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Could Penn State and Pitt Reunite in College Football's 'Super League'?

According to Sportico, a proposed league alignment includes Penn State, Pitt and Notre Dame in the same division.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State coach James Franklin and Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi meet after their 2018 game at then-Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Penn State coach James Franklin and Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi meet after their 2018 game at then-Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Not every change coming to college football will launch the sport into a new frontier. How about this proposed realignment of the curiously named "Super League": Penn State could join old friends Notre Dame, Syracuse, West Virginia and, yes, Pitt in one of the league's seven divisions.

That's a long way from happening, if it even does, but it's a tempting appetizer on the menu of changes proposed for this Super League. The website Sportico, which covers the business of sports, obtained a presentation regarding the Super League that details scheduling and playoff models, NIL payments plans and even the eight proposed divisions. In this proposal, authored by the group College Sports Tomorrow, the Big Ten largely is no more, and Joe Paterno's dismissed Eastern football conference largely is reborn.

Sportico reporters Eben Novy-Williams and Daniel Libit unfold the entire presentation in their fascinating report, which includes this slide from the CST pitch:

Note that the divisions recast college football as a regional sport once more rather than the time-zone jump it has become through realignment. This proposed alignment (again, merely a proposal) reintroduces the Pac-12 and Southwest Conference, obliterates the Big 10 and largely keeps the ACC and SEC intact. Meanwhile, the new Northeast Division revives the conference that Paterno, the late Penn State coach, tried to organize in the 1980s.

The division includes many of Penn State's most-play opponents: Pitt (100 games), Syracuse (71), West Virginia (60), Maryland (47) and Rutgers (34). Notre Dame adds a major brand name as the westernmost team in the Northeast Division.

"In large part, the effort appears to preserve or reunite historic rivalries, a number of which have been shattered by conference realignment," Novy-Williams and Libit write in the story.

Now, the proposal is just that, and likely one of several that College Sports Tomorrow has commissioned. The proposed Super League will go through untold divisional iterations before landing on an approved format, if it ever does. However, the suggestion that regional rivalries matter is an unexpected, and refreshing, development of college football's planned overhaul.

Check out the Sportico piece for more on college football's future, which otherwise revolves around revenue and roster management.

RELATED: Penn State coach James Franklin expects an "interesting" offseason as the NCAA Transfer Portal opens

AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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