The landscape of college athletics continues to shift.

That leads to uncertainty and just where programs fit in the big picture as the only thing constant in this new environment is change itself.

But West Virginia Athletics Director Wren Baker has little doubt about where the Mountaineers fit into the grand scheme of things.

“I always talk about the equity in our brand,” he said.

Not only does the state of West Virginia serve as somewhat of a gateway to the Northeast, but despite a lower population total of around 1.8 million people that reside within the Mountaineers constantly are perched in a good spot when it comes to valuation and viewership numbers.

West Virginia isn’t in the top ten of power programs, but the athletic program is perched in the top half of power five schools in those important metrics including viewership and brand valuation.

“You look at viewership we’re about between 30th and 35th in the country most viewed. That’s third in the new Big 12. Our viewership over the last five years has been third,” he said.

And that is directly a reflection of the power and the reach of the brand of the school as it also displays that they can get into the Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore markets.

The brand valuation of West Virginia falls into a similar range in the top 30 to 35 nationally.

“When you look at the population of our state and those kinds of things, it's really impactful to see how strong our brand is,” Baker said.

The goal is to keep a seat at the power level even as the model continues to evolve and Baker is confident that the Mountaineers will remain in that position even with revenue sharing and other changes that are on the horizon.

“This allows us to stay at the big kids' table and also gives us a path to move up and continue to improve ourselves,” he said.

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