The West Virginia Mountaineers are headed to Charlotte on Saturday fora massive showdown with the No. 25 Virginia Cavaliersin the Duke's Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
It's about a 6 1/2 hours trip to Charlotte from Morgantown proper, and just a three hour trip from some parts of the state. And West Virginia fans are no strangers to making the trip to Charlotte, as they packed out Bank of America Stadium for the 2023 Duke's Mayo Bowl against UNC and a 2018 kickoff classic against Tennessee – both games ending in victory for the program.
WVU fans traveling en masse to Bank of American Stadium for showdown with Virginia
Now, with kickoff just over 24 hours away and many fan already en route to Charlotte, it's becoming clear to everyone that the Mountaineers will be bringing quite a few fans with them to Charlotte for the clash with their border rival. And on an appearance on the 3 Guys Before The Game Podcast this week, West Virginia's athletic director Wren Baker saidthe expectation is that the crowd will lean heavily in West Virginia's favor.
"When we’ve talked to the folks in Charlotte, they’ve been very pleased with the Mountaineer turnout," Baker said. They’re concerned about the Virginia contingent. I’ll be shocked if it’s not a heavy pro-Mountaineer crowd. Look forward to seeing people there. Let’s go, Mountaineers!”
That is a very big deal for the Mountaineers. Bank of America Stadium is a massive, 74,000-seat venue, and if the crowd leans heavily toward the Mountaineers, you essentially have a home crowd for a neutral-site game – perhaps even a louder crowd than you get at Milan Puskar Stadium. And any college football fan knows just how much the crowd environment can play a factor.
And if this becomes a tight game down the stretch and the Mountaineers need that extra edge to pull out a win, a loud, pro-West Virginia crowd could throw the Cavaliers off their game and give the Mountaineers the extra motivation to make that push. Expect to see a lot of fans in gold in the stands in Charlotte this weekend.
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