West Virginia May Look to Axe Alabama Series to Extend Backyard Brawl

Neal Brown knows how important it is to keep the rivalry with Pitt going.

Michael Longo/For USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK

This Saturday, West Virginia will make the short trip up to Acrisure Stadium to face the Pitt Panthers in the Backyard Brawl. Following next year's Brawl in Morgantown, the rivalry will be interrupted for three years before returning to Pittsburgh in 2029.

Today, WVU head coach Neal Brown was asked about the upcoming interruption and hinted at that possibly changing in the near future.

"We've got to get our schedule fixed and we're in the process of doing that. But yeah, I think it's a series that needs to be played. It's important. I think Pitt wants to play it. We want to play it. College football is so up in the air nobody really knows what the future looks like, but if we stay on this we can play nine conference games and you play another Power Four, I think it makes sense for us to play the game. Close proximity, it's a great TV audience, the fans on both sides are excited about it. If you look at us moving forward, as soon as we get through this little run here - to me it's nine conference games, it's Pitt, it's an FCS, and it's a group of five and preferably the FCS and the group of five need to be at home. That gives us an opportunity to give us seven home games every year which is what we need to do."

"We're in the process," he added when asked further about it. "Hell, we got Alabama...that ain't fixed."

Pitt has one open slot for a non-conference game in 2026, and two in 2027 and 2028. West Virginia's non-conference is full in 2026 and 2027 but has two open slots in 2028.

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