I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit

[step.eng69]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

 

[BobPSU92]

Awesome. Load up on the Tryptophan, watch Penn State kick some ass.

 

[Dr. Evel]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

I miss the times when we used to refer to MSU as our FART -- Fake Artificial Rivalry Team.

 

[JoeLion]

Where's WVU?

 

[Ranger Dan]

I don't like these forced rivalries at all. The whole conference is being held hostage to the notion that Ohio State and Michigan must play each other on a certain Saturday every year. There is no other logical reason to force rivalries like this and indicate when these rivalry games are played. The potential good news is that we are less likely to lose to MD or Rutgers at the end of the season, which limits the chance at a late season loss. The down side is that by not playing tOSU, Michigan, or even MSU, we won't have a marquee opponent late in the season to garner interest/credibility if we somehow lost a game earlier in the year.

 

[Phil's Rug]

I miss the times when we used to refer to MSU as our FART -- Fake Artificial Rivalry Team.

Would that make Puntgers and the Twerps SHART'S

 

[step.eng69]

I miss the times when we used to refer to MSU as our FART -- Fake Artificial Rivalry Team.

Frankly Doc, I enjoyed playing MSU at the season. I also never considered MSU as a rival but a game that was usually fun to attend or watch on Thanksgiving weekend. In the future after saying grace and spending time with family, we can all look forward to “F--- Penn State”. Disgusting

 

[njlion73]

Actually I am fine with this Rutgers and/or Maryland being the last game of the year. It should give PSU an easier game to end the year and give us a game that is easily within driving distance for those years it might have some meaning. I would not mind at all going to Rutgers or Maryland with only needing a win to clinch the division championship. Tickets should be readily available and we can then celebrate the win in their parking lots. It is certainly more appealing than Michigan State.

 

[step.eng69]

Awesome. Load up on the Tryptophan, watch Penn State kick some ass.

Funny, Bob

 

[Dr. Evel]

Frankly Doc, I enjoyed playing MSU at the season. I also never considered MSU as a rival but a game that was usually fun to attend or watch on Thanksgiving weekend. In the future after saying grace and spending time with family, we can all look forward to “F--- Penn State”. Disgusting

There were some enjoyable games, esp last year's game. I had no issue with playing MSU at end of year. I just enjoyed the nickname.

As the other poster said, I think it stinks that the league revolves the schedule around the timing of one game.

 

[AWS1022]

So they're trying to manufacture a rivalry yet they alternate the last game for us between two teams???? WTF?? Are we supposed to be big rivals with both of them? I thought you had one big rival. Here's an idea Big 10...how about have Rutgers and Maryland play EACH OTHER the last game every year and they can be rivals. Seems like a much more natural match instead of flipping coins and hoping a rivalry will stick between Penn State and two schools they have absolutely dominated throughout history. I guess Bowling Green and Akron should take turns playing Ohio State the last game every year to try and create a rivalry.

 

[fairgambit]

Thanks step. As you know, I have spent far less time on this board lately as I pursue my dreams. Now, yet another, has been fulfilled. All my hard work has paid off.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

How nice would it be to control our destiny in most years heading into that?

 

[Obliviax]

I don't like these forced rivalries at all. The whole conference is being held hostage to the notion that Ohio State and Michigan must play each other on a certain Saturday every year. There is no other logical reason to force rivalries like this and indicate when these rivalry games are played. The potential good news is that we are less likely to lose to MD or Rutgers at the end of the season, which limits the chance at a late season loss. The down side is that by not playing tOSU, Michigan, or even MSU, we won't have a marquee opponent late in the season to garner interest/credibility if we somehow lost a game earlier in the year.

That is exactly correct...this "rivaly game" BS is just a way to preserve tOSU vs. Michigan for the last game of the year: Bit two, little twelve.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

That is exactly correct...this "rivaly game" BS is just a way to preserve tOSU vs. Michigan for the last game of the year: Bit two, little twelve.

Hopefully Franklin starts making that game more irrelevant when it comes to the BT title.

 

[bjf1991]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

Thanks for posting STEP.

FWIW, don't think Adam Bittner could have gotten it more WRONG if he tried.


Without re-hashing all the details (talked about them quite a bit when this was first determined by the B1G - - - which was at least a year or two ago, IIRC):

Just IMO - though I am confident that time will prove it to be true - but this UMd/RU season-ender is going to be a negative in every meaningful way, for Penn State ....... and - IMO - it is just stupid and unnecessary.

 

[PSUFBFAN]

I don't like these forced rivalries at all. The whole conference is being held hostage to the notion that Ohio State and Michigan must play each other on a certain Saturday every year. There is no other logical reason to force rivalries like this and indicate when these rivalry games are played. The potential good news is that we are less likely to lose to MD or Rutgers at the end of the season, which limits the chance at a late season loss. The down side is that by not playing tOSU, Michigan, or even MSU, we won't have a marquee opponent late in the season to garner interest/credibility if we somehow lost a game earlier in the year.

I am with you on the "good news" side of this situation. Here is another way to look at this ... on the last weekend of the season, either Ohio State or Michigan is going to lose. At the same time, PSU is likely to win on the same day - could be the difference in which team proceeds to Indy the following week.

 

[step.eng69]

Hopefully Franklin starts making that game more irrelevant when it comes to the BT title.

I would enjoy the Rutgers game if played at the Meadowlands instead their Sparta location.

 

[step.eng69]

Thanks for posting STEP.

 

[step.eng69]

I am with you on the "good news" side of this situation. Here is another way to look at this ... on the last weekend of the season, either Ohio State or Michigan is going to lose. At the same time, PSU is likely to win on the same day - could be the difference in which team proceeds to Indy the following week.

IF WE PASS THE ...........

 

[HazletonLion]

Would that make Puntgers and the Twerps SHART'S

Phil do i have your permission to use your gif, i have been following PSU a long time and that is the greatest run i've seen a PSU back make. I don't get tired of it.

 

[AWS1022]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

Now if we can get Illinoislion his moderator position, things would be hunky dory on this board.

 

[phillybillyreprise]

It will be as exciting as taking your cousin to the prom. Year after year after year ...

 

[step.eng69]

It will be as exciting as taking your cousin to the prom. Year after year after year ...

Actually that was a tradition in Noxen Pennsylvania. I believe the residents have cooled on the tradition in the last decade or so.

Hey, what are cousins for .

 

[step.eng69]

Now if we can get Illinoislion his moderator position, things would be hunky dory on this board.

Illinoislion & Fonzi .......

the Fran & George of the B/W Rivals board

 

[bison13]

I like the idea of having two cupcakes at the end of the year, should only increase the rankings on the polls at the end when its most important

 

[Franklin_Restores_TheTradition]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

Somehow, and despite all those paragraphs, the reporter fails to mention that PSU was 13-7 against MSU since joining the B1G (over the same span, scUM is only 12-11 versus MSU and daO$U is 12-5). Amazing, given the topic of the article, that it isn't menitioned how PSU dominated the game, but fairly typical given that "Land of 10" is a homer b1g Shizhole publication (as evidenced by the name they choose for their publication - "Land of 10" when there has been more than 10 teams in the conference from the inception of this publication...).

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Fairgambit is so excited, his bucket from his bucket list is overflowing with pee!

 

[Psychedelic_MackDaddy]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

You've got to be sh1tting me?!?

 

[Obliviax]

 

[NC2017]

I'm so thrilled and happy for our very own Fairgambit....his dream rival game is becoming a reality.
Rutgars

Big Ten gets it right by scheduling Maryland, Rutgers as Penn State’s year-end opponents

Adam Bittner
Land of 10 Staff

The Land Grant rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State is a joke.

In fairness, it’s a good joke. In its nearly 25 years, the game has given us a cult classic of a trophy that looks like a bowling league prize your buddy made for shop class in high school. Or the Shiva.

It’s given us a lot of laugh(er)s — 12 of the 21 meetings since Penn State joined the Big Ten have been decided by at least two touchdowns. And it’s given us some delicious pettiness — who can forget Spartans coach Mark Dantonio trolling Penn State fans by using his remaining timeouts at the end of a blowout that gave the Nittany Lions a share of the Big Ten title in 2008?

What it has not given us is an actual rivalry — Dantonio’s seemingly ever-present angst notwithstanding. The sparks have otherwise never flown between the couple since the Big Ten walked them to the altar with a shotgun in 1993 to give Penn State a partner for the league’s season-ending rivalry weekend.

Which is why it’s good news that, starting next season, Penn State will play regional foes Rutgers and Maryland in that slot. (Maryland gets the date in 2017 and ’18 while Rutgers rotates in for ’19.)

At the very least, this makes more sense on a logistical level.

For Penn State fans, it gives the large alumni bases in and around Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Baltimore short drives to a road game over the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend, something that was almost impossible when the Nits were schlepping up to East Lansing, Mich. (Or, briefly, Madison, Wis., when Penn State matched up with Wisconsin while the Spartans were in a different division.)

For the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, it generates a little buzz that was tough to come by when they faced each other in their first three seasons as Big Ten members. And it’s likely to goose ticket sales, especially if the games are moved to bigger pro stadiums as Maryland chose to do when it hosted the Nits at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in 2015. Many Penn State students heading to those areas anyway for the holiday will probably be happy to snap up some extra seats.

Beyond that, though, it is nice for Penn State to finally be in a season-ending matchup with regional stakes again. Older fans will remember that this is the spot where Penn State played ancient rival Pittsburgh for decades, until their respective decisions to join conferences ended the arrangement.

It’s hard to predict that Maryland or Rutgers will ever come close to mimicking the glory days of that rivalry with the Panthers, which in the 1970s and ’80s regularly featured national championship implications. The Terrapins and Knights have offered little resistance to Penn State historically and have dropped five of their combined six meetings with the Nits since they joined the Big Ten.

But the fact remains that these schools have tons of overlapping recruiting territory and go head-to-head for prospects a lot. Maryland, in particular, recruited well this year, with first-year coach D.J. Durkin winning pledges from eight players who also held Penn State offers, en route to compiling the No. 17 class nationally, according to Rivals.

That adds stakes that don’t exist to the same degree with Michigan State, which recruits more heavily in the Midwest than the Mid-Atlantic.

And who can’t appreciate a little unrequited hate? Remember when the Terrapins refused to shake hands when the schools met for the first time as Big Ten opponents in 2014?

Or what about the time a Rutgers fan blog had to beg students not to chant “f— Penn State” at every home game? Or when the university had to apologize for some tasteless shirts that showed up on the official Rutgers football Facebook page?

Perhaps those feelings aren’t exactly reciprocated in Happy Valley, but they add a dynamic that has never been there with Michigan State.

Penn State faces all three schools annually in the East division, so it’s possible many fans won’t notice the difference in shuffling the dates and won’t feel the new setup offers anything more than conveniences. That’s fine.

Regardless, it feels a lot more natural for the Nits to be facing a neighbor at the same time Ohio State is having its showdown with Michigan and Indiana is contesting the Old Oaken Bucket with Purdue.

And if we’re really lucky, maybe we’ll get another goofy trophy out of it.

So it's going to be the Red Turtle Trophy?

 

[Phil's Rug]

Phil do i have your permission to use your gif, i have been following PSU a long time and that is the greatest run i've seen a PSU back make. I don't get tired of it.

I borrowed it from somebody else, so go for it.

 

[LafayetteBear]

As long as the Lions can play Pitt every year, I am happy.

 

[BobPSU92]

As long as the Lions can play Pitt every year, I am happy.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

I don't like these forced rivalries at all. The whole conference is being held hostage to the notion that Ohio State and Michigan must play each other on a certain Saturday every year. There is no other logical reason to force rivalries like this and indicate when these rivalry games are played. The potential good news is that we are less likely to lose to MD or Rutgers at the end of the season, which limits the chance at a late season loss. The down side is that by not playing tOSU, Michigan, or even MSU, we won't have a marquee opponent late in the season to garner interest/credibility if we somehow lost a game earlier in the year.

The best way to combat this is to start making W's vs tosu & um annual events, thus relegating their game as a battle for #2.

 

[kgilbert78]

There were some enjoyable games, esp last year's game. I had no issue with playing MSU at end of year. I just enjoyed the nickname.

As the other poster said, I think it stinks that the league revolves the schedule around the timing of one game.

You know, it really doesn't. Many of the other Big Ten schools have traditional rivalries at that time--and it's often been tradition in other leagues (USC-UCLA, for example) and levels to have a Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game (that HS one in the Easton area, for example). It's just that tOSU-Me-Chicken gets all the press in the conference--because they usually have been good.

 

[Royal_Coaster]

The one downer I can see is if we're clustered with teams with the same record going into the last week, we can get hurt by it. I mean, that same weekend in November you have tOSU vs. UM, Florida State vs. Florida, WVU vs. OU, Bama vs. Auburn, and PSU vs. Maryland. That could be a situation where we win the game and drop from #3 to #5. For those fans not at the game, it's doubtful a PSU/MD or Rugters game gets a prime broadcasting slot.

 

[lionlurker]

Every time I read one of Fairgambit's posts, I'm thrilled. I don't need no stinkin' reason.

 

[91Joe95]