Early Odds Show West Virginia as Home Underdog in 2025 Backyard Brawl

When the 108th Backyard Brawl kicks off this fall, it will be an even bigger deal this year for two main reasons beyond just being another edition of WVU vs. Pitt. It will be the last game in the current four-game series until it returns in 2029. And it will mark Rich Rodriguez’s first game against Pitt since 2007.

The Mountaineers are looking to pull even in this current series after blowing a late-lead in Pittsburgh last season. This will be the first game in Morgantown since West Virginia won a 2023 slugfest, 17-6.

While the game is still two months away, oddsmakers have released early odds and they have WVU as a slight home underdog.

Pitt is a 2.5-point favorite, according to both DraftKings and FanDuel. In addition, FanDuel has an early money line wager of -137 for Pitt and an over/under line at 57.5 points.

In an intriguing twist, especially based on the early odds, the EA Sports team is even more down on WVU’s Backyard Brawl rival than they are West Virginia. Pitt is ranked 10 spots lower in their team rankings at 62 and holds an overall team rating of 78 compared to 80 for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia will host Pitt on Sept. 13, with the kickoff time set for 3:30 p.m. ET from Milan Puskar Stadium. And for those who can’t be in attendee, the rivalry be televised nationally on ESPN.

WVU and Pitt players get into a small scrum late in the Backyard Brawl on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose)

Rodriguez has already made his pitch for ESPN’s College GameDay to come to Morgantown for the Backyard Brawl.

In fact, Rodriguez made his pitch directly to Rece Davis, the iconic show’s host, while appearing on the ESPN College GameDay Podcast.

“It’ll be maybe the most electric atmosphere in college football that weekend. I’m hoping that we’ll have GameDay there. That would be nice. I mean, they’ll put on a show. You’ll see the blue lot cranking like you’ve never seen it before. This place will be sold out. There might even be some that go to the extreme of buying a Pitt season ticket, so they can come to the West Virginia game against Pitt. I don’t know who else is playing that weekend, but there will not be one that’s more intense.”

WVU has added the “Stripe the Stadium” promotion to the Brawl, adding a unique look to the pageantry of the game.

Parts of this story initially appeared on our partner site Pittsburgh Sports Now.

For a related story, Beanie Bishop, former Mountaineer and current Pittsburgh Steeler, added more fuel to the rivalry last month.