Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported that Pitt has filed a lawsuit against their home of 30 years, the Big East Conference, in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas this afternoon. The university released this statement shortly after:

"Since the University of Pittsburgh made the decision to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, we have done everything possible to move through a smooth transition with the Big East. Though we have been excluded from governance activities, meetings, decision-making and operational functions of the conference, we have been positive and respectful of the Big East.

"On September 26, 2011, when we notified the Big East that we were withdrawing from the conference, we paid the first half of the exit fee of $5 million. When the 2012-13 season is complete, we will have competed in the Big East for two seasons, thus providing ample time to re-form the Big East Conference for the future. Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the Big East will actually have four more football playing schools and more schools overall than when we gave notice that we were moving to a different conference.

"Although the Big East's stated position is that we must stay through the 2013-14 season, the Big East acknowledged publicly that a discussion of our departure after the 2012-13 season was appropriate. A few weeks ago, Steve Pederson met with John Marinatto to begin the process to work toward an exit after this upcoming academic year. The Commissioner indicated that he was doing this with the authorization of the Chair of the Big East Presidents. However, attempts to contact the Big East in the following weeks to move the process forward have been unsuccessful, leading us to conclude that negotiations would not occur. Given the change in leadership of the Big East and the lack of response to our attempted contacts, on Friday, May 11, 2012, we filed a law suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, seeking resolution of this matter. We are confident in our position as stated in the complaint, but believe that this matter is best resolved between the parties. We have notified the Big East of this action, and continue to hope that our departure can be accommodated through private negotiations."

The last time we looked at Pitt's early move to the ACC, then-Big East commissioner John Marinatto said that he would be willing to negotiate with Pitt and Syracuse to ensure an early departure from the Big East.

But what happened?

Continue reading this post »

After a bit of a dead period, this has been one of the bigger offseason weeks in recent memory ... well, other than the coaching carousel over the past few years.

Penn State's new coach, Bill O'Brien, kicked things off by talking about renewing the Pitt-Penn State rivalry. John Marinatto followed that up by resigning from his position as commissioner of the Big East. Paul Chryst picked up his fifth commit of 2013. Then there was word that Pitt could be landing former Rutgers/Arizona quarterback Tom Savage. And Pitt's new conference, the ACC, just landed a big new deal with ESPN.

Heck, that's a big month, let alone week. Add one more to that list with the news that Pitt is suing the Big East.

Now, when you think 'lawsuit', you generally think of guys in suits burning through taxpayer money in court before a judge who may or may not care about football. That's not likely to be the scene that plays out as this thing will probably be settled out of court before it gets to that point.

So, okay, let's take a look at this. On what basis is Pitt suing?

Scheduling woes and lost revenue.

Continue reading this post »

The big news out of ACC land is that the media deal, which ACC commissioner John Swofford said would happen when Pitt and Syracuse officially joined the conference, was extended today.

ESPN and the Atlantic Coast Conference have agreed on a rights deal that extends through the 2026-27 season and will mean additional football, men's and women's basketball and Olympic sports coverage on a variety of platforms.

When the ACC adds Pittsburgh and Syracuse, the conference will play an 18-game regular-season men's basketball schedule -- and ESPN networks will show an additional 30 regular-season games, plus two more conference tournament games. The new deal also adds 14 more football games, including three Friday night games (one of which, hosted by Boston College or Syracuse, to be played the day after Thanksgiving).

ESPN will televise a number of regular-season ACC women's basketball games, plus the entire conference tournament and will increase its coverage of Olympic sports, highlighted by baseball, softball, lacrosse along with men's and women's soccer.

According to sources, the deal will be worth approximately $3.6 billion, which equates to about $17 million per program per year. Prior to expansion, ACC schools would have made around $13 million a year. To compare, Pitt is making not nearly that currently in the Big East. If you needed more reasons why Pitt should leave the Big East, this is why. Because even with the media deal negotiations approaching, I doubt the Big East will be able to get a equal amount. And so long as it's more money for Pitt, the move will be worth it.

Other interesting notes on the deal after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

We've had a few days to let Bill O'Brien's words sit and let people form their own various opinions. Many Pitt fans, no doubt, would like to see the renewal of a football series as would those on the other side.

I, on the other hand, do not feel Pitt needs the series. Or rather, not as much as some fans seem to think. Pitt does not need Penn State just like Penn State does not need Pitt. It's a fact that some of the older fans may be shocked to hear, but it's true. Pitt Script Blog did a great piece on it last year and here are my thoughts.

It will be 16 years since Pitt last played Penn State by the time the two renew the series. Has either side truly suffered as a result? Penn State has had several great seasons since then. Pitt has replaced the rivalry with Penn State with the Backyard Brawl, one of the best rivalries in all of college sports. The Brawl, as we know it, anyway, is over, but the point is that Penn State was replaceable.

Pitt, as we all know, hasn't been that great for a while. Would Pitt have been any better over the past decade had they played Penn State? Sure, in the early part of the decade when the Lions weren't all that great, it would have been nice to beat up on them. But, in reality, Pitt would have lost more against Penn State than they would have won recently. And that would have hurt the Panthers in recruiting in-state prospects, and ultimately, on the field. And even if Pitt had won, Pitt's season isn't won or lost by that game. It certainly helps to win, but it isn't the only thing.

Then there's the oft-quoted, beaten-to-death two-for-one discussion.

Continue reading this post »

In somewhat surprising news, Big East commissioner John Marinatto resigned today as the big man in Providence after holding the position since November of 2008. A Providence man through and through, Marinatto was a true "Big East" guy and seemed to be a clear choice by the league after Mike Tranghese left the post.

But the divide between football and basketball has always been in the conference from the day the Big East began sponsoring football. Dave Gavitt couldn't do it. Tranghese couldn't do it. And now this divide has claimed Marinatto.

The resignation has once again proved what we all already know - something has to change in the Big East. It is too difficult for a conference like this to exist, where half of the schools want one thing and the other half want another. Recently, that gap has been growing and Marinatto was unable to stop it. Now he's gone and the Big East is left at a critical juncture without a leader.

Continue reading this post »

Dave Matthews Band - #41 (DMB Live at Brixton Academy - Europe box set) (via felipeviegas)

This week's music courtesy of the Dave Matthews Band. Unbelievable version of #41 on tap. Look, even if you're not a Dave fan, I strongly advise you to listen to this one. And if you're too busy waiting to play a Coldplay album or something, fast forward to around the 8:30-minute mark for some of the best sax and drum music you'll ever hear in a modern-day rock band.

Trust me - this is 13 minutes of your day well worth it.

Weekly Pitt links that we didn't get to last week after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

I don't always plug my weekly column over at Fathead, but this week's article is college football related - sort of. I took a look at the biggest surprises from the recent NFL Draft.

Head over and take a look.

Shan Foster: NBA Draft Song (via ilananunn)

This week's song is actually a song about the NBA Draft, but it's draft related, so let's go with it. This is former NBA Draft pick Shan Foster singing about playing in the NBA. If you've never seen this video, take two minutes out of your day to absorb the pure cheesiness. I love the message and I'm willing to bet he can sing better than 95% of the players in the league. But, seriously - an NBA player that's 6'6" doesn't really work with a miniature-sized Casio keyboard.

I'm not sayin', just sayin'.

This week's Pitt links that we didn't get to this week after the jump.

Continue reading this post »