Sunday night’s Penn State-Pitt meeting carries a little extra weight before the ball even goes up.
The rivals are set for their 150th all-time matchup, and this one comes with a fitting backdrop: the Palestra in Philadelphia, where the game will also be part of the venue’s 100th anniversary season on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
So while it’s technically a nonconference game in November, it doesn’t quite feel like one.
Both teams arrive at 2-0 after opening with a pair of home wins. Penn State has rolled past Canisius 97-57 and edged Chattanooga 97-93, while Pitt handled Rider 95-57 and Buffalo 80-61.
For Penn State, the focus is on tightening things up after Thursday’s second-half wobble against Chattanooga. The Nittany Lions gave up 62 points after halftime and scored 43, nearly letting the game slip away.
“Everybody is trying to figure out their team,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. “Everybody is trying to see combinations and certain ways you go about things. We saw some stuff (Thursday) that was really good, and we saw some stuff that won't be good enough to beat a team like Pitt moving forward.”
Penn State survived by leaning heavily on the foul line, setting a program record with 43 made free throws on 49 attempts. Chattanooga went 14 of 23 at the stripe and was whistled for 33 personal fouls, compared with 21 for Penn State.
Freshman Roko Prkacin has been the early scoring leader for the Nittany Lions at 20.5 points per game, and Ivan Juric is averaging 12.5 rebounds.
Pitt, meanwhile, showed a very different kind of resilience in its win over Buffalo. The Panthers trailed by 13 at halftime before flipping the game after the break, holding Buffalo to just 16 second-half points while scoring 48 of their own.
“To me, it's a great learning lesson for us,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “We have to be unbelievably connected.
The energy has to be right amongst our team. We have to lose ourselves into us, and we have to fight every possession.”
Freshman Chase Foster leads Pitt with 21.5 points per game through two contests, while Baye Ndongo is putting up 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game.
The teams met once last season, with Pitt cruising to an 80-46 win in Hershey, Pa., on Dec. 21.
That game was their first since 2017. Penn State still leads the series 76-73.
In Other News...
Penn State Fans Finally Got An Encouraging Jack Ham Update
Jack Hams absence from the Penn State-Washington buildup was felt well beyond the broadcast booth, because the Penn State legend has long been one of the most recognizable voices attached to the program. Ahead of the game in Seattle, Ham experienced a medical emergency and was treated at the University of Washington Medical Center, prompting immediate concern from around the Penn State community.
Penn State athletics later confirmed that Ham is in stable condition, a reassuring development after a tense stretch for fans and those close to the program. Coach Matt Campbell and the broadcasters also offered updates and support for Ham and his family, underscoring how quickly the situation drew attention from both the football side and the radio side of Penn State life. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Big Ten Position Suddenly Feels More Complicated
Week 10 did not give the Big Ten much help in sorting itself out. With Ohio State and Oregon both working through backup quarterbacks, and several league powers already dealing with injuries at the games most important position, the conferences pecking order has become harder to read than it looked a month ago. Even the teams that entered the year with the brightest expectations, including Ohio State, Indiana and Michigan, have had to navigate the ripple effects of quarterback uncertainty.
For Penn State, that makes the margin for error feel even thinner as the season heads into its late stretch. The Nittany Lions are still part of the conversation near the top of the league, but the recent shakeups around them have changed the backdrop of that race and made every result carry a little more weight. Add in the coaching changes and the shifting outlooks across the conference, and the Big Ten suddenly looks less like a clean hierarchy and more like a week-to-week argument. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Suddenly Has A Bigger Question Than Bowl Eligibility
Penn State is still sitting one win away from bowl eligibility, and the bowl chatter has already started to swirl around a team that has spent much of the fall in the middle of the pack. At 5-4, the Nittany Lions are being slotted by different outlets into a range of possible destinations, from the Dukes Mayo Bowl and Music City Bowl to the Cactus Bowl, Fenway Bowl and First Responder Bowl, which is a reminder that there is still plenty left to sort out before anyone starts packing bags.
ESPNs Football Power Index gives Penn State a 62.6 percent chance to win out the rest of the regular season and a 99.7 percent chance to get to six wins, so the postseason path looks clear enough on paper. The bigger question is what kind of finish the Nittany Lions can put together once they get there, because for a program with this profile, simply becoming bowl-eligible is only part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]