Because Virginia Tech is headed south, Pitt is headed west for its bowl game.
The Pitt Panthers (7-4) will meet Iowa State (8-3) in the Insight.com Bowl at 7:15 p.m. Dec. 28 at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. Pitt also was in line for the Gator Bowl New Year's Day in Jacksonville, Fla., but that opportunity fell through when Virginia Tech was not selected as one of the schools in the Bowl Championship Series.
Virginia Tech will play Clemson in the Gator Bowl.
Had Virginia Tech been picked to go against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, Pitt probably would have ended up in the Gator Bowl. But Oregon State was selected by the Fiesta Bowl committee even though it and Notre Dame finished lower than Virginia Tech in the BCS computer rankings.
"Regionalization of the bowls when it comes to the selections becomes an issue," said Pitt Athletic Director Steve Pederson in a news conference announcing the bowl bid last night at the Duratz Athletic Complex. "It becomes an issue in terms of the number of people traveling and in terms of the perception of the people in your [bowl game's] area and the conferences they cover. If the at-large spots [in the BCS] had been in the Orange Bowl where it would have been more logical for Virginia Tech to play maybe that decision would have been made.
"But I understand when you have a team rated highly like Oregon State and they are right there on the West Coast and haven't been to a bowl game for a long time it makes a lot of sense."
John Junker, president and CEO of the Insight.com Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl, said not taking Virginia Tech was a tough decision. Had Oregon State not gone 28 consecutive years without a winning record until last year and then come on strong this season it would have been an easier call, he said.
"And the commercial reality is that Notre Dame, the other team we invited, has 30,000 alumni with in a one-hour plane ride of Phoenix," he said. "Paying the bills is one of the things that all of us in our endeavors has to face. It was a difficult decision, but one we had to make in the best interest of our business. Not everyone would agree with that, but we must be accountable for it."
Each team at the Gator Bowl receives $1.4 million. The Insight.com Bowl will pay Pitt and Iowa State $750,000 apiece.
Pitt, however, is pleased to be in a bowl. The Panthers went to the Liberty Bowl in 1997, Harris' first season, and lost to Southern Mississippi, 41-7. That was Pitt's first bowl trip since 1989.
The committee for the Insight.com Bowl has been watching Pitt most of the season. It was hoping to land the Panthers.
"The Insight.com Bowl isn't the biggest bowl in the Big East pecking order," Junker said. "We spent a frustrating and nervous week dealing with issues that extended to last [Saturday] night's Big 12 championship game.
"We crossed out fingers, said our prayers, drank our milk and took our vitamins and hoped hard that the Panthers would be available to us."
Quarterback John Turman isn't disappointed in playing in Phoenix instead of Jacksonville.
"I think New Year's Day is the big day [for bowls], but I'm just happy to be going to a bowl," he said. "I thought we had a chance [of playing in the Gator Bowl] but that's not how things worked out. [Virginia] Tech didn't get a chance to go to the BCS and we got bumped down. But I'm still happy with where we're going."
Pitt Coach Walt Harris said he will hold three practices this week and three next week. He will let the players go home after a workout Dec. 19 and plans to take the team to Phoenix Dec. 23. Harris said the tough thing will be practicing Christmas Day.
"This game will be a little harder [than our last bowl game] because of the date and the fact the players will have to be away from home on Christmas, which we didn't want to do," he said. "But we're excited about the opportunity."
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