In 2020, Kansas and Missouri finally announced the return of their rivalry, beginning in 2025. But the return of the Pitt rivalry this year and in the future is a reminder of the charm that seems to be dwindling from the sport. It’s been a lonely decade for West Virginia fans, out on their own geographically from the rest of the Big 12. These are the games and memories that get passed down by generations. The 1965 matchup had a ridiculous 63-48 score. The 1975 game saw West Virginia beat Tony Dorsett the year before he won the Heisman. 2 Mountaineers out of the BCS national championship game. The last time the Backyard Brawl was played, West Virginia overcame a 10-point deficit to win and eventually play in the Orange Bowl. For players, it’s given them a sense of urgency in their preparation.” “We have a countdown clock we started going. “When we came back after the bowl game, it’s been a carrot for our players,” Brown said. The head coach himself hasn’t experienced the game and has leaned on analyst Jeff Casteel, who was a WVU assistant from 2001 to ’16, to educate him. “I’m not really familiar, but after they popped up on the schedule, I found out real quick what the rivalry is,” cornerback Charles Woods said.īrown has brought in former players during the spring and summer to talk about the history of the rivalry. That urgency from fans and the people around campus has been evident. This is a game for the ages, one a lot of people have been wanting to see.” “I just know it’s a big rival, we don’t like them, we’re an hour away. “I don’t really remember, I was nine or 10,” he said. Senior defensive lineman Dante Stills, a West Virginia native whose father and brother also played for the Mountaineers, couldn’t immediately recall any favorite Pitt rivalry memories. It also brings up the question, is it still a rivalry if it hasn’t been played in 11 years? Many West Virginia players have scant memories of the game. “Our fans want to play Pitt every year, but at the same time, if we’re only going to do a series, I think it’s pretty cool to have a four-year series, take a break, fill in with some other people and then come back to it.” “For me scheduling out, if I could sprinkle in Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, some other games, that would be beneficial for us from a nonconference standpoint,” Lyons said. With a nine-game conference schedule, there’s only so much room.
#Wvu football conference realignment series#
A series with Penn State begins next year. Athletic director Shane Lyons wants to keep it going, but also throw in some of those other rivalries. In April, the schools announced the four additional Pitt matchups for 2029 to ’32. Though Brown would love to play the Pitt game every year, he does not want to play multiple nonconference rivalries on the road, as is the case this year.
This West Virginia fan on really summed up the long-term cost of conference realignment perfectly.
#Wvu football conference realignment professional#
“We’ve got to be careful in this day and age with what makes college football different than professional sports,” Brown said. Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders offered earlier, “Don’t take it personal, but you went away. “Bedlam is not gonna be Bedlam when they leave the conference.” Oklahoma-Nebraska, another historic rivalry, returned last year as well to great fanfare.Īnd while the return of the Pitt game was a major media day topic for West Virginia, the potential end of Bedlam with Oklahoma’s impending departure for the SEC was a topic just two podiums over from Brown, where Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy sat. West Virginia’s trip to Virginia Tech in Week 4 renews a rivalry that has been played just twice since 2005, including WVU’s win last year. Rivalries are only “back” if they’ve gone away, and the return of the Backyard Brawl is a reminder of what has been lost in college football due to conference realignment over the years - a topic top of mind once again with USC and UCLA’s recently revealed departures for the Big Ten in 2024.
“Those games are for our fans,” Brown said of this season’s nonconference matchups with Pitt and Virginia Tech, two of the Mountaineers’ longest rivals.
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