What Pitt Head Coach Jeff Capel Said About WVU Ahead of the Backyard Brawl

Playing on the road in college basketball is incredibly challenging. It's even more difficult when you're facing a bitter rival and 14,000 fans let you hear from the moment the ball is thrown up into the air until the final buzzer.

That will be the situation that Pitt head coach Jeff Capel and his Panthers are stepping into tonight at Hope Coliseum when they square off with West Virginia for the 192nd time.

It might be a 6 p.m. start time, but the Mountaineer Maniacs and the rest of Mountaineer Nation will fight the traffic to be there early and make a difference. The Pitt header spoke on the matchup against West Virginia and what he's expecting to see.

“I know it’s a big game. I know it’s a different game. I understand that. I understand the rivalry. I understand the passion and the intensity and all of that with it. We really, really want to win, but the main thing is I want us to get better, I want us to play well," he said following their win over Eastern Michigan. "I’m anxious to see how we’re going to respond to that environment and being uncomfortable. I’m anxious to see how we respond to hostility and respond to really good competition and the type of passion that I know will be in that building.”

Pitt played its first three games all at home against Youngstown State, Longwood, and Eastern Michigan. This will be the first time they've not only gone on the road, but will be in a rowdy environment, which happens to be against a pretty solid Wet Virginia team. That's no easy chore.

Capel is 2-4 against WVU since taking the job at Pitt, but one of those wins came against a depleted roster two years ago when Josh Eilert served as the interim head coach. The Mountaineers have dominated this series of late, winning six of the last eight matchups.

As previously mentioned, WVU and Pitt will tip things off at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

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