On the week of the Backyard Brawl, the rivalry received some good news regarding the future of the series.

Friday afternoon, West Virginia football announced it agreed with Pitt to a four-year extension for the Backyard Brawl from 2033-36. The series will start in Acrisure Stadium, then rotate between Morgantown and Pittsburgh the remaining years of the deal.

“It’s always a great day when you can extend one of the best rivalries in all of college sports,” WVU athletic director Wren Baker said in a release. “I want to thank Pitt Athletic Director Allan Greene for his help in extending the ‘Backyard Brawl,’ and there is no doubt that today’s announcement is a win for not only fans of the two Universities but for all of college football.”

The series originally was slated to pick back up in 2029 through 2032, which was announced in 2022. But now, the rivalry will go on for eight years strong.

After 2026, the rivalry takes a break. There were a lot of discussions about extending the rivalry after this year, after WVU cancelled a home-and-home series with Alabama, but nothing changed because of conflicts with scheduling. After the couple of years hiatus, the Backyard Brawl will be back in full force.

“I think it’s one of the greatest rivalries in sports,” Rich Rodriguez said. “Obviously, the location between the two are close. There’s a lot of intensity with it, and there never seems to be any love lost between the fanbases.

“It’s always, to me, the biggest game on your schedule when you’re at West Virginia.”