Pitt, Syracuse Revive Compelling Rivalry with New Bad Blood
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PITTSBURGH -- Ask any Pitt fan who the Panthers' biggest rival is and almost all of the answers will likely be either Penn State or West Virginia - two series steeped in history on the gridiron that has combined deep hatred and classic moments over their more than a century of shared history.
But another rivalry takes a backseat to those marquee opponents, lying mostly dormant until basketball season rolls around and the opposing fans remember why they despise either program. Pitt and Syracuse have met 122 times on the hardwood over the course of their long history as northern basketball powers. That makes the Orange Pitt's fourth-most played opponent behind West Virginia (189 meetings), Penn State (148) and Carnegie Mellon (124).
It doesn't bear a trademarked name like the Backyard Brawl or Keystone Classic, but Pitt-Syracuse carries the weight of history and there's no mistaking what the game means.
“I don’t think we have to inspire [the players]," Capel responded when asked about getting his team ready for Syracuse. "We’ll be ready to go. It’s a rivalry game, they’re a good basketball team. We’ll be ready to go.”
These two teams have engaged in some classic battles as members of the Big East and ACC. As the head coach of the Orange for 48 years, Boeheim knows firsthand that this series has earned rivalry status on the merit of its compelling basketball.
"We've had a lot of great games, just really unbelievable games against them," he said. "Obviously Tyler Ennis' shot always comes to mind. The game [in Syracuse] when they made a halfcourt shot just about a split second after the buzzer went off. We've had some great games with them."
Boeheim alluded to an essential part of why these two programs are constantly at odds - they've played each other in plenty of high-stakes and entertaining games regularly over their history.
Since the Panthers joined the Big East in 1982, they've met the Orange 18 times when both teams are ranked. 10 of those games have pitted two top-20 teams against one another and two top-10 matchups have been played at the Petersen Center.
Ennis' game-winning halfcourt buzzer-beater preserved Syracuse's unbeaten 2014 campaign. The legendary 2011 Pitt team rode 21 points from Nasir Robinson past No. 3 Syracuse on their way to a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, just the second in program history. In 2001, 17th-ranked Syracuse lost by one in overtime at the Pete and three years later, returned the favor by knocking off third-ranked Pitt by three in overtime in Pittsburgh.
While this installment will not be a clash of titans as it has in the past, adding fuel to the fire are the comments Jim Boeheim made earlier this month, claiming that Pitt - among other ACC teams - "bought" its current team, which is hurdling towards its first NCAA Tournament in seven years. Boeheim walked back his comments and publicly apologized. Since the incident, both head coaches have said they consider the matter closed, but Pitt fans have not forgotten.
Fans responded by selling out the Petersen Events Center for the second time this season. A raucous crowd of more than 12,000 will be in attendance this weekend, flooding Oakland to take in the renewal of a reheated rivalry.
Not many outside Northern New York or Western Pennsylvania know why this is such a point of contention, but if they tune in to the ACC Network on Saturday at 5:00 p.m., they'll find out.
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