Ron Cook's Biased Look At Pitt, Offensive

THIS WAS ORGINALLY WRITTEN NOVEMBER 21, 2006

Ron Cook’s biased look at Pitt is offensive.

Why does Pitt always get the brunt of the criticism from the Pittsburgh media, yet Penn State always gets a free pass?

First things first, I do agree that Pitt with a 6-6 record probably isn’t worthy of going to a bowl, but if the system works out in their favor, more power to them. Everyone loves bowl season, and this is what happens when you have 32 bowl games. You get a watered down product.

What gets me is that NOBODY has mentioned that it is a downright disgrace that Penn State is playing in a New Year’s Day Bowl. Are you serious? This is a bad football team, yet nobody mentions them not being deserving of their Outback Bowl invitation. Everyone sees an 8-4 record and them playing in the Big Ten and immediately gives Penn State a pass. Never mind the fact that the Big Ten was so bad this year that they don’t have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of their allotment.

Before everyone talks about their record and them playing a tough schedule, let me throw out a few thoughts. Penn State didn’t play a tough schedule. They played 4 tough teams and lost all 4. Penn State won 8 games this year, beating 7 division 1-A teams in the process. However, those 7 wins came against teams with a combined record of 25-53, and 3 of those 25 wins were versus D-1AA schools. The only team that Penn State beat this year that had a winning record was Purdue, who also finished at 8-4 simply due to Big Ten scheduling where they lucked out and didn’t have to play Michigan OR Ohio State this season.

So, as much as I think that it is pretty pathetic that a struggling Pitt football team might get a chance to play in a third-tier bowl, I think it is even more of a disgrace that the Pittsburgh media gives Penn State a free pass. I do recall the same Pittsburgh media having a field day ripping Pitt when they were 8-4 going to a New Year’s Day BCS bowl just 2 years ago. Shouldn’t the same standards apply now as were used then?