The “Backyard Brawl,” one of college football’s best dormant rivalries, will be renewed a little sooner than previously thought.
Jan 16, 2018 For those waiting for the renewal of the Backyard Brawl, we now know exactly how long you have to wait. The schools announced Tuesday that the Pitt-West Virginia rivalry will again be played on.
The Pitt Panthers and West Virginia Mountaineers have faced off 104 total times in the history of the Backyard Brawl.
Pitt owns a 61-40-3 lead in the series, which began all the way back in October 1895.
Unfortunately, with West Virginia’s jump to the Big 12, and Pitt’s move to the ACC, the old Big East rivals have not faced off since the 2011 season.
WVU edged out Pitt in that one, 21-20.
The two programs announced the renewal of the Backyard Brawl back in 2015. The 2022 game was slated for September 17 in Pittsburgh, and would kick off a four-year series alternating between the two home fields.
That game has been moved up, and will now be the 2022 season opener on September 3.
The schools made the announcement this afternoon.
The 2022 resumption of the Backyard Brawl at Heinz Field, originally scheduled for Sept. 17, has been moved to Sept. 3 and will now be the opener for both Pitt & West Virginia. The teams will meet four times between 2022-25. Panthers host in 2022 and 2024. #H2Ppic.twitter.com/iQy8j5IcKs
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) January 16, 2018
Pitt has another non-conference game against a prominent opponent the following week, when the team hosts Tennessee. It is also one of two Power Five non-conference road games for West Virginia, which will travel to face another ACC Coastal program, Virginia Tech, on September 24.
Losing rivalries like the Backyard Brawl has been one of the most unfortunate consequences of conference realignment, so it is great to see these two programs get back in action. Having it kick off then 2022 season should be pretty cool to see as well.
Hopefully other series like Texas vs. Texas A&M can make similar returns in the coming years.
Backyard Brawl
West Virginia’s annual football and basketball games with Pitt were referred to as “The Backyard Brawl” because of the close proximity of the two schools. West Virginia University and the University of Pittsburgh played football games for more than 100 straight years, representing the nation’s 14th oldest football rivalry. That rivalry streak ended in 2011 after WVU entered the Big XII.
Backyard Brawl Football Wvu Pitt
The two basketball teams have played more than 185 times since 1904. Each year, the game drew thousands of fans to the WVU Coliseum to watch this match-up.
This tradition had been put on hold for the football program after WVU joined the Big XII, although the Backyard Brawl will be revived in 2022 with the start of a four game series between the two programs. WVU Basketball has also scheduled games against Pitt for the past few years and will go to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers again next season in 2020.