Rivalry Week: The Backyard Brawl

The Backyard Brawl is an annual game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers. The "Backyard" part of the name refers to the fact that the schools are separated by about 80 miles. It is a heated match up and because of the success of the two schools, one of the most important games in the Big East every year.

You could point to a lot of things that breed the hate between the two fan groups. They wear similar colors. They started playing the game at the beginning of their programs. The schools are pretty close together. West Virginia is a coal mining state, while Pittsburgh is known for its steel production. There's a basis for rivalry on all of those points of contention.

The two teams first played in 1895, with West Virginia taking the first contest by the score of 8-0. Despite that, Pittsburgh leads the series 61-39-3, much of that due to a 15 game winning streak between  1929 and 1946. It wasn't much of a rivalry until West Virginia became respectable (great read, by the way):

"I think a definition of 'rivalry' is competition. And there wasn't any. Except for 1920 and 1922 and 1928, there were no more [West Virginia victories] until 1947. 

"Until West Virginia became respectable, it was two for one -- two trips to Pittsburgh for one in Morgantown." Shoot, from 1900 to 1929, it was 21 for two.

 In fact, Pitt didn't really care much about the West Virginia game in the beginning:

"When I was at Pitt," Cook added of a time when the Panthers held a 36-11-1 advantage, "West Virginia was just a game on the schedule." Penn State was the in-state rival, though somehow 21st-century Penn State map makers redrew the lines and turned themselves into a Midwestern-based league member and Pitt into foreign territory. Cook continued, "But at West Virginia, Pitt was always a big thing." 

"West Virginia would bring 15,000, 20,000 fans. They wanted to come to Pitt. 

"I tell you, The Pittsburgh Press circulation department used to root for West Virginia, because if West Virginia beat Pitt, on Sunday they sold 20,000 extra papers."

On the other hand, West Virginians were bred to hate the Panthers:

"Jack Fleming's house was above the old stadium," Cook continued. "He told me, when he was a child, Pitt would come out on the field, and he would sit on his mother's lap. His mother would point down at them. And his mother would say, 'Son, that's Pitt. You hate Pitt now. You hate Pitt tomorrow. You hate Pitt until the day you die. After that, you will hate Pitt for eternity.' "

Since the rivalry became more even, the game became more important. It has reached a new level since the teams both teams were full members of the Big East in 1991. The two schools have often been the best teams in the Big East, and rarely has a Backyard Brawl gone by without some significance for at least one of the schools.

Now, with Pitt's potential move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Backyard Brawl is in jeopardy. Just as the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is in trouble, Pitt is trying to move to the ACC because of money. West Virginia appears to be headed to the Big XII because of a lack of competition and concern that the Big East's automatic BCS berth will be taken away. The Big East isn't the conference it was when it had Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami (Florida). The competition is weak and the conference has been preyed on by competing conferences for want-away schools.

With the schools potentially in different conferences and the demand for 9 game in conference seasons, the two schools may find themselves unable to find each other on their schedules. Both sides aren't happy about this, but Pitt defensive tackle, Chas Alexih, puts it best:

"I think that’s a tragedy if it ends," Alecxih said in a phone interview. "It’s one of the oldest rivalries in college football, one of the most intense. I think it’s a shame. ... I don't want to say this is a big thing we're thinking about, but if this were to be the last time we played on a consistent basis it would be great to say we won it."

This is another rivalry that will fall victim to conference realignment. With the demands of conference schedules and the increasing demand to have out of conference home games, it will be unlikely that these two play on a year to year basis. It's the disappointing reality of the current landscape of college sports. These are rivalries that shouldn't die. These are rivalries to preserve.

The lack of playing year to year will take away some of the rivalry, at least on the field. It will not take away the strong dislike of the fans though. That will live on. That might be worth holding onto. That might be what keeps this going.

There'll still be the competition, the hatred, the history, just the tradition will be missing.