James Franklin addresses possibility of Penn State scheduling game vs. Pitt

Penn State and Pitt have been playing football games dating back to 1893, and have played a total of 100 times. But, the teams haven't squared off since 2019, ending a streak from 2016-2019 of four yearly matchups. Pitt won in 2016, 42-39, but Penn State had three AP Top 25 teams that beat the Panthers three straight years. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 53-43-4.

Penn State has certainly caught some heat in recent years for scheduling weak out-of-conference matchups. This year, they'll take on Nevada, FIU and Villanova before getting into Big Ten play.

In 2024, the Nittany Lions visited West Virginia before hosting Bowling Green and Kent State in Beaver Stadium.

One of Penn State's biggest competitors in the Big Ten, Ohio State, will play Texas in its week one matchup before hosting Grambling State and Ohio for its non-conference schedule.

The Michigan Wolverines will face New Mexico, Oklahoma and Central Michigan.

Franklin later got into some "state of college football" matters, specifically his thoughts on how many conference games teams should play, and how it should be universal across the board, no matter the conference.

"The thing that I struggle with is the same thing I've been talking about for a long time, and this doesn't change. Everybody has to play the same number of conference games," Franklin said. "Like, this ain't hard (to understand), right? Everybody should be play eight, or everybody should be playing nine."

Franklin made waves in a joint press conference with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman before the Orange Bowl CFP semifinals last January with a similar thought process about universality.

"Everybody should be either play a conference championship or everybody shouldn't play a conference championship," said the Penn State coach. "I said that last year in a press conference before playing Notre Dame, everybody thought I was slighting Notre Dame. I've been saying that for 10 years. If I didn't say it in that moment when I was the question, I'd be a hypocrite."

If the Nittany Lions and Pitt Panthers want to play again, it will have to wait until 2029. In 2026, Penn State has Marshall, Temple and Buffalo lined up. The following year, they'll face Syracuse, Delaware and Temple, followed by Ball State, Syracuse and UMass.