Kalani Sitake still remembers the West Virginia moment that got away from him.
Three years ago, the BYU head coach walked into a weekly press conference and tried to show some love for the Mountaineers’ atmosphere and traditions. He praised the fan base, called Morgantown a hard place to play, and said he was looking forward to hearing the crowd sing “Country Roads.” The problem, of course, was that West Virginia only plays the song after a win.
BYU then got rolled 37-7, and Sitake learned the hard way what he had stepped into.
At Big 12 Media Day, Sitake was asked about that blunder as “Take Me Home, Country Roads” has taken on a new life this summer. He owned it immediately.
“I made the mistake, and I said, I’m looking forward to seeing them play Country Roads at West Virginia. But they only play it when they win.
That’s kind of messed up," he said. "Someone should have told me that.
But even after we lost that game, I thought it was important, I kept the team out there so they could see it. What a cool experience.
It’s such a cool moment that even the (United States) soccer team has adopted that and made it their own. That’s one of those iconic songs and those moments that it’s beyond the game.
When we lose, I don’t plan on losing very often, but when we do, I still hope we can be appreciative and loving of the game that you can stand there and show respect to West Virginia and their traditions. I would just encourage, next time we play at West Virginia, sing the song more often, guys.
It’s a pretty cool song. You don’t have to sing it at the end.
But if in fact we do lose, I don’t mind having our guys be a part of seeing that experience.”
Sitake’s answer fit the same tone he had three years ago: respectful, appreciative, and fully aware of how special the tradition is. He may have gotten the timing wrong then, but he clearly hasn’t lost any admiration for it.
WVU and BYU won’t meet this season, but the Cougars are set to go to Morgantown next year.
In Other News...
WVU Fans Wont Believe What Big 12 Branding Means For Mountaineer Uniforms
The Big 12s new partnership with Monster Energy is about to show up in a very visible way across the league, with the brands patches set to land on football and mens and womens basketball uniforms while logos also appear on fields and courts. The agreement is reportedly worth $20 million and is expected to send about $1 million annually to each conference member, another sign of how aggressively the league is leaning into sponsorship revenue.
For West Virginia, the branding move also opens the door to more local creativity. Athletic director Wren Baker has already mentioned the possibility of pursuing an additional jersey patch sponsorship, and the Mountaineers are actively looking for more revenue streams as college athletics keeps pushing deeper into the commercial space. What that could look like for WVU uniforms is still taking shape, but the conversation is clearly moving beyond conference-wide branding and into school-specific add-ons. [Read more 🡒]
Big 12 Commissioner Just Sent WVU Fans A Powerful Message
West Virginia has spent the spring and summer giving the Big 12 plenty to notice. The womens basketball team won the conference tournament, the baseball program reached the College World Series, and those milestones have only added to the sense that the Mountaineers are building something that travels well beyond a single season. That backdrop made Brett Yormarks comments at media days stand out, because the commissioner was not just acknowledging results. He was signaling that WVUs brand, investment and overall direction are being noticed at the highest level of the league.
For Mountaineer fans, the encouraging part is that the praise went beyond polite conference talk. Yormark pointed to the schools competitive potential and the way its fan base shows up, which matters in a league that values both performance and energy. There is also a broader layer here: West Virginia seems to fit the Big 12s culture in a way that could matter again if the conference landscape shifts, and the optimism around what Wren Baker is building only adds to that picture. [Read more 🡒]