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| Photo credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters |
It was announced today that Pitt will be playing football on a baseball field this season. To commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the first college football game played at the original Yankee Stadium, the Pitt Panthers will travel to the Bronx to play Syracuse on November 11th, 2023.
On October 20, 1923, Pitt and Syracuse played the first ever game in the original Yankee Stadium. Syracuse won that matchup 3-0. Pitt has played three times at Yankee Stadium (old or new) including that original matchup in 1923. They also played Army on November 17th, 1962 and then they played in the 2016 Pinstripe Bowl against Northwestern. The Panthers beat Army 7-6 in 1962, but lost to Northwestern 31-24 in 2016. That makes Pitt 1-2 all-time at the historic baseball location.
Pitt has owned the Orange as-of-late in their cross-divisional rivalry, winning the last five matchups and 9 of the last 10 matchups. This included a 76-61 showdown in 2016 where neither defense showed up. Pitt's rivalry with Syracuse of course carries over from the old Big East days, and is known more for their matchups in basketball. However, Pitt has played Syracuse in football every season since joining the ACC as what the ACC put together as a natural rival for the Panthers. This will continue even as the ACC switches to a new scheduling system as Pitt and Syracuse have been made primary opponents of each other.
This announcement comes just hours before the entire ACC schedule will be announced for Pitt this evening at 7PM on the ACC Network.