Penn State fans don’t root for Pitt, and the feeling is mutual.
That’s kinda how rivalries work.
But there are times when a school should root for its rival, and Penn State fans should know that first hand.
In 2016, PSU needed hated Ohio State to beat Michigan for it to clinch a spot in the Big Ten title game. This wasn’t lost on the fanbase, and as a result, Beaver Stadium exploded when Ohio State finished the job.
Saturday’s Pitt-Notre Dame game is different for a lot of reasons.
Nothing that happens at Pitt’s Acrisure Stadium will have any impact on Penn State’s 2025 season because neither team plays in the Big Ten, and Penn State is out of the College Football Playoff race.
There’s a chance too that this game has no impact on Penn State’s long-term future, either.
The only way it does is if Marcus Freeman becomes PSU’s next football coach.
Let’s be clear: this is not a prediction that Freeman will come to Penn State’s.
The 39-year-old has a pretty sweet gig right now.
He’s coaching one of the most iconic brands in North American sports, and has a pretty high approval rating, getting ND to the national championship game last season.
If ND is where Freeman wants to be forever, there’s no reason he can’t become the school’s most iconic coach behind Knute Rockne.
If Freeman wants to leave Notre Dame, well, he’ll be able to have any major college opening he’d like, and there’s plenty of NFL teams that would be interested, too.
That brings us to Penn State.
PSU AD Pat Kraft wants a big fish.
Whether or not he’ll land a big fish remains to be seen.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.But Penn State is a big-time job, and Freeman is a big time name, so, yeah, it’s reasonable to assume Kraft would be interested. On3Sports reported not long after PSU fired coach James Franklin that Penn State “plans to take a big swing” in going after Freeman.
Since then, the Athletic reported that both Penn State and Florida reached out to Freeman about their job openings and were told “no.”
But who’s to say that will stop Penn State from trying?
Penn State insider Jon Sauber of the Centre Daily Times reported this week that Freeman is a “high-end candidate” that “Penn State will continue to chase.”
Sauber also pointed out that what happens this weekend could end up impacting Freeman’s future.
Notre Dame making it to the Playoff wouldn’t guarantee that Freeman would leave, and if he does leave, it wouldn’t guarantee that he’d leave for Penn State.
But if Notre Dame does make the Playoff, it makes it hard to imagine that he’d become the next coach at Penn State.
You’ve probably heard it by now, but with the transfer portal being a thing and Penn State likely losing many of its young players to it— not to mention the program’s 2026 Class consistently getting smaller— Penn State will have to do a lot of work just to field a team in 2026.
Not having a head coach until potentially late January, when the portal window (Jan. 2-16) has come and gone, isn’t something that seems plausible.
Is it plausible for Freeman to come to PSU is Notre Dame doesn’t make the Playoff? Maybe not.
But why would a PSU fan root for that possibility to be eliminated entirely?
No. 10 Notre Dame needs to win out to make the College Football Playoff, and it’s been that way ever since ND started 0-2. With gimmie games against Syracuse (home) and Stanford (away) to end the year, Notre Dame’s only chance at a third loss comes at Pitt, which is also 7-2 and ranked in the top 25.
PSU fans would jump at the idea of Marcus Freeman to become its football coach.
The only way that happens is if Pitt knocks ND out of the College Football Playoff.
So Penn State fans should root for Pitt.
