Pittsburgh Panthers to the Big Ten?

I woke up today and was in complete shock that the Pitt Panthers could be possibly going to the Big Ten…SHOCK I TELL YOU.  SHOCK!  Actually, no I really wasn’t.  The Big East is sooner or later going to crumble. Really, it’s a sad thing to say, because in my opinion the Big East is like the SEC of basketball.  It’s an ultra tough conference who has produced winners over long periods of time.

The bleacherreport .com posted a very intriguing article last night about a possible “rumor” that Pitt was going to the Big Ten.  It even went as far as saying that various players have “tweeted” about it.  However, I’m skeptical of the last part due to the fact that I haven’t seen a report or seen any actual twitter posts from any players regarding the possible move.

An excerpt from the article is as so:

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According to several reports, including personal statements by student athletes on Twitter, Pittsburgh athletic department officials held closed door meetings with all of the University’s student athletes last week about the potential move.

Pitt message boards lit up with the news and the validity of the rumor, though not verified by the University or either conference, was somewhat reinforced when those Pitt athletes who posted about the meeting on their Twitter accounts were forced to remove the posts.

This weekend, many outlets are reporting that Pittsburgh has indeed decided to accept the Big Ten’s invitation and will formally announce the move to the Big Ten on Thursday, Feb. 4, a coincidental (or not) day after National Signing Day.

Pitt’s current conference, the Big East, is no stranger to having its members leave for greener pastures. In 2004, the ACC snatched away Virginia Tech and Miami, two of the conference’s cornerstone programs and the following year Boston College followed suit.

Pitt’s move to the Big Ten doesn’t necessarily expand the conference’s footprint and the Panthers won’t bring in any new television markets, but the University does meet the conference’s academic and institutional “requirements.”

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This could bring a whole new world back to the University of Pittsburgh program as well as Penn State’s.  It would give Penn State an even closer rival than Ohio State in Pitt, and bring back that old time feel.  However the real thing I fear is that if this does happen.  Does the Backyard Brawl disappear? I think that would be a stupid movie for both schools, but I’m sure that something would be worked out.

While it makes sense for football, because recruiting would be heightened to a more “prestigious” conference, how would basketball fare?  It would be a shame to see Pitt’s basketball team go to a lesser conference than the Big East.  However, the Big East is in trouble if this rumor turns out to be true.  It’s in trouble as it is, but even more if Pitt jumps ship.

Jamie Dixon is against the move as quoted by the article:

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“I can’t see how any [Big East] team would improve where they’re at by movement,” Dixon said last month. “Every situation, you have to look at why you’re doing it to improve yourselves. And I can’t see how moving from the best conference in college basketball history would be a good thing for anybody.”

And he may have a point.

The move would certainly benefit Pitt football more than Pitt basketball. The hoops team would have to abandon long-time rivalries with perennial heavy hitters Syracuse, Georgetown, and Connecticut, and replace them with distant schools like Iowa or Northwestern.

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All true.  The teams listed in the report are mega teams all close to each other, who battle every year for a top spot.  It’s also true that there are inner coach rivalries.  How would establishing new ones with teams farther away build an ideal rivalry?  It simply wouldn’t.  So, I guess the only thing we can do now is wait until the “supposed” announce date and see what happens.  I’d be really excited for the football team…basketball…not so much.