Indiana has Purdue.
Michigan denies there is a rivalry but they get irritated when losing regularly to "little brother" like they have been lately.
Ohio State doesn't have an in-state rivalry.
I wouldn't lose respect for someone who forgets it in a list of rivalries... But if someone says "Oklahoma", they just don't know sports if they don't know about Bedlam.
Forgot about Purdue Indy. UM looks at MSU like PSU looks at Pitt. “meh”.
Tennessee / Vanderbilt can get pretty heated when Vandy is doing good. Not so much in football of course, but in other sports. Notre Dame had the Shillelagh Trophy with Purdue for over 60 years, but when ND suckered the ACC into allowing them in all sports but football (while still getting their bowl bids) it went away. Which is too bad, it was a decent thing. Of course, nothing compared to USC or Navy for ND though.
UM doesn't really look at MSU like we look at Pitt either. It's a divisional game, so they play every year and MSU has beaten up on them of late. Sure, they are little brother to the OSU rivalry, but it's no where near the same. I mean, CBS did a bit on the MSU / Michigan rivalry last year asking the Michigan players "What makes it so intense". LOL
Basically my point is this: Just because it's not the school's main rivalry... doesn't mean it's not a rivalry. Ohio State fans sure love to say we aren't their rival, but no team from the Big Ten has beaten them more in the 21st century. Many of the games being pretty darn epic. Even though we'd never eclipse UM, I'm sure they circle our game every year.
They’ve been losing to little brother a lot lately, IMO it’s a big rivalry, maybe not as big as Ohio st but it’s still big.
Sorry Roam I posted above before I read your post, I agree 100% about Michigan and Michigan st. I’ll sit and watch that game if I come across it, it’s usually a fun game to watch.
They better take the game more seriously because they’ve been getting their butts kicked lately. I’m talking about Michigan
Need to play and beat top programs. Pitt is close to that level. Many PSU folks don’t want to play Pitt because of the potential impact on the recruiting trail.
U of M has lost 8 of the last 10 since Mike Hart made his ill-advised "little brother" comment. I'm sure losing to Sparty doesn't sit well with coaches, players, or fans. Another bit of irony, Pitt and Nebraska were the two other schools under consideration as the 10th member when Michigan State was admitted to the B1G.
Pitt did not have a rivalry with Penn State their rivalry was with WVU, the backyard brawl. Why aren't they trying to bring that back? Just wondering
The Backyard Brawl is scheduled to resume in 2022 to 2025. However, Pitts’ attendance problems are bigger than a game with PSU can solve. Here is an article from last season: https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2017/11/09/will-pitt-address-football-attendance-issues/
Pitt doesn’t draw fans for most games. The big draws are PSU and ND. When the WVU series resumes, those games will draw also. The ACC schedule doesn’t create much interest. If you can’t even come close to filling the stands with a home game against Okie State, that says you’ve got problems. Pitt also has had problems selling tickets for bowl games when they’ve gone.
Ideally, Pitt would like to have home games with PSU and WVU in alternate years with home games with ND mixed in. PSU isn’t cooperating and WVU may not be very cooperative either. Both have other options.
