Odd how the Big East Conference recognizes a rivalry between some older members of the conference and ignores one that was in existence long before before the league was conceived.
The conference announced the schedule of 2011-12 basketball opponents Thursday and, as usual, Pittsburgh and West Virginia will be playing twice.
Or as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put it, they “‘play home and away every season because of their long-standing rivalry. The other home-and-away opponents are determined by “natural interest, geography, television contractual obligations and competitive balance.'”
Nice little rivalry, maybe, but not that much better than the University of Louisville-Cincinnati relationship which includes 94 games since 1921. Pitt and WVU have played 103 times since they first clashed in basketball in 1895.
One has to wonder how many years the initiation period is for newcomers to the league.
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Those two-game opponents for U of L next season include Pittsburgh, Syracuse and DePaul, at home and away.
Other home opponents include UConn, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Rutgers, USF, and Villanova.
Road games against Cincinnati, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, and West Virginia.
I think they’re trying to force a Syracuse rivalry on us. Fine with me, as long as Pitino keeps beating Beiheim all the time.