Regional rivals, balance important in scheduling for West Virginia
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown understands the need for regional rivals on the schedule.
It’s been something that the Mountaineers have been able to ensure with the schedules over the past few years. And if you include this upcoming season the program has played 11 power five opponents in five of the last six years with the lone exception being the shortened 2020 campaign.
But before the schedule was adjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountaineers had 11 Power Five opponents with Florida State in Atlanta and a home match-up with Maryland in 2020.
Since Brown arrived in 2019, West Virginia has played games against Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Maryland along with Missouri and N.C. State. All but the match-up against Missouri was in the geographic footprint which is critical considering the nature of the Big 12 Conference schedule.
West Virginia got some help with the addition of Cincinnati in terms of regional match ups, but the majority of the games are played in different time zones.
“It’s important from a fan perspective to play these regional rivals,” he said.
But on the other hand, the Mountaineers are one of the only teams in the nation to consistently have 11 Power Four games on the schedule and the only three that will do so in consecutive seasons.
“Two rival opponents the last several years. Five out of the last six years we played 11 Power Four opponents," Brown said.
And to that effect, the Mountaineers are doing some adjusting to the slate in future years. Brown, along with Athletic Director Wren Baker, have stated that they would like to see the schedule consist of seven home games and the three non-conference games split between a Power Four matchup with a regional rival, a Group of Five opponent, and an FCS opponent.
And following this year with Penn State and Pittsburgh on the slate, the schedules tend to back that line of thinking up for the most part as the program isn’t currently scheduled to play a second Power Four team in the non-conference slate through at least the 2032 campaign.
In 2025, the Mountaineers will host Robert Morris and Pittsburgh but travel to Ohio while in 2026 the program will host Alabama and UT Martin along with a road trip to East Carolina. The 2027 schedule features a road trip to Alabama and home games with Ohio and VMI and 2028 currently only has a neutral site contest in Charlotte against Tennessee.
The Pittsburgh series will then resume in 2029-2032 and there is the possibility to add another Power Four game from 2028-2032, but for now only one is on the slate.
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