The West Virginia Mountaineers will be taking the field to start the 2026 season just over a month from now. But before we even get there, changes are coming to the 2027 schedule.
The university announced on Monday that the scheduled WVU football game against Ohio University for the 2027 season will be moved up from Saturday, September 18 to Saturday, August 28. While on the surface, this just pushes one of the non-conference games earlier on the schedule, making it the season-opener rather than the third game.
But let's take a closer look at what it will mean in terms of the season structure, and potential future scheduling moves.
Week 0? West Virginia Mountaineers move Ohio game into unique slot
For those of you that see the date August 28 and feel like it's a bit early, that's because it is, traditionally speaking. This is West Virginia taking advantage of a new rule that opens up 'Week 0' as the new "official start" of the regular season, expanding the schedule from 13 weeks to 14 weeks.
Previously, you had to get a waiver to play in Week 0, traditionally reserved for season-opening trips to face Hawaii, and a handful or marquee games each season. But starting in 2027, any team is free to schedule in the traditional "Week 0" slot. And the Mountaineers will now be taking advantage of it. So what are the benefits of doing so?
Extra bye week
One benefit comes in essentially getting a second bye week. If teams continue to schedule as they normally have in the past, they'll be taking a second bye week and placing it at the beginning of the season. Strategically, it makes more sense to move this open week so their is a second break in the action during the season.
For West Virginia in particular, this places an off-week between the end of non-conference and beginning of Big 12 play in 2027. They'll also have another off-week which falls somewhere in the middle of league action – a move that probably makes the most sense strategically of any use of the extra week off.
Offseason ends sooner
The Mountaineer are currently set to start camp on August 5. But teams that play in Week 0 this year will be starting camp this week, many as early as July 29. If Rich Rodriguez and his staff would like to eliminate an extra week of waiting for the preseason to start and get their athletes back on the field sooner – which feels like would fit his strategy and culture as a coach – it makes sense to take advantage of an opportunity to start the season earlier.
Return of the Brawl?
Intrepid fans of the program have already taken notice that while both West Virginia and Pitt have their non-conference schedule booked up for next season, they are both now off on the Weekend of September 18. The following season, Pitt still has an open non-conference game available to schedule, and while West Virginia doesn't, things can clearly change.
Fans definitely want to bring the Backyard Brawl back, and so do both schools: as indicated by a recent extension of the series, which calls for it to begin back up in 2029. But if Pitt and WVU are each willing to cancel a Group of 6 or FCS matchup in 2027, and WVU is willing to either do the same or swap a neutral-site match-up with Tennessee in 2028, then the series could make its return even sooner.
Add us as a preferred source on Google