Mountaineer Weekend Updates

Big 12 announcement details:

After West Virginia was officially inducted into the Big 12 conference Friday evening, the conference made a statement regarding the delay in the announcement that had Mountaineer nation on edge:

"We were moving forward with West Virginia but also having to look at the possibility of being an 11-member conference.  We had to pause to make sure that we could accomodate 11 schools, if we could play an 11-team schedule in football next season. We were still waiting on Missouri's decision but we also need to assure ourselves we would have 10 members for next season in order to fulfill our contractual obligations."

No statement was made regarding the accusations that Louisville was being considered at the last minute. Since the vote for the Mountaineers was unanimous, we find it hard to believe the reports regarding Louisville, which may have been nothing more than a tactic to raise doubt. It seems far more likely that Missouri or someone on the Big 12 board raised a question about the logistics of an 11 team conference should it come to that. We can only speculate regarding the true nature of what went on behind the scenes, but the end result is a great one for the Mountaineers. With the only real negatives being travel and the need to find a home for Men's Soccer (the Big 12 doesn't have that), the conference move should bring WVU a new level of national exposure, financial strength, and recruiting capabilities.

Our rant was a little harsh on the Big 12 considering how swiftly they recovered from the mishap. Had things gone differently, our accusations would have been more easily justified. We still stand by our comments  regarding the way in which the announcement was made, but we are thankful that West Virginia has a new home, and we're proud to soon be a part of the Big 12 family.

Rutgers Win:

The Mountaineers struggled early in snow-blown whiteout in Piscataway, but the defense that had been all but transparent in the first half held Rutgers without a score in the second, and WVU made it seventeen straight wins against the Scarlet Knights, 41-31. West Virginia is now 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big East. Syracuse fell to Louisville today, meaning that the Mountaineers will no longer lose a tiebreaker to the Orange--WVU once again controls its own destiny. If West Virginia wins out, they are guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl.