Pittsburgh Panthers - A college basketball team
The Pittsburgh Panthers are the names given to the university’s sports teams. They participate in NCAA Division I Division I-A for football, and in the big east conference. The Pitt football team has been in nine NCAA National Championships. The football team plays in Heinz field home of the Steelers, from their longtime home of Pitt stadium. Some past players from the football team have gone on to play and retire form the NFL including, Tony Dorsett who played for The Dallas Cowboys, Mike Ditka, The Chicago Bears, Dan Marino, Miami Dolphins, Tony Siragusa, The Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens, just to name a few. There are some active former Pittsburgh Panthers in the NFL today. The San Francisco 49rs Kevan Barlow, Shawntae Spencer, and Andy Lee, The New York Jets Curtis Martin, Arizona Cardinal Larry Fitzgerald and Gerald Hayes, Carolina Panther Nick Goings, and many more.
The Pittsburgh Panthers basketball team won the National championship in 1928 and 1930They have become on of the most successful basketball teams in the nation over the last five years. The Pittsburgh Panthers had been one of the 3 undefeated teams left in the 2006 season until they lost 55-50 against St. Johns University. They are currently ranked 9th in the AP poll and the coaches poll.
As with any school The Pittsburgh Panthers have rivalries. They have had a long outstanding rivalry with Penn State University. This rivalry started in 1905 and ended in 2000 when Penn Sate joined the Big Ten Conference and Pittsburgh Panthers joining the Big East Conference. The rivalry still continues in other sports at the school although not with the same intensity that it did when the football teams played each other. The Pittsburgh Panthers have another football rivalry with West Virginia University called the Backyard Brawl; this is due to the proximity of the two schools main campuses. They are about 80miles apart along the Monongahela River. They have also been one of the dew schools to have a rivalry with Notre Dame. The Pittsburgh Panthers basketball team has recently developed a rivalry with the University of Connecticut. They played each other for the Big East title from 2002-2004 with Pitt winning in 2003. On a lesser degree the Pittsburgh Panthers have developed a rivalry with Temple University mainly because of the two sharing the same state. The two have not played each other since 1981 the year before coach Cheney began coaching Temple and Pitt moved into the Big East Conference.