STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- There are two years remaining on the four-year series agreement between Pitt and Penn State but don't look for the in-state teams to meet on the gridiron in 2020. That much is a given now.
As expected, the future of the Pitt-Penn State series and making it an annual game is not in the plans and Penn State finalized as much on Monday by adding their final two non-conference opponents to the 2020 slate. Neither of them are from Pittsburgh or even the surrounding areas.
Penn State added a pair of home games against Nevada and San Jose State to the 2020 schedule, giving Sandy Barbour and the athletic department finalized schedules for the next three seasons. While the Pitt agreement ends ahead of the 2020 season, Penn State will have a new regional interest that year as the Nittany Lions will play Virginia Tech on the road, part of a previously announced home and home that will be completed in 2025 when the Hokies come to Beaver Stadium. The 2020 season will also mark the first time Penn State plays San Jose State, Virginia Tech and Nevada.
Penn State also added a home game against Bowling Green to the 2024 slate. The Lions won the last two games against Bowling Green, with the last one coming in 1998.
The case for and against traditional powerhouses making their way into Penn State's non-conference schedule is something Barbour touched on ahead of the Fiesta Bowl, adding that she thought the College Football Playoff committee sent mixed signals based on the merits of a Big Ten championship.
"Obviously what we want to do is put ourselves in the best position to be selected every year, to be in the conversation to be selected," she said in December. "I will say this: I think there have been mixed signals. That does make it difficult giving us direction. I think given that we’re now in year four and the Pac-12 has been left out twice, the Big 12 has been left out twice — not represented, obviously in a four-team playoff somebody is going to be left out — and now the Big Ten this year, there’s going to be some conversations and there should be. There always should be conversations and refinement. From a Penn State centered perspective, one of the main things I’m looking for is guidance around what we need to do from a non-conference schedule to put ourselves in the best position to be in the conversation to be selected.”
Barbour said in the past couple years that every fifth year or so she'd like for Penn State to have a marquee or a non traditional non-conference opponent, like they did with Alabama back in 2010 and 2011. Penn State has a series scheduled with Auburn in 2021 and 2022 as well as a series with West Virginia in 2023 and 2024.
Penn State's non-conference opponents:
2018
09/01 - Appalachian State
09/08 - at Pittsburgh
09/15 - Kent State
2019
08/31 - Idaho
09/07 - Buffalo
09/14 - Pittsburgh
2020
09/05- Nevada
09/12 - at Virginia Tech
09/19 - San Jose State
2021
09/11 - Ball State
09/18 - Auburn
-TBD
2022
09/17 - at Auburn
2023
09/02 - West Virginia
2024
08/31 - at West Virginia
09/07- Bowling Green
2025
09/06 - Virginia Tech