Glad to have someone coming in with BCS and Final Four experience while someone with neither is getting ready to leave.

…also designed Jack Trice Stadium at Iowa State (which opened in 1975, five years earlier)? Anyway, this ISU fan welcomes WVU to the Big 12, though the travel each way is going to be interesting. You’ll enjoy Ames, a nice college town, and Hilton Coliseum is one of the more enthusiastic venues in both men’s and women’s basketball. (Conversely, I’m sure Big 12 visitors will like riding the PRT!)

I still feel hesitant to say it is over.

Time to expand Milan Puskar—needs over 80,000 seats I’d say.

Also I’m glad we start competing next year cause I graduate in ‘13. At least I get one year of Big 12 action. I’m very curious to see the schedule now because I imagine WVU already had their schedule set for next year.

Also what conference will Men’s soccer and rifle join? Big east still? Do any Big 12 schools have either of these programs?

I see the commish is looking at C-USA and Mountain West….that ought to do it. See Ya!

I hope we can keep our big-boy OOC gages for the future, it will make for a great home schedule. Also, for those fans and alumni across the fruited plains a lot more opportunities to see the team live. For those worried about fan support, go look at the following at the infamous Colorado game.

A Mountaineer history lesson:

For several decades, WVU was a member of the Southern Conference, a varied group which ranged from the likes of Virginia Military Institute and next-door neighbor Washington & Lee to schools such as N.C. State and Davidson in North Carolina and Clemson and Furman in South Carolina. In 1953, seven SC members — Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, South Carolina and Wake Forest — formed the Atlantic Coast Conference (which Virginia would join that December). Both WVU and Virginia Tech sought to join the ACC at its outset, but since both had voted in favor of a no-bowl policy in 1951 (Maryland and Clemson ignored it and both were ruled ineligible for conference football in ’52), neither was approved to join the new conference.

By the 1960s, WVU had outgrown the SC’s smaller remnants and became an independent. It changed its focus from southern to eastern, facing opponents such as Syracuse (longtime SU coach Ben Schwarzwalder was a WVU alumnus), Penn State, Boston College and others. It was a charter member of the Eastern Eight basketball conference, which actually preceded the Big East (members included Penn State and Pittsburgh, among others) but never quite got the right mix. In 1991, WVU joined the Big East for football, then joined it for all sports in 1995-96.

Now, WVU looks west by joining the Big 12.

Welcome to the Big 12 from a Texas Fan.
Look forward to playing each other in the future.

Quick question. If I were to come visit what are the living accommodations like?
Any nice hotels around?

…in the Big East I was legitimately excited about seeing my Frogs playing. The rest were just, “meh, at least they aren’t Wyoming.”

I’m psyched about this.

Go Frogs!

WVU had very little to sell, quite frankly, in terms of TV sets, recruiting footprint, etc. but they clearly made the right “pitch” to the Big XII. Is the conference we all dreamed about? No, that would be the SEC. However, the Big XII is a damn fine conference w/ competitive teams in football and men’s b-ball. I think it made the best possible moves possible by adding TCU and WVU. It instantly competes w/ the SEC and Big Ten for the best conference in the land in football and perhaps the best in mens b-ball (maybe behind ACC).

I for one am so glad that a new era has started in Morgantown. We certainly had great moments with Nehlen, Pastilong and even a great moment w/ Bill Stewart. However, the future is bright w/ these 2 gentlemen leading the charge. I feel that Holgorsen and Huggins fit the identity of WVU sports perfectly and hope they lead these 2 important programs to unprecedented success.

passing on some potentially juicy info. From a very reliable source (read: my Dad) either the major or a major factor that got this deal finished, especially after the doubt earlier in the week happened in Senator Rockefeller’s office.

According to my source, the chief lobbyist for Disney (who owns ABC and ESPN) was called into Rockefeller’s office. Rockfeller asked the lobbyist if Disney was looking for a senate committee investigation regarding potential tampering, etc, in college athletics and conference realignment. Next thing you know, WVU is in the Big XII.

Since many of you may doubt this (and I don’t blame you) I’d like to point out, nothing was supposed to happen until Monday.

West Virginia finished 40th nationally in the 2010-11 Directors’ Cup standings. Here’s how the rest of the Big 12 stacked up (teams entering in bold, leaving in italics):

8 Texas A&M
10 Oklahoma
12 Texas
32 Oklahoma St.
33 Nebraska
35 Baylor
40 West Virginia
41 Missouri
48 Texas Tech
53 Texas Christian
58 Kansas St.
60 Iowa St
66 Colorado
72 Kansas

Overall, WVU should fit in well. While it lacks an “evil empire” like Connecticut, the Big 12 is one of the strongest women’s basketball conferences in the nation (with good fan support up and down the league), and in baseball, WVU will be entering a conference far stronger than the Big East.

If WVU enters Conference USA for men’s soccer, it will be the 10th member of a league that features two SEC outsiders (Kentucky and South Carolina), one from the Sun Belt (Florida International) and six from C-USA (Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Methodist and Tulsa).