The WVU football team is used to being slighted in several ways. Whether it is national rankings or individual accolades, the Mountaineers seem to take a backseat to the blue blood programs of the country.
WVU football is not used to playing second fiddle in its own state. That was the case last year when CBS Sports said that Marshall was the best football program entering the 2016 season.
Gasp!
Didn’t these national pundits know that the Thundering Herd has never beaten the Mountaineers? The WVU football team owns a spotless 12-0 record over Marshall. The first meeting between the in-state schools was Oct. 28, 1911 when the WVU football team earned a 17-15 victory.
The most recent meeting was 2012, which saw the Mountaineers pummel Marshall, 69-34.
The Thundering Herd did get close to touching the WVU football team in 2010. Hosting the game in Huntington, the Herd took the Mountaineers to the wire. In the end, the WVU football team wound up with a 24-21 victory.
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West Virginia wouldn’t assert its dominance last year, though. Even with the two teams not facing each other, Marshall still got the upperhand with CBS.
Marshall was coming off 10-3 season in 2015. The year prior, Marshall had one of its best seasons since it competed for the FCS title in the early 1990s. The Thundering Herd went 10-1, with the lone loss coming against Western Kentucky, 67-66, in overtime.
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In 2015, Marshall opened with a stunning 41-31 win over the Big 10 Conference’s Purdue Boilermakers. The losses came against Ohio, Middle Tennessee and, again, Western Kentucky.
CBS Sports thought the Herd cold bounce back in a big way in 2016. Instead, Marshall went 3-9. West Virginia, meanwhile, earned 10 regular season wins and finished 10-3.
In 2015, the WVU football team went 8-5 with a losing record in the Big 12. So, that might have given CBS some ammunition for picking Marshall over the Mountaineers.
The ruling was still a slap in the face to head coach Dana Holgorsen and his squad. CBS did offer a snide compliment to the Mountaineers, but saying West Virginia was Marshall’s state was straight up absurd.
"Marshall — WVU is a good team, don’t get us wrong, but it’s hard to argue with Marshall’s success under Doc Holliday, particularly the last few years. He and the Herd have amassed a 33-8 record with a 10-3 mark in 2015. Meanwhile, Dana Holgorsen and the Mountaineers are 36-28 since his arrival with a 8-5 record one season ago. The Herd are Thundering through the state right now."
It should pain any fan of the blue and gold to read that statement. That’s what CBS Sports tried to sell to college football fans in 2016.
This year, CBS came to its senses. Ben Kercheval did the picking and gave the WVU football team the proper credit.
"The Mountaineers are coming off their first 10-win season in five years with an extended contract for coach Dana Holgorsen and a shiny, new quarterback in Will Grier. Life ain’t bad."
Will Grier will always bring in the best headlines. He has been full of so much preseason hype. If he can live up to his lofty billing, the Mountaineers won’t just be the best team in the state of West Virginia.
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The WVU football team could be the best team in the Big 12 Conference, and in all of the country.
Getting to that point won’t be easy, but the potential to be the best is already there. The Mountaineers will forever be the best team in the state of West Virginia.
CBS Sports needs to realize that now, and forever.