PITTSBURGH — Pitt and West Virginia announced a new four-game series that runs from 2033-36 on Friday. The new series will put the two old rivals on each other’s schedule for eight consecutive seasons.
The announcement comes a day before the Panthers and Mountaineers are set to square off in the 108th edition of the Backyard Brawl in the final game of a four-game series that began in 2022.
The two programs had previously agreed to four-game series that runs from 2029-32. After the upcoming three-year hiatus, the Backyard Brawl will be on the schedule for eight straight years beginning on Sept. 8, 2029, in Pittsburgh.
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has long been a proponent of playing traditional rivalry games, a point he repeated to reporters this week.
“I’d like this game to be played. I’d like to play Penn State. I’d like to play any rivalry game,” Narduzzi said. “Just having that on our schedule is a lot of fun as a coach and a player. It’s great for the fans.”
It’s a sentiment Narduzzi reiterated in the statement he released when the new series between Pitt and West Virginia was announced.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled for what this means for both Pitt and West Virginia. But this goes far beyond four more games and the 75 miles separating us. This paves the way for future Panthers to carry on the history of this rivalry, while current ones get to forge new legacies for years to come,” Narduzzi’s statement read. “This extension isn’t just for Pitt and West Virginia, but for college football fans everywhere.”
Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez spent most of his childhood in Grant Town, West Virginia, and is a West Virginia alumnus. He was similarly pleased with the extension of the Backyard Brawl.
“I think it’s one of the greatest rivalries in sports,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “Obviously, the location between the two are close. There’s a lot of intensity with it, and there never seems to be any love lost between the fanbases. It’s always, to me, the biggest game on your schedule when you’re at West Virginia.”
The rivalry dates back to 1895, when West Virginia defeated then-Western University of Pennsylvania by a score of 8-0. Saturday’s game will mark the 108th meeting between the two programs. The game was played every year from 1943-2011, when conference realignment ended the series.
The current four-game series began on Sept. 1, 2022 with the Panthers topping the Mountaineers 38-31 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The home team also won each of the subsequent matchups, with West Virginia notching a 17-6 victory in Morgantown in 2023 and Pitt coming from behind last year to win 38-34 in Pittsburgh.
Pitt leads the overall series 63-41-3.
Future Pitt-West Virginia meetings:
• Sept. 8, 2029 at Pittsburgh
• Sept. 7, 2030 at West Virginia
• Sept. 6, 2031 at Pittsburgh
• Sept. 11, 2032 at West Virginia
• Sept. 10, 2033 at Pittsburgh
• Sept. 9, 2034 at West Virginia
• Sept. 8, 2035 at Pittsburgh
• Sept, 13, 2036 at West Virginia
Amanda Filipcic-Godsey is a freelance writer in Pittsburgh. She covers Pittsburgh sports for CNHI newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaFGodsey