Penn State didn’t include Pittsburgh on its offseason coaches tour this year, opting to visit New York and Washington instead of the second-largest city in its home state. Turns out, Western Pennsylvania probably isn’t in the football program’s scheduling plans for a while either.
Athletic director Sandy Barbour told reporters at the New York tour stop Tuesday that the Nittany Lions probably will not look to include Pitt on future football schedules until after 2030 once the teams’ current four-year series ends in 2019. The Centre Daily Times John McGonigal quoted her thusly:
“We’ve had conversations. I think at this point we’ve both agreed that based on Big Ten and ACC scheduling principles — and it’s a complicating puzzle nowadays — that we’re probably not going to do anything at this point.”
Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke told reporters last month that her department had sent Penn State a proposal for a four-year series beginning in 2026. Penn State has not publicly announced any opponents for that year or any of the following years.
Judging from Barbour’s comments, though, Pitt does not appear to be under consideration regardless.
The programs still have two meetings remaining on their current series. Pitt will welcome the Lions to Heinz Field for the last scheduled meeting in Pittsburgh on Sept. 8 of this year. Then the Panthers will travel to State College for the last meeting in the series in 2019.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: May 9, 2018, 1:41 a.m.
Updated: May 9, 2018, 1:42 a.m.
