December 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers marching band performs before the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Milan Puskar Stadium. The West Virginia Mountaineers won 59-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When you think of fierce college football rivalries, you always think of the West Virginia vs Pitt rivalry, affectionately referred to as the “Backyard Brawl.” The series matching two of the Appalachian region’s greatest teams annually, was played annually every year between 1943 and 2011. The two schools matched up 104 times with the Pitt Panthers holding a 61-40-3 lead in the series.

Both Pitt and West Virginia also enjoyed a healthy hatred and rivalry with the other Appalachian powerhouse, Penn State. And as current Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson has made clear this week at the ACC meetings, the restoration of the rivalry with Penn State takes priority over the Backyard Brawl.

“I would sign a 30-year deal, if I could,” Pederson said. “It shouldn’t matter who the (university) president or the head coach is, these institutions should always play. It’s a great game. It’s got history to it, we’re three hours apart and in the same state. Those games ought to be played.” – Pederson on Pitt vs Penn State scheduling.

To Pedersen, it is more important to restore a rivalry with the team that they have not played since 2000 and not played annually since 1992. The rival that is three hours away. The rival that is down and out for the next decade thanks to NCAA sanctions.

It makes perfect sense to add Penn State to the schedule rather than renew your annual rivalry with the team 75 miles to the South. The team that is clearly the fiercest rival in your program’s history.

To be fair to Pedersen, it sounds like both schools are having a tough time finding room for the Backyard Brawl:

“We’re both trying to figure out when we can do it,” Pederson said. “We’re both in favor if it’s in the best interest of both schools.”

For the Mountaineers, it is a tough sell to get the Panthers back on the schedule with 9 Big XII conference games. Like so many top tier college football programs, the Mountaineers favor 7 home games a season, allowing for an infusion of ticket sales proceeds into their athletic budget.

Right now, the Mountaineers have an on-going series with the Maryland Terrapins annually. WVU also usually rents a FCS-level victim such as William & Mary.

For West Virginia to reignite a rivalry with Pitt would at the very least require that the series allow for home games for the Mountaineers in the years they had to travel to Maryland. More likely, Oliver Luck would not sign up for the Backyard Brawl as long as the Mountaineers are involved in a 9-game Big XII schedule and a long-term contract with the Maryland Terrapins.

While the rivalry with Maryland is a good one, it is not the same as the Backyard Brawl. It is more like the Pitt vs Penn State rivalry: solid, but not the #1 rivalry.

For reference, here is what the proposed new stadium will look like:

Here’s the planned design for new #WVU and #NYPL ballpark in Morgantown twitter.com/GFCoyle/status…

— Geoff Coyle (@GFCoyle) March 26, 2013

The affiliation with the New York-Penn League would be a major benefit to West Virginia University. The minor league baseball team would assist with the operating costs and maintenance of the proposed new stadium, relieving the Mountaineers athletic department of some of the financial burden.

The partnership also brings significant tax breaks from Monongalia County for the construction of the ballpark as well as the road infrastructure work needed to support the additional traffic the stadium would bring in.

Construction of the new stadium is set to take place over the next two years and should be ready in time for the 2015 season.

You have to hand it to AD Oliver Luck for finding a finance partner for the new stadium project. This way, the baseball team can play in a Big XII-caliber stadium without having to fork over all the costs associated with one.

When trying to determine the 12 stories that fans will most remember 2012 for, we had to take into account what fans were most concerned with. You can then guess that quite a bit of this countdown is focused on football stories, however, we did pay homage to major stories from the other sports on campus. Today’s post is a prime example of that.

#1 Oliver Luck Receives a Contract Extension

November 3, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers director of athletics Oliver Luck on the field before playing the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

In mid-October, West Virginia University announced a 2-year contract extension for athletic director Oliver Luck. He was in the third year of his 5-year deal.

Luck’s new deal will keep the AD under contract to WVU through the 2016-2017 seasons. The extension provides for Luck to earn $550,000 annually with a maximum performance bonus of $150,000.

The move by WVU is a strong play to keep his talents in Morgantown. When the same position became open at Stanford this past summer, there were numerous rumors of Luck’s departure for Palo Alto. Fortunately for Mountaineers fans, Luck is firmly committed to helping his alma mater flourish.

The contract extension only goes to reward Luck’s commitment to the university.

September 29, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers fans react after a touchdown in the second half against the Baylor Bears at Milan Puskar Stadium. West Virginia defeated Baylor 70-63. Mandatory Credit: Rob Christy-US PRESSWIRE

West Virginia AD Oliver Luck announced that Georgia State has been added to the 2013 non-conference slate. The addition of Georgia State completes WVU’s non-conference slate that also includes William & Mary and Maryland.

The 2013 season will be the final season under the current BCS structure. That is good news for the Mountaineers because this non-conference menu is really unimpressive.

William &Mary has fallen apart this season at the FCS level and shows no signs of being dramatically improved for the 2013 season. Currently, the Tribe is an intimidating 2-4 this season, boasting wins over Pennsylvania and , wait for it, Georgia State.

The Panthers are currently ascending from the FCS level to competing in the Sun Belt conference for the 2013 season. This emerging juggernaut has just been crushed all season long, rolling up a mark of 0-6. GSU does not look to be competitive anytime soon. The Sun Belt seems to have picked them purely for the television market of Atlanta.

The only decent non-conference game on the 2013 schedule is the game against Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium. The fighting Edsalls (of both UMD and UCONN) seem to always give the Mountaineers a tougher than expected game. With a blossoming star in Stefon Diggs, and a talented corps of freshmen, the Terps look to be a solid squad in 2013.

Thank goodness WVU has already lined up Alabama for their 2014 non-conference schedule. The way the new playoff format is shaping up, teams will need to play stacked non-conference slates to have a shot at making the 4-team field.

Statements from both Luck and Casteel are after the jump.

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Today, the Big Least Conference (along with their Dunce of a Commissioner, John Moronatto) filed a Notice of Bona Fide Defense against WVU.

This is the initial lawsuit that was filed in Monongalia County Circuit Court, Morgantown, WV.

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FACT TWO: Not a single person named ”Teddy” has been successful since Teddy Roosevelt died.

FACT THREE: His name isn’t Charlie Smart for a reason.

FACT FOUR: Tom Jurich once tried to get Louisville into the SEC on the basis of ”Tom Jurich said so”.

FACT FIVE: Louisville is the 2nd most popular football team in the state of Kentucky. University of Kentucky Football has never won a single SEC East Division Title.

FACT SIX: THIS GUY  was a great QB at Louisville.

FACT SEVEN: Lee Corso once coached at Louisville, which makes them partly responsible for his success.

FACT EIGHT: Louisville plays Cincinnati for the ”Keg of Nails” trophy, named after what it feels like you just ate while watching a Louisville football game.

FACT NINE: Mitch McConnell is actually a Muppet.

FACT TEN: Louisville is not in the Big 12.

The Big 12 Conference will celebrate the arrival of West Virginia University today. A reception will take place at Touchdown Terrace with many Big 12 officials in attendance to talk about this historic day for the Big 12 Conference.  (more…)

Bye-Bye Big East. We used to love you, but we had to kill you.