Huggins talks Backyard Brawl, scheduling
The renewal of the hardwood edition of the Backyard Brawl could be close to becoming a reality according to head coach Bob Huggins.
Getting Pittsburgh back on the schedule has been one of the major focuses of Huggins since the two last met on the hardwood and things are starting to gain some traction. With Jamie Dixon taking the head coaching job at TCU, former Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings took over the post at Pittsburgh and has had a lot of conversations with Huggins over the continuation of the series.
“I think it’s going to happen,” Huggins said.
The two teams last met Feb. 16, 2012 with the Mountaineers winning 66-48. Overall, the series stands in West Virginia’s favor 96-88 although the Panthers have won six of the last ten over the Mountaineers.
West Virginia released its non-conference schedule Friday and the highlights of that include a trip to Virginia, hosting Texas A&M as well as a trip to New York for the Preseason NIT against quality opponents Florida State, Temple and Illinois. It’s part of a continued effort from Huggins to provide some quality matchups for fans to attend.
“When I came back first thing people said was that we need to play some good games in December,” Huggins said.
Because of the on-going renovations being completed in the Coliseum West Virginia will hit the road for the Gold-Blue Debut in Wheeling this year and will play an exhibition game in Beckley. The Mountaineers also will play their annual game in Charleston as well giving fans from all different regions of the state the opportunity to see West Virginia without traveling to Morgantown.
“I’m one of those people that we need to touch those people more than we do,” he said.
Speaking of the non-conference schedule one team that was notably absent from it was Virginia Tech. The Mountaineers and Hokies were believed to be involved in a ten-year agreement but Huggins was only responsible for getting the four games that have already been played together.
According to Huggins, Virginia Tech did not want to play the match up this season.