page_title: Backyard Brawl
section_title: Basketball
hierarchical_section_title: Backyard Brawl / Basketball
caption_attribution_description: Pink! Ella is excited she gets to root for the team in pink.
context_page_description: The Backyard Brawl is an American college football rivalry between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and West Virginia University Mountaineers. The term "Backyard Brawl" has also been used to refer to college basketball games played annually or semi-annually and may also be used to refer to other athletic competitions between the two schools. It is a registered trademark for both universities, and refers to the close proximity of the two universities, separated by 75 miles along Interstate 79.
  The football rivalry is the 14th oldest in the United States and is typically shown on national television. In the past, the Backyard Brawl has been seen on ABC, CBS, ESPN, and ESPN2. Through the 104 games played between these two schools, Pitt leads the series 61–40–3.
context_section_description: The Backyard Brawl moniker is also used for the basketball rivalry between the two schools, which dates to February 17, 1905. The teams began competing annually since 1918, and have played each other at least once every season since then. Pitt began playing basketball in the Big East Conference in 1982–83, with the Mountaineers joining in 1995–96. The basketball rivalry has heated up over the last several years as each team has been among the best in the country and the games have taken on added significance. On February 9, 2006, for the first time in the history of the series, in the 169th edition, Pitt and WVU were both nationally ranked as they squared off in Pitt's Petersen Events Center. Pitt won, but a few weeks later, the two ranked teams played at WVU Coliseum with the Mountaineers winning. In the 2008–09 season, the Panthers swept both games during the regular season and came into the tournament ranked No. 2, but were upset by the Mountaineers in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.
  During a February 2010 game when Pittsburgh visited West Virginia, several times during the course of the game, West Virginia fans threw objects at the Pittsburgh team. A Pittsburgh assistant coach was injured when an object was thrown at him. The actions received widespread attention. During the second half of the game, coach Bob Huggins used a microphone to address the fans. West Virginia University President Jim Clements issued an apology to the University of Pittsburgh community. Additionally, West Virginia vowed to address security, as the incident closing followed similar occurrences in games against Syracuse and Ohio State. This game was followed with a rematch nine days later in Pittsburgh, and while there were no off-court incidents, the game proved to be one of the most memorable in the history of the series as the 25th ranked Panthers upset the fourth ranked Mountaineers 98–95 in the first triple overtime basketball game to be played between the two schools.
  The 2011–12 season marked the end of the Brawl within Big East conference play.  Pitt and WVU traded road wins, with Pitt winning in Morgantown 72–66, and WVU winning at the Petersen Events Center for only the second time ever 66–48.  The future of the rivalry is in question as WVU began playing in the Big 12 in 2012, while Pitt moved to the ACC in 2013.
  In women's basketball, West Virginia leads the modern series, begun in 1975, 25–18.
caption: The 2011 women's Backyard Brawl in Pittsburgh.
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