Rivalry leaderboard
Backyard Brawl Greatest Games
The series' top 25 meetings, ranked without team allegiance by game-time AP strength, final-score closeness, and overtime.
- Games
- 25
- Top score
- 68/100
- Overtime
- 1
Series context
- Completed meetings
- 101
- Series record
- Pittsburgh 61-37-3 West Virginia
- Tracked years
- 1895-2025
- Trophy
- No named trophy
Series ranking
The rivalry's top 25 games
21 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.
- 1982Week 5
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 13, Pittsburgh 16
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 14 West Virginia vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh · 3-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1989Week 5
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 31, Pittsburgh 31
Result: Tie
No. 9 West Virginia vs. No. 10 Pittsburgh · 0-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1963Week 6
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 10
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 3 Pittsburgh vs. Unranked West Virginia · 3-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
55
Game score
- 1983Week 6
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 21, West Virginia 24
Winner: West Virginia
Unranked Pittsburgh vs. No. 5 West Virginia · 3-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
53
Game score
- 1976Week 11
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 16, Pittsburgh 24
Winner: Pittsburgh
Unranked West Virginia vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh · 8-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
52
Game score
- 1954Week 7
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 13, West Virginia 10
Winner: Pittsburgh
Unranked Pittsburgh vs. No. 7 West Virginia · 3-point margin
Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
51
Game score
- 1956Week 2
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 14, West Virginia 13
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 10 Pittsburgh vs. Unranked West Virginia · 1-point margin
Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
50
Game score
- 1955Week 9
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 7, Pittsburgh 26
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 17 Pittsburgh · 19-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 16/35 · Overtime 0/15
45
Game score
- 1970Week 8
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 35, Pittsburgh 36
Winner: Pittsburgh
Unranked West Virginia vs. No. 15 Pittsburgh · 1-point margin
Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
45
Game score
- 1979Week 11
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 24, West Virginia 17
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 11 Pittsburgh vs. Unranked West Virginia · 7-point margin
Ranking 15/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
43
Game score
- 1938Week 2
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 0, Pittsburgh 19
Winner: Pittsburgh
Unranked West Virginia vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh · 19-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 16/35 · Overtime 0/15
41
Game score
- 1981Week 6
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 17, West Virginia 0
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 4 Pittsburgh vs. Unranked West Virginia · 17-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
40
Game score
- 1988Week 5
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 31, Pittsburgh 10
Winner: West Virginia
No. 11 West Virginia vs. No. 16 Pittsburgh · 21-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 14/35 · Overtime 0/15
39
Game score
- 2002Week 15
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 24, Pittsburgh 17
Winner: West Virginia
No. 24 West Virginia vs. No. 17 Pittsburgh · 7-point margin
Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
39
Game score
- 1937Week 3
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 20, West Virginia 0
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 3 Pittsburgh vs. Unranked West Virginia · 20-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 15/35 · Overtime 0/15
38
Game score
- 1953Week 2
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 17, Pittsburgh 7
Winner: West Virginia
No. 13 West Virginia vs. Unranked Pittsburgh · 10-point margin
Ranking 13/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
38
Game score
- 1975Week 10
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Pittsburgh 14, West Virginia 17
Winner: West Virginia
No. 20 Pittsburgh vs. Unranked West Virginia · 3-point margin
Ranking 6/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
38
Game score
- 2004Week 14
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 13, Pittsburgh 16
Winner: Pittsburgh
No. 21 West Virginia vs. Unranked Pittsburgh · 3-point margin
Ranking 5/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
37
Game score
- 1985Week 5
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 10, Pittsburgh 10
Result: Tie
Unranked West Virginia vs. Unranked Pittsburgh · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
- 1909Week 8
West Virginia at Pittsburgh
West Virginia 0, Pittsburgh 0
Result: Tie
Unranked West Virginia vs. Unranked Pittsburgh · 0-point margin
Ranking 0/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
35
Game score
Methodology
How each game earns up to 100 points
AP ranking, 50 points: each team earns 26 minus its game-time AP rank. Unranked teams receive zero.
Closeness, 35 points: the final margin is subtracted from 35, with margins of 35 or more receiving zero.
Overtime, 15 points: overtime starts at nine points and rises by two per additional period, capped at 15.
Regular-season rankings use the AP Top 25 recorded for the game's week. Postseason meetings use the final regular-season AP poll before bowl and playoff results. Games before 2005 remain in the ranking but do not link to unsupported box-score pages. Videos are matched by canonical game ID or by a rematch-safe season matchup.