Conference realignment is nothing new for WVU
As soon as OU and Texas announced their intention to jump to the Southeastern Conference, seven Big 12 members thought, “Oh, no, what are we going to do?”
But out in West Virginia, an entire state said, “Here we go again.”
A crumbling conference is old coonskin cap to the Mountaineers.
West Virginia plays OU at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on Owen Field, in the Sooners’ first conference game since stating their
Big 12 defection. WVU will be part of a new-look, 12-team Big 12 that will add Brigham Young, Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida.
West Virginia once was in a rock-solid Big East. Then Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004-05. And the Mountaineers were left to pick up the pieces.
The Big East stabilized — adding the likes of Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida — but when the Big 12 came calling in 2011, WVU hit the country roads and headed west.
But what goes around comes around. And back came the same speculative spirit that engulfed the Mountain State more than a decade ago.
“Lot of talk about the ACC,” said WVU athletic director Shane Lyons. “Are we going to leave, could it be Big Ten, could it be SEC?”
You know the drill. Same thing we went through here with OSU.
For West Virginia, all three conferences made sense geographically, but the television numbers worked against WVU for the Southeastern Conference and snooty-academic culture worked against the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast.
West Virginia has belonged in the ACC for 60 years, but the Mountaineers learned long ago they’re just not into you.
And truth is, it became clear the Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC were not interested in immediate expansion with any school, so fortifying the Big 12 was West Virginia's best option.
Lyons said the narrative changed rather quickly.
“We decided to continue moving forward,” Lyons said. “How do we keep the Big 12 together? Week in and week out, the conversation was, what the future of the Big 12 looks like? Now everybody knows. Kind of stopped that conversation.
“Our fan base was happy. Especially being in a league with Cincinnati.”
You couldn't blame the Mountaineers if they had a large amount of disgust with the Big 12. The league was supposed to be a lifeboat for WVU. Instead, after nine years, it sprang another leak.
The Big 12 was a great consolation prize for West Virginia, despite the geographic challenges. The Big 12 brought a financial bonanza previously unavailable to WVU.
Now, the Mountaineers have the same geographic challenges (admittedly, now with Cincinnati as a neighbor) but with an unknown financial future, since the Big 12 television rights are up for sale in three years, without the OUTexas axis to dangle.
But Big 12 sources give West Virginia a ton of credit. The Mountaineers have not complained about any geographic disconnect. They have been great hosts, dispelling their reputation as an uncouth crowd at football games. They have brought quality competition in football and basketball.
And WVU is not complaining now. “West Virginia's been resilient through all these conference realignments,” Lyons said. “People don't like change, but if you study it, we have the opportunity to be in the business and understand what BYU and Cincinnati and Central Florida are going to do. Nothing but grow. And Houston and the type of market they're in.
“It's hard to replace name brands such as Oklahoma and Texas, but when you look at competitive standpoints and start drilling down...”
Lyons even embraced the financial uncertainty as part of the game. Financial uncertainty was going to be part of the game even had the Sooners and Longhorns remained in the league.
The television landscape will change between now and 2024. Streaming will become a bigger piece of the puzzle. The Big 12 has a headstart with streaming. Its ESPN Plus deal, signed two years ago, drew outrage when it was launched.
“Everybody all over us,” Lyons said. “People were mad. ‘What's streaming?' and ‘this is BS.' Now, no one even questions us.”
OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg, whose team plays Kansas State on Saturday night in a streaming-only game on ESPN Plus, said the same thing. Said he's received no complaints about the telecast.
Lyons pointed out that ESPN Plus had about a million subscribers when it launched the Big 12 Now package. Subscriptions recently passed 15 million.
“Three, four years from now, what does streaming look like?” Lyons asked. “Again, a lot of uncertainty for a lot of people. But a lot of opportunities as well.
“Our big thing is, you never want to go backward financially. Can we remain whole as institutions and be distributing $40-$45 million a year and not take a haircut, or can that even continue to grow?”
Lyons sports an optimistic tone. He comes by it natural. He's a West Virginia graduate, and he's been the WVU athletic director for six years. The Mountaineers are a hearty bunch.
Berry Tramel can be reached at 405760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1.