Penn State: Keep It Close to Home

I like the Big Ten. It really has provided a positive impact on Penn State, both at an athletic and academic level. 

But Penn State football went wrong when they moved to the Big Ten. They changed their out of conference scheduling, that only until recently has started to show signs of a rebirth. Before joining the Big Ten, Penn State battled teams like West Virginia, Pitt, Syracuse, and Maryland every single year.

Penn State also would play the bottom feeders Rutgers and Temple. Why is this an issue? Two reasons: 1.) recruiting and 2.) setting up alumni to go to away games.

Penn State’s recruiting base still to this day is Western and Eastern PA, New Jersey, New York City, Maryland, and Virginia. If a recruit now commits to Penn State, their biggest influences (Mom and Dad) have a long way to travel to see away games. That’s why many of those players now opt to play for schools like Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and Maryland.

These schools are signing better players now than they were 15 years ago since Penn State stopped playing East coast schools. The East coast recruits see no connection with the foes from the Midwest and hence they choose to stay local and compete against more local schools.

Also, look at Penn State’s away record of late. Name me the last big road win they have had? It sure is a rarity.

I went to the game late last season at Temple, and to no one’s surprise the crowd was overwhelmingly wearing blue and white.

This year, I suspect a similar result at Syracuse. I believe that Penn State will handle Syracuse and since this road game is early in the season, it will give them more confidence in themselves on the road and they will win a big away game because of that.

Most Penn State graduates relocate to the big cities on the Eastern seaboard, not in the Midwest.  This is why Penn State should be playing Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic schools.

If I were designing the schedule for Penn State, I would obviously stick to the Big Ten schedule, but also cycle in two of these schools every year for a home and away series: Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers, Maryland, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and Temple.

This would benefit recruiting, team confidence, and also make the alumni happy.  Not to mention restore rivalries that were at one time so great, but now completely lacking from the Big Ten.

This year’s schedule includes Temple and at Syracuse. Nice job Tim Curley. Now, try and figure in the other schools and I will be happy.