Penn State vs. Pitt is back in vogue — at least for now.

The former longtime football rivals are getting together on the field this weekend for the first time in 16 years. The schools have a four-year contract and will hopefully find a way to extend that pact.

Penn State should play Pitt every year, just like West Virginia and Pitt should play every year, and so on and so forth. But the importance of maintaining rivalries seems to be getting lost.

And it’s not only at the college level.

The closing and consolidation of schools, along with the PIAA expanding to six divisions, have taken away some classic local high school rivalries as well.

Butler has played New Castle more times than the Golden Tornado have played anybody. Those teams have faced each other 80 times on the gridiron, with New Castle holding a 41-30 edge with nine ties.

They haven’t faced each other since 2011, however, and probably won’t see each other for a while.

The PIAA’s move to six divisions has wiped out the Knoch-Hampton rivalry — at least for now. The Knights have played the Talbots 50 times, more than they’ve played anybody, and have a highly competitive 25-24-1 record against them.

Now they are in different leagues and off each other’s schedule.

Perhaps Butler and Knoch can start a new football rivalry — against each other. The programs have never met in an actual game, though they did scrimmage each other in Week Zero this year.

A Butler-Knoch football opener would carry heightened interest at both schools.

The most common opponents for Freeport and Mars don’t exist anymore. The Planets played Evans City 54 times and Zelienople 44 times. Those two schools are long gone.

Mars has also played neighboring Pine-Richland 44 times. The Rams are now a Class 6A school and haven’t played the Planets since 2011.

Freeport has played Ford City 67 times and Kittanning on 65 occasions. The Yellowjackets had a wide margin of success against both: 43-23-1 vs. Ford City, 40-23-2 vs. Kittanning.

Of course, Ford City and Kittanning have been consolidated to form Armstrong Central, a Class 5A school that is not part of Freeport’s schedule.

Seneca Valley has played North Hills 38 times — more than any other opponent — but they are not playing this year. The Indians have dropped to Class 5A while the Raiders are in 6A.

One rivalry that has stood the test of time and remains as strong as ever is Karns City-Moniteau.Those teams have met 66 times, with the Gremlins enjoying a 42-21-3 advantage.

Because of the limited number of schools their size in District 9, Karns City and Moniteau have met in the playoffs before, setting up rematches of regular season clashes.

It is a classic neighborhood rivalry.

One of few that is left.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle