Pitt Fans, Mark Your Calendars Now and Consider an NCAA Tournament Trip
There's nothing wrong with fans doing a little planning in advance for December.
All blue-and-gold eyes are on Dallas this weekend as the football team looks to avenge the volleyball team’s lone loss of 2024… and secondarily, to move to 8-0 itself.
Okay, the vengeance may just be my projecting, but this Saturday truly represents one of the most significant games for Pitt Football in the Pat Narduzzi era. A win over SMU moves the odds of postseason play in the ACC Championship Game and/or the College Football Playoff from “hey, anything’s possible!” to “this could be for real.”
So naturally, many Pitt fans circled November 2 on their calendars long ago. They’re hopping flights even as I write this. As they should! Frankly, the ACC hasn’t provided the most attractive cities for road trips (Apologies to the good people of Syracuse, New York and Raleigh, North Carolina) — so this weekend in Dallas is a cool opportunity.
What I would encourage those same Pitt fans to do is to put the following volleyball dates on their calendars:
Likely First/Second Round at home: December 6-7
Regionals, also likely at home: December 12-15
Volleyball Championships in Louisville: December 19 and 22
Whether you have the ability to travel, go to a watch party or you’re only able to make time to plop down in front of the TV, open up your calendar and mark those dates. #1 Pitt Volleyball will be playing deep into December.
(By the way, if you clear your calendar for Dec. 19 through Dec. 22 right now, you'll have flexibility for either the NCAA Championships or the College Football Playoff. It’s not wishful thinking, just smart planning.)
I, a childless millennial who has too much discretionary income, have been there in-person for Pitt’s three consecutive national semifinal appearances. Hotel reservations are refundable, and so are Southwest airfares — I booked both well in advance and defied the Gods of The Sports Jinx to see the Panthers in the same arena as volleyball’s juggernauts: Nebraska, Texas, Louisville, Wisconsin. (And by the way, resale tickets have always been affordable the day of the matches.)
The Pitt fans who joined alongside have been fantastic, but I’m sorry to say that by sheer totals — the other fanbase sizes have embarrassed us. I’ve seen it over and over: a sea of red and a mass of burnt orange. As much as I admire fellow Pitt diehards online who have become effective at parrying football-attendance-shaming tweets from WVU and Penn State fans, the state schools and other large public universities have outdone us by thousands upon thousands at volleyball’s final four.
Fact is, those other schools already had the history and muscle memory to travel for volleyball. 2021? Hey, that was Pitt’s first time. 2022? Can’t blame anyone for not wanting to fly to Omaha, Nebraska with temperatures in the teens. 2023? Well, I was hoping to see more of Pittsburgh’s Florida expats in Tampa.
That is all to tell you, the Pitt fan reading this: if you *can* swing the travel, your presence would certainly make an impact. There’s no doubt it did when 11,000+ fans filled up the Petersen Events Center for last week’s five-set win over Louisville. I heard from multiple folks that the atmosphere rocked for big points just like it did in the glory days of men’s basketball in the 2000s. We can bring the noise.
It’s our turn to be the juggernaut now. Pitt truly is it. Well, almost. There are steps to take: finally getting past the semis to play for (and hopefully win) the National Championship. Head coach Dan Fisher has made that his goal for years, and now says this year’s team can win the whole thing. He’s right. The analytics experts at Evollve have Pitt as the highest-rated team by a significant margin.
Again, you’ve got work obligations and holiday parties and other end-of-year *stuff* to contend with. All understood. The big matches will be available on national TV.
Let me just remind you of some of the Final Four matchup possibilities that the Panthers may contend with: Louisville, Pitt’s main volleyball rival and the lucky owner of home-court advantage for the last rounds; Nebraska, a ridiculous fanbase that would similarly paint the arena red in hopes of knocking Pitt out for the third time in four years; Penn State… need I say more?
The reality is, you can only draw the big crowds when you get enough fans to make plans in advance. And I have certainly been looking forward to my end of the year PTO to enjoy some beers, bourbon, baseball history and boy howdy (I needed another b) some great volleyball in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, just seven weeks away.
This weekend, planning-smart loyal sons and daughters of Pittsburgh will be in Dallas to cheer on the Panthers, limit SMU’s home-field advantage, and hopefully return home victorious. I’d love nothing more than to see that same passion fill Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center with blue and gold this December.