‘Backyard Brawl’ on national TV

The Pitt Panthers’ surprising upset of the West Virginia University Mountaineers last season has revived national interest in the century-old rivalry.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston Daily Mail reports that this season’s “Backyard Brawl,” to be held the day after Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh, will be carried nationally on ABC.

At best, Big East games usually land on ESPN or ESPN2; the league has had only one national telecast in the past three years.

“The Nov. 28 date at Heinz Field likely is the only ABC national telecast the Big East will get, unless a blockbuster game develops in-season, one that could dominate a Saturday time period,” says Bogaczyk, who calls it one good thing to come out of WVU’s “meltdown” in the last game of the 2007 season, which cost the team a shot at the national championship.