West Virginia’s place in the Big 12 has always been awkward on the map, and Rich Rodriguez said the quiet part out loud at Big 12 Media Day: college football would make a lot more sense if the sport went back to regional conferences.
The Mountaineers’ league home has never been a natural geographic fit, even with Cincinnati and UCF now in the Big 12 mix. Road trips are tougher for fans, and they cost the athletic department more, which is exactly the kind of problem realignment keeps creating while claiming to solve something else.
Rodriguez was asked what it would take to get the Backyard Brawl back on a more regular footing instead of another long break. He noted that efforts were made to make it work and that Pitt will return to the schedule in 2029, but he used the moment to make a much bigger pitch about the future of the sport.
“I’m not afraid to share my own opinions. I love the Big 12, but it’d be nice to have some regional…have us all come together…can’t we all come together and shake hands and give each other a group hug and then have a Eastern regional, a South regional, and a North regional?
And then everybody share the money, there’s money for everybody, and we can all get along, like 60 of us or so. I think that would be great.
Did anybody else say that? Probably not.
They might be afraid. Hell, I don’t care.
I think that would be good.
"I’m going to put my pitch right now," he continued. "I’m not speaking for anybody other than Coach Rod, that he would love for all the Power Four teams to come together, shake hands, and let’s get the biggest TV package in the history of TV packages.
And then we could have Pitt and Virginia Tech and Penn State and Maryland, Cincinnati, and maybe Virginia or North Carolina. All right there and our fans can drive to it.
You know, we have a rivalry every year and everybody make money. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Can we put that together? I got all the ADs out there shaking their heads like I’m nuts.
But I got a lot more time behind me than ahead of me. I just want to get this thing right before I leave.”
Rodriguez’s point was simple: the current setup has already done enough damage to rivalries like the Backyard Brawl, and the next round of conference shuffling should be built around common sense instead of geography-defying chaos.
That kind of overhaul is still a long way off. The current TV deals are years from expiring, and if anything is going to change, it would likely take a new model that looks more like the NFL, with all college football TV revenue tied together under one umbrella instead of every conference fighting for its own piece.
If that ever happens, regional conferences would suddenly sound a lot less far-fetched.
In Other News...
BYU Just Landed In The Middle Of A Wild Big 12 Debate
A recent On3 Coaches Poll offered a pretty clear snapshot of how wide open the Big 12 feels heading into the season, and BYU came out as the choice most coaches trusted to win the conference. That alone says plenty about the leagues balance of power, especially with Texas Tech, Utah, Houston, Arizona and Iowa State also drawing support in a vote that seemed to spread confidence around rather than concentrate it.
For West Virginia fans, the broader takeaway is familiar: there is no consensus answer in this league, only a cluster of teams with enough talent and intrigue to keep the conversation moving. The poll underscored just how unpredictable the Big 12 can be from year to year, with coaches clearly seeing a conference where the title race could tilt in several directions before it ever reaches the finish line. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Is Making One Last Exception For Pat Whites No. 5
West Virginia is planning a long-awaited salute to Pat Whites No. 5, with a ceremony set for Sept. 5, 2026, during the season opener against Coastal Carolina. The tribute will come as part of a White Out, giving the program a fitting stage to recognize one of its most iconic quarterbacks while finally moving toward an official jersey retirement.
The timing, though, comes with one last wrinkle before the number is taken out of circulation. Head coach Rich Rodriguez announced the plan, and the university has opted to delay the formal retirement for another season, leaving one more chapter to play out before No. 5 is permanently set aside. [Read more 🡒]