Would Pitt really have had it so bad in the Paterno League? Sure it would have meant agreeing to the revenue plan that was in Penn St's favor but instead they lost their biggest rival to the Big Ten and thus all of the exposure of playing an annual end of season instate rivalry with a true CFB blueblood. It also meant two decades of playing in the least stable and least valuable of the BCS 6 which died a slow and painful death.

Had the Paterno League came to fruition they could have added Miami at some point and maybe Florida St too. When 12 teams and a title game became in vogue Pitt would have been in the conference that did the raiding not left behind in the rump of the raided conference.