few seconds later, "You know what, he eats right." Curtis, when talking about hunger, it's best to stick with either a literal or metaphorical sense, else you'll be confusing us with Final Four hunger - it is in the great Cajun infused land of New Orleans.

"We've got our Batman and Robin," in describing Gibbs and Woodall. Okay, Tray had a good game, but he is a long way away from emerging as the legitimate number two threat. 

"One of Dante Taylor's better games of the year." This is the first game bro. Sorry, the closed scrimmage you saw back in September against CCAC doesn't count for us normal fans.

See yinz Sunday night to cap off a solid Pitt sports weekend.

A reader chimes in on the Pitt-Penn State fiasco (write your own Fanpost over to the section on the right)

I guess the best place to start is at Three Rivers stadium, September 16, 2000. It was the fall of my senior year in high school. I had decided to go to Pitt over Penn State and I was not going to miss the last meeting of the two. Pitt had an exciting young team, featuring Antonio Bryant, John Turman, Kevan Barlow and hard hitting safety Ramon Walker. We took out Penn State who was on there way down, but still as a future Panther, I was confused as to why such a storied rivalry was coming to an end. Depending on who you ask, Penn State demanded a 2 for 1 swap, or Joe Pa was still salty about the eastern 8, regardless it was clear in my mind that it was PSU's fault. From that day forward I hated, absolutely HATED Joe Paterno and Penn State from depriving me of the chance to be part of one of the countries most storied rivalries. Just a few seasons later, the first exodus to the ACC occurred and Pitt football became destined for meaninglessness.

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Great analysis on Pitt's last preseason game from reader Buccos2028:

Take this for what it is worth. The first twenty minutes of an exhibition game against Kentucky Wesleyan, a team with just absolutely hideous uniforms. I was in town for a few days and paid an absurd $35 to get a look at the 2011-2012 Panthers. That's $1.75/minute, even worse than Downtown parking. Dynamic pricing MUST be implemented across all college and professional sports, the place was half full and could have filled up if cheap $4 or $5 seats were available.

Lamar Patterson is sneaky good. He's not going to wow you with Gilbert Brown or Sam Young athleticism, but there are two things he does really freaking well. 

First, he has great body control, which allows him to easily adjust to the defender, opposing team's defensive scheme and, even, the referee's style of game calling. There were a few times he was driving the lane, where he looked completely out of control, then made a great adjustment in the air to effortlessly lay it in the hoop. He knows his body's limitations and will not try to be a player that he is not (except for that botched dunk attempt where he was rejected by the rim). This body control bodes well for him on the defensive end, he's not going to fall for many pump fakes or lose position on the low block and commit silly over-the-back fouls.

Secondly, and related to body control, LP has exceptionally soft hands. There was one instance where T-Wood drove the lane into traffic (without much conviction), lost control of the ball, and, as the ball was heading out of bounds, Lamar snagged it and easily laid it in. Hands Man, as I'm now calling him, will benefit greatly from this skill most notably in the post. Anytime Ashton, T-Wood or Nasir draw attention in the lane, they can feel confident in dumping it off to Lamar for a quick lay-up or mid-range jumper.

What other season prognostications can I make in watching twenty minutes of exhibition basketball? Oh, I think Cameron Wright will see decent playing time solely for his defense. Going out on a limb, but I think he is Coach Dixon's most complete perimeter defender. He has the length, quickness and size to match up with the most athletic guards in the Big East. Seriously, who is going to guard Lamb, Triche and DJO this year? 

Brad and Gilbert are gone. Ashton is too small and not strong enough to man up against these 6-4, 200+ guards. Lamar? Probably not quick enough. Maybe, JJ Moore since he's in the starting rotation, but I am not sold on his defensive ability, yet.

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Probably rumor stuff, but interesting:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/extras/colleges_blog/2011/10/big_east_ready.html

http://eye-on-collegefootball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/24156338/32601781

The service schools have something of a national TV following.  If you get all three -- something of a coup, anyway.  Plus Boise, it would be a pretty good league.

This would help Pitt and Cuse get out earlier.  Also, it makes the BE more interesting for Notre Dame, should they be forced to make a move.

With Pittsburgh now a member of the ACC, the question of lacrosse has been raised in the lax community. Syracuse joining gives the conference five teams, joining Maryland, Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. To have an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament, a conference needs six teams.

There has been talk of Rutgers, a D1 lacrosse team, moving to the ACC from the Big East as well. However, there has also been talk of MCLA teams such as Pittsburgh, Boston College and North Carolina State joining Division one. NC State and BC are former D1 teams, however Pittsburgh has never left the Mens Collegiate Lacrosse Association.

To complete the ACC lacrosse puzzle, the Panthers may give it a try. Major League Lacrosse has an abundance of Pitt alum in the front offices, and the newly minted Ohio Machine franchise GM is a former Panter. It would certainly create a buzz of Pittsburgh lacrosse in the pro lacrosse world, and continue to grow the sport in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has had two professional lacrosse franchises, the Pittsburgh Bulls and Pittsburgh CrossFire, both of which player in the National Lacrosse League, an Indoor League.

The ACC might be the best thing that has happened to Pittsburgh lacrosse. If they do decide to make the move to D1, it could become a major sport in Pittsburgh area.

Marisa Ingemi, InLaxWeTrust.com

With Todd Graham's new offense, I figure we may see Tino out of the pocket more than last year....which made me think of the QB's back when Walt Harris used roam the sideline....which brings up the questions... Which QB had the better decimation of a defensive player? 

A.) Tyler Palko running over BC defender (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwkQ_i6eetE&feature=related)  

or

B.) Rod Rutherford running over Jonathon Vilma of Miami (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOU9LaZu9Mk&feature=related - fast forward to the 2:27 mark, sorry couldnt find the full highlight)

I was at the BC game, so I am kinda partial to that one.  Both were fun to watch.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/pitt/s_746288.html

Just a little footnote on at the bottom of the page, in an article about Archie Manning teaching Tino Sunseri how to survive as a college quarterback (throw it to Baldwin....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

Banks will have to sit out this season (since he still attends classes).  Does this year seem to be bringing in a lot more transfers than usual?  At least, I've never seen this much press about players transferring here.

Anyway, according to Scout.com, Banks was a three star prospect out of Montour High School.  That's about as much internet research as my job will allow.

A lot of times we get Mountaineers fans stumbling in here on occasion to merely cause a ruckus. However, here's an intelligent Fanpost asking a question about a Pitt/WVU move to the ACC.

People have been debating and discussing conference realignment for some time now and, specifically, I've been seeing renewed interest in the argument of a WVU/Pitt move to the ACC. I know many Mounties support the idea and I know many ACC'ers do as well but I've yet to get the opinions of Pitt fans.

I've seen more support for a WVU-only switch than WVU-Pitt mostly due to Pitt's tendency to not travel and the fact that we share the same TV market, etc.

I don't know that I would feel comfortable going without Pitt myself... our rivalry is one of the best in the country. I don't think an OOC series would be the same. I'm in love with the idea of renewing the WVU-VT series but it just doesn't capture the same hatred at WVU-Pitt. Am I alone in this?