It's not Pitt vs. Duquesne in the City Game. But it is Pitt vs. Morgan State in non-conference action.
Per CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, Jeff Capel's Panthers will face the Morgan State Bears as part of their 2020-21 non-conference schedule.
The last time Pitt played Morgan State came on Nov. 16, 2001, when Ben Howland and Pitt opened their 2001-02 campaign against the Bears with a 76-55 win at the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.
Last season, Pitt went 16-17 (6-14 ACC), taking a leap from their 14-19 (3-15 ACC) finish in Capel's first year at the helm. Prior to that, Kevin Stallings went 8-24 (0-18) in 2017-18, prompting the program to move on and to hire Capel.
And while those results represent a positive trend for the program, the team recently kicked up some dust when Capel announced his Panthers would not face Duquesne in the City Game for the second straight season.
“Coach Capel and I regularly discuss non-conference scheduling and how to balance it against 20 ACC games, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge as well as special opportunities like this year’s Myrtle Beach Invitational,” Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said. “A game with Duquesne this season did not fit with our non-ACC scheduling model. However, we have provided Duquesne with a game contract to play at the Petersen Events Center during the 2021-22 season and we are awaiting their response to our offer to play.”
And to be fair to Pitt here, this doesn't mean Morgan State was selected over Duquesne necessarily. Morgan State is eating up a spot that potentially could have been Duquesne, yes, but it wasn't a direct either-or situation for Pitt. West Virginia is Pitt's second confirmed non-conference opponent for the upcoming season.
Still, it's doubtful a matchup against Morgan State, who went 15-16 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season, will pull a fraction of the ratings and attention the City Game would have.
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