(05-22-2020 01:09 AM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  I know that this would result in a loss of TV revenue, but perhaps worth the risk. I think Pitt should go back to independent, and use a league (like ND does) for bowl tie-ins. I miss the traditional schedule Pitt had with BC, Temple, Rutgers, Navy, WVU, Syracuse and so on. There's zero traditional rivals on our schedule. I'd rather play Navy on a yearly basis than Duke, I'd rather play Rutgers on a yearly basis than North Carolina. This is nothing personal against the likes of Virginia and Georgia Tech, but these games just don't get me excited for Saturdays. Maybe I'm wrong with this opinion. But conference realignment and the chase of money really destroyed what was left of northeastern football. Big East was a valiant effort to create a northeastern league, but wasn't meant to be. But being in a southern based league with no rivals isn't the fit I was expecting it to be. Virginia Tech is the closest thing we have to a yearly rival, and it doesn't come close to the hatred we had with WVU and likely never will. We may hate a Miami, but we're not close to being Miami's top rival either. Florida, FSU and ND are much more rivals for Miami than Pitt is. Call this buyer's remorse, I don't know. But if I'm Pitt admin, I'm closely looking to what UConn and BYU are doing.

Gimme this sample schedule:

Army
Virginia Tech
Temple
Maryland
Boston College
Rutgers
Navy
BYU
Notre Dame
Syracuse
UConn
WVU

And I'm sure many Pitt fans will disagree, and that's ok. My opinion doesn't represent that of all Pitt fans nor those that run Pitt athletics.

Excellent idea, but you may want to take it one step further.
If you can win the release of BC, Syracuse, and Pitt from the ACC and Maryland and Rutgers from the B1G, you could start your own conference.
From your list, I don't really see Virginia Tech ever volunteering to leave the ACC, but adding Cincinnati will help with your numbers.
I figure that you would require 10 full time members + an arrangement with Norte Dame. For #10 you could approach Louisville or Navy.
This would leave the ACC with either 10 or 11 depending on what Louisville does (either way would be fine).
As the cable model continues to erode, this idea actually solves the problem for the B1G of what to do about the Rutgers and Maryland adds.
This might start a trend. The SEC could cede Arkansas and Missouri to the Big 12 which would mitigate the loss of West Virginia to your new conference.
Then we would be at six conferences with significantly less travel for all schools, a much greater regional flair with no conference larger than a manageable 12 members.