West Virginia is headed into this year’s Backyard Brawl with a twist, and Ross Hodge is already sold on the atmosphere.
Instead of being played at Pitt’s usual home floor, the matchup will take place at PPG Paints Arena, the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pitt AD Allen Greene said the school passed on a straight home-game setup because of the NIL opportunity tied to moving the event to a neutral site.
“While we'd prefer to play every game at The Pete, taking this rivalry to PPG Paints Arena creates a revenue opportunity that goes well beyond a typical home game, and those dollars matter for our student-athletes...we look forward to giving Pittsburgh a great event in December that drives meaningful, above-the-cap NIL revenue for our program.”
Hodge, along with Martin Somerville, Miles Sadler, and Finley Bizjack, was at the arena for a press conference with representatives from Pitt, Robert Morris, and Duquesne. Those schools are part of what’s being called the Backyard Brawl Classic.
When the topic turned to how many West Virginia fans might make the trip and turn the building into something closer to a split crowd, Hodge leaned into what he knows about Mountaineer support.
“Wren says it best about our fan base. You never have to guess if they care.
It’ll be no different in this regard. So yeah, the excitement, the opportunity, and not only just our game for Pitt, but it can be hard in this time period, there’s so many things competing for people’s interest, and how do you grab people’s attention and make people feel like they’re being a part of something?
And this being the first-ever (time) that we’ve done this, it’s something people can point to, both fanbases can look back on, saying, ‘I remember when we went to the first Backyard Brawl event at PPG.’ Super excited about it, and it’s been well-received.
Just can’t wait to get here.”
Hodge wasn’t firing shots at Pitt’s fan base. That’s not really his style. But the point still lands: West Virginia fans show up, and they show up hard, especially when the game is close enough to drive to.
Even when the Brawl is played at The Peterson Events Center, Mountaineer fans have made their presence felt. A few years ago, the place was rocking with a loud and unmistakable “Let's Go Mountaineers” chant at the end of the game.
From a basketball standpoint, the neutral-site setup changes the feel of the game, and it also softens the blow for the team that comes up short. In NET Rankings terms, losing on a neutral floor is a little easier to absorb than taking the same loss at home.
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