Pat Narduzzi just can’t stop obsessing over Penn State Football.

At ACC media days Tuesday, Narduzzi once again couldn’t help but bring up Penn State when discussing Pitt’s upcoming season, despite coming off of a 3-9 season and being on the hot seat this fall.

After mentioning the upcoming rivalry game with West Virginia, Narduzzi noted that Pitt would “love” to play Penn State, “if they’d play us, they won’t play us.”

#Pittsburg HC Pat Narduzzi on the recent renewal of the Backyard Brawl.

“At Pittsburgh, we embrace rivalries. We’d love to play Penn State, if they’d play us.” pic.twitter.com/kZNXObzzca

— Penn State Nittany Lions | Happy Valley Insider (@PennStateRivals) July 23, 2024

Of course Pitt would love to schedule Penn State Football.

<< SHOP THE LATEST PENN STATE GEAR AT AMAZON >>

---

Why Penn State Football vs. Pitt Doesn’t Benefit Nittany Lions

Pitt has been begging to re-up the Penn State Pitt series after the last four-game series ended in 2019.

The Pitt football program used their two home games in the last four-game series to fund the Pitt football program, requiring visiting fans to purchase three game tickets on the way to setting a then-program record 69,983 fans at the 2018 contest.

Moreover, Pitt saw a 15 percent increase in overall attendance in 2018 with the addition of Penn State on the schedule, with the Penn State game bringing in over 20,000 more fans than Pitt’s average that season.

After 2016, the other year that Pitt had Penn State on the schedule, Pitt saw almost a 5,000-fan drop in average attendance in 2017 without Penn State on the schedule. For Pitt’s bottom line, renewing a series with Penn State Football is incredibly important and would be a huge revenue driver for their program.

Of course Penn State won’t schedule Pitt Football

The reality for Penn State Football is that no matter how much Narduzzi and Pitt beg, it does not make sense for Penn State to renew the series with Pitt with a home-and-home schedule.

Renewing the “rivalry” significantly drives revenue for Pitt but does not bring much of a benefit, if any, for Penn State compared to West Virginia, Auburn, or even a newly exciting Syracuse.

If Penn State was to give in to Narduzzi’s begging, the Lions would need to secure at least two home games for every away game to make the benefits of the series more even for Penn State.

How long can Narduzzi keep this up?

The recent comments from Narduzzi follow a long trend of Narduzzi and Pitt focusing on Penn State almost as much as the Panther’s program.

Last season, Narduzzi took a veiled shot at Penn State’s offense when Christian Veilleux transferred to Pitt, calling it a “one-word” offense compared to Pitt’s “real offense”. In January, Narduzzi ranked Penn State lowest among all voters in the Coaches Poll after Penn State’s Rose Bowl win over Utah.

In 2022, before week one of the season, Narduzzi again reiterated Pitt’s strong interest in playing Penn State noting “we’ll play Penn State anytime they want to.”

In 2019, Pitt withheld media availability from all its players leading up to the Penn State game, treating the game like a Super Bowl for the program. In 2017, Pitt Football head coach Pat Narduzzi tweeted “Hail to Pitt” immediately after No. 2 Penn State lost to No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus.

At the time of this “trolling” Pitt football was 4-5 and begging for relevance and bowl eligibility.

Coming off of a 3-9 season and facing the hot seat, Narduzzi should keep his focus on the upcoming Panther’s season instead of trying to fix Pitt’s future budgetary problems by trying to tie itself to the Penn State cash cow.

MORE: Penn State Surging Up Big Ten Preseason Poll

A note to our readers; If you make a purchase through one of our affiliate links, we may receive a commission