Is West Virginia the SEC's Number 14? Missouri 15? FSU 16?

and out and out leaving the Confederacy are different. the place to bring up Kentucky is when people try to make the non-Confederate argument against MIssouri.

the US govt kept the state government of Kentucky from seceding by essentially enacting martial law there. Many people from Kentucky fought for the Confederacy and that’s true with Missouri as well.

But honestly none of this matters. This isn’t 1860 and most of the people in SEC states wouldn’t vote for secession now either.

I think it’s interesting though that people from West Virginia are probably more culturally Southern than anything else. They don’t fit in with Big 10 schools or other Big East schools.

census bureau be damned

I don’t particularly want WVU in the league, but I was throwing out that irrational reason for why they shouldn’t join like 90% of people do for all the other teams who’ve been mentioned. Why not WEST BY GOD VIRGINIA?

we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.

they made that clear last year. However it’s still an assumption the Big10 wants them, they have only talked about looking east for their next round of expansion. I don’t think the Big10 is in any hurry to expand again, of all the conferences they can afford to wait the most (and when they do it will be to 16, no stopping at 14). I just don’t think MU can afford to pass an SEC offer by and don’t think they would.

And they really, really want that.

NC and VA are much better states to gain a foothold in

if they get to say, “how’d you like to play away games in Florida in the winter if you play for us? Or you can enjoy sunny Minnesota and Michigan if you sign at Penn State?”

The Cuse is surely at the top of the ACC’s exigency list.

coach before Fraudchione

but could imagine them included as well … we’d be even more so THE baseball conference. UNC and TAMU regularly go to Omaha.

any school with an SB site, The Smoking Musket is a great site btw, that does a weekly post like Hump Day goes up in value to any conference ;)

I just lot a long-ass post I had about this (Chrome!).

WVU lost many of its historic rivals thanks to conference realignment and independent schools joining conferences. Most of these rivals were in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.

It happens. JoePa and PSU will not schedule against WVU any more, despite the teams having played over 60 games against each other (and yeah, it was mostly a one-sided rivalry). VTech and WVU haven’t squared off since VTech bolted — and god do I hate VTech. Hate them more than Pitt or Maryland. At least Maryland is back on the schedule.

WVU doesn’t really fit in the Big East. They do in many ways, because they’ve played here since 1991. But if you’ve ever been to a WVU home game (and I assume most of you’ve not), you’ll see a riproaring crowd, a huge tailgating sprawl, and noise so loud opponents get delay of game penalties because the players can’t hear the quarterback.

This is commonplace in the SEC. It is not in the Big East. WVU, despite recruits that are secondhand from PA, MD, and OH, and thirdhand from FL, TX, and GA, wins a lot of games. They also win games despite an athletic budget significantly smaller than those in the Big 12, B1G, SEC, and most of the ACC.

They may struggle to build depth of talent like the SEC East squads all have, but they would get there. As soon as recruits see Florida and Georgia and SC on the schedule, rather than Cincy and South Florida and UConn, they’ll consider the Mountaineers a lot more. I think WVU’s recruiting profile in the northeast and mid-Atlantic would significantly increase without drawing away any prized recruits from territories currently spoken for by SEC teams.

I love seeing the Backyard Brawl, and as long as that, and occasional series against Syracuse and Maryland continue, I think an SEC schedule would be much more in line with WVU’s fanbase, its football mentality, and its quality of product.

In addition, I would just love the hell outta seeing Bob Huggins and Calipari and Billy Donovan fighting over basketball supremacy every year. It will sting to lose the Big East basketball schedule. But I think WVU would be a great addition to the SEC.

and quite possibly over Clemson, depending on how we’re all feeling about academic reputation (note I said “reputation,” not “quality”)

I for one would love to get an invite from the SEC.

…that Oliver Luck has had at least some form of conversation with Slive. I’m not an insider, and don’t claim to be, but Luck clearly has ambitions greater than the Big East for WVU, and ambition doesn’t get higher than wanting to join the SEC (at least, in football terms). If he hasn’t picked up the phone and called Slive, he’s not doing his job.

I understand that TV markets are a consideration… I just wish someone would actually consider ratings, because we’ll start looking a lot better. Half of the city of Louisville is UK fans. They don’t draw the crowds, and they don’t draw the viewership that WVU does. I suspect if you compare actual ratings for Missouri, Clemson and VT, WVU will come out looking pretty good there, also.

Finally, I wouldn’t worry too much about the state political wrangling. Senator (former governor) Manchin twisted our former AD’s arm long enough to get us to schedule Marshall. Doesn’t look like Luck is succombing to that pressure. Next year is the final game on the current contract, and it’s not been renewed as of now. I’d want to keep the series with Pitt, but most WVU fans have no interest in playing Marshall whatsoever.

… the huge issue with academics. WVU has strengths and weaknesses, just like most schools, and just like ALL other schools in the SEC, with the possible exception of Vanderbilt.

Between the Rhodes Scholars, the med school, and the other accolades that were mentioned above, the point is that WVU would fit in with the SEC schools. Would we significantly enhance the academic footprint? No. WVU is not Harvard, and doesn’t claim to be. But would it weaken it? No, it wouldn’t.

Look at it this way: if you add both A&M and WVU, you are getting the academic prestige of A&M, which apparently is a member of the AAU that the Big 10 holds in such prestige, and you’re getting a school that, in most other ways, is arguably the best fit for the East division.

but with the rating system. If as you’ve said and as been stated ad nauseum that the US NEWS stats are flawed at best, then why would you hold them in such high regard? It seems as if you’re basing your argument on a system that clearly doesn’t look at the whole picture and when given a wider breadth of knowledge you point to the lack of a rating system that proves it.

I’m confused here.

Certainly, if you JUST look at US NEWS it doesn’t look good for WVU but that’s not the whole picture. If you look at Rhodes Scholars it looks great. If you JUST look at Rhodes Scholars it doesn’t give the whole picture. Why do you insist on having a US NEWS-like ranking system to determine your position? Obviously, there is not such thing so reasonable people have given you information that challenges the US NEWS rankings as well as your contempt for the Tier I ranking system. My guess is you’ve made your decision and there is no way that it will be changed short of Jesus Christ, or Vince Dooley, telling you other wise.

If you don’t think WVU should go to the SEC, fine, but when others disagree with you AND provide you the information you have requested don’t harp on them because it wasn’t it the right format. Please.

I will not revert to calling you a “douchebag” but will ask if you own any red pants with bulldogs on them? If so, I hope you wore them on January 2, 2026 while I screamed at the top of my lungs from the rafters of the Georgia Dome.

Good post, AllTideUp. I can understand academics being a consideration to a point. But, they certainly shouldn’t be the main consideration.

We’re talking football here. Basketball and academics should be given some thought, but at the end of the day, any conference realignment is about football. Question number 1 is “Which schools will increase our football visibility the most, thus increasing the TV contract payout per school?” I think the answer to that question, in order, is probably: A&M, FSU, WVU/VT (probably pretty close). If the SEC isn’t going to add another Florida school, and VT wants to stay in the ACC, then you add A&M and WVU. (Assuming , of course, that you add anyone).

I said in another post that if Oliver Luck hadn’t called Mike Slive, he wasn’t doing his job. Similarly, if WVU is the available school which most increases the per-school payout, and the presidents refuse admission due to academic reputation, then they’re not doing their jobs properly. More money = better academic opportunity = higher academic rankings. The USNews rankings for Auburn, UGA, etc., are not going to fall because WVU is in the SEC.

WVU is classified as a Research University (High Research Activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Twenty-five WVU students have received Rhodes Scholarships for study at Oxford; few public universities have produced more Rhodes Scholars than WVU.

WVU ranks nationally for prestigious scholarships – 25 Rhodes Scholars, 21 Truman Scholars, 33 Goldwater Scholars, two British Marshall Scholars, two Morris K. Udall Scholars, five USA Today All-USA College Academic First Team Members (and 11 academic team honorees), eight Boren Scholars, five Gilman Scholars, three Department of Homeland Security Scholars, two Fulbright Scholars, and one Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholar.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized the scope and success of WVU’s impact by selecting the University for the Community Engagement Classification, putting WVU in the 6 percent of higher education institutions that Carnegie recognizes for engagement out of all U.S. institutions. It is the only institution in West Virginia the foundation recognizes for its community engagement.

WVU has earned the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification. Only 6% of all universities have.

WVU was ranked in the 2011 top 20 "Best Places to Work in Academia" by The Scientist magazine—1 of only 2 land-grant institutions and just 4 comprehensive universities in total made the list.

WVU has more Rhodes Scholars than any other Big East school.

The College of Law ranked 15th nationally in Best Law Schools in Public Interest in the Winter 2011 edition of Pre Law Magazine.

The College of Business and Economics has been ranked as number 90 in the Best Undergraduate Business Schools of 2011, in the Bloomberg Businessweek.

WVU’s combined varsity athletic teams have an academic progress rate score of 974. The APR is based on eligibility and retention of student-athletes over a four-year period. The NCAA average score is 970. WVU had six teams with perfect 1,000 scores: cross country, rifle, women’s soccer, rowing, men’s soccer, and tennis.

Interpol invited WVU to participate in its Forensic Science Symposium in Lyon, France, demonstrating the University’s reputation as a leader in the forensics industry.

WVU Healthcare was named one of the most digital hospitals in the nation by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has honored 18 WVU faculty as West Virginia Professors of the Year.

In March 2011, a team of WVU chemistry researchers won first place at the Annual Society of Toxicology meeting in Washington, D.C. The team of faculty and students came in first out of 2,000 applicants.

USA Today’s Guide to Green Living included WVU’s green efforts in an article in the May 2011 issue. It noted the University’s efforts to compile a guide to courses that cover sustainability.

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department was ranked 22 by the National Science Foundation for R&D expenditures in fiscal year 2009.

WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design has been chosen as a Peace Corps Master’s International partner, and will participate in an innovative program that allows graduate students to pursue a master of science degree while also completing an international service internship with the Peace Corps.

The Daily Athenaeum was a third-place finalist in the National Society of Professional Journalists’ Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper contest.

More than two dozen WVU graduate programs were ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best in the country: primary care, pharmacy, industrial and manufacturing engineering, rehabilitation counseling, and clinical psychology were among the top 50, with another twelve in the top 100.

WVU has made the most progress of any of the nation’s flagship universities in providing access for low-income and underrepresented minority students, according to a report from The Education Trust.

Morgantown has been listed as one of eight of "America’s Top College Football Towns" by Budget Travel.

The WVU School of Medicine has been recognized as the 7th-best school of medicine in the country for rural medicine, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 edition of "America’s Best Graduate Schools." It also placed in the top 50 for primary care.

The Sport Management Program in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences was rated as one of the top 15 graduate programs in sport management by SportBiz magazine.

The School of Nursing’s online doctor of nursing practice program is one of only four in the country that is accredited. The School of Nursing’s master’s program – also an online program – recently was named one of the best graduate programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design has been chosen as a Peace Corps Master’s International partner, and will participate in an innovative program that allows graduate students to pursue a master of science degree while also completing an international service internship with the Peace Corps.

The Five Year Teacher Education Program received a Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award from the National Association of Teacher Education.

In the American Institute for Economic Research’s 2009-2010 College Destinations Index, Morgantown placed 19th in the "college towns" category.

WVU finished 40th in the final 2011 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings; the school has finished in the top 50 for four consecutive years.

The Big East Conference selected 158 WVU student-athletes as 2009-10 Big East Academic All-Stars.

The College of Engineering and Mineral Resources sent its first team to NASA’s lunabotics competition in 2011, and the team took third place in the mining division, among other honors. The 46 teams were tasked with designing and building a robot capable of working on the lunar surface.

Overall our sports programs would do quite well in the conference with both basketball teams already positioned to compete in the top 25% of the league. That goes for both Soccer teams, and swimming as well. Our Rifle team would bring a consistent opportunity for another SEC National Champion as well.

Add and post…I don’t have have an account that will let me post on Team Speedkills yet…"