West Virginia has been caught in the crossfire of conference realignment several times over the past couple decades. But the tenor of the recent moves of the Big 12 Conference felt different.
And given history there is some reason for that due to how many times that the Mountaineers have been on shaky ground when it comes to their conference affiliation.
After joining the Big East in 1991, the Mountaineers enjoyed the regional rivalries and quality opponents the league provided until Miami and Virginia Tech both bolted for the ACC in June of 2003. It was a messy departure that left plenty of bad blood, but the wheels of realignment were already turning.
Boston College would then accept an invite in October and follow them out the door although the Eagles wouldn’t begin play in their new league until 2005. It was a massive blow at the time to the eight-team league, one which it would truly never recover from in some respects.
There were plenty of questions and concerns at the time about the future of the football program, a reoccurring theme in many of the realignment situations the program has found itself facing.
The Big East would proceed to add Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida from the group of five ranks that November although they wouldn’t begin play in their new conference until 2005, while Connecticut would transition into the league full-time from independence for the 2004 season.
At the start of the 2005 campaign, the Big East consisted of the Mountaineers, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida and Connecticut. West Virginia would experience some great success on the football field during that time including winning three BCS bowls, but realignment would hit home yet again to reshuffle the deck for the Mountaineers.
This time after turning down a potential television deal to keep the league together that would have paid $11 million per team in May of 2011, longtime rivals Pittsburgh and Syracuse were off to the ACC that September. Again it left the Mountaineers in a difficult position with plenty of concerns over what would come next when it came to their future and without their two key rivals.
However, the Big 12 Conference would extend an invitation at the end of October that year to provide a way out. But even that wasn’t a slam dunk as there were some back and forth with Louisville possibly being selected before the Mountaineers finally got word that they were the pick. Again, a sigh of relief.
It was a lifeline for West Virginia considering the alternatives and while the geographic fit was less than ideal as the only Eastern based team in league based in the Southwest and Plains it allowed the athletic program to compete in a power five conference against high level teams.
West Virginia needed a home and the Big 12 needed a football brand to round out its membership. At the time it seemed like a marriage of convenience, at least in the sense of the word. As for the Big East, it would cease to exist following the 2013 season with the football and basketball schools splitting.
While West Virginia was a geographic outlier in their new home, the Mountaineers would have their moments on the gridiron although they were never able to get over the hump and recreate their success in their former league. Still, the benefits of a major conference were obvious.
But again, the cold hands of the clock of realignment would strike midnight yet again for the Mountaineers as the lynchpin brands of the league Texas and Oklahoma would announce they were exiting the 10-team league for membership in the SEC Conference.
It was déjà vu for the Mountaineers as they were left with seven other schools in Baylor, TCU, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas and Oklahoma State with again a very muddied future. Many were already piling dirt on the grave of the conference given the loss of the two major brands and there was uncertainty and concerns abound across the league’s membership.
But that’s when the eight banned together and turned the tides.
Then commissioner Bob Bowlsby invited BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida, all group of five programs or independents, to first provide stability. Then once Brett Yormark came into power, he would negotiate an extension of the media rights with ESPN and FOX that would actually pay the 12-members more than they were earning when Texas and Oklahoma were still in the league.
That nearly $32 million per team bargaining chip would prove incredibly valuable. And that’s where the differences came into play. Due to failures in the leadership of the Pac-12 and Yormark being aggressive by jumping in line to get his media rights extension done, the opportunity was there.
The goal all along was to lure what were referred to as the Four Corner Schools in the Pac-12 which consisted of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. The geography aligned to create a western portion of the league along with new member BYU while it also would open up new markets and time zones for the conference when it came to future media rights packages.
The objective was never going to be easy, but instead of West Virginia being in a league that was getting poached, the Mountaineers were on the other side of the coin.
It took time and effort, but the Big 12 was first able to lure Colorado back into the fold after the Buffaloes left for the Pac-12 following the 2010 season. Colorado made the choice in late July and a little over a week later fellow Pac-12 programs Arizona, Arizona State and Utah would join them.
It’s the first time since joining the Big East over 30-years ago that West Virginia has been in a league that has lured a major conference team from another league. And it didn’t just happen once either in the past few days.
Many of the arrangements before seemed to be built on fragile footing but at least today that doesn't seem to be the case in this instance at least for the near future.
The Big 12, which was left for dead like the Big East before it, battled back.
Now, with 16-teams, stability and exposure at their backs with their media rights deal the future seems bright for what could happen next for the Big 12. Nobody knows how it could unfold, but there is at least optimism for what could be ahead.
And in the prism of realignment, it’s certainly a welcomed change for West Virginia.
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