Incoming Big 12 AD Jabs West Virginia: ‘I promise I’m not going to Morgantown’

Ray Anderson doesn’t appear keen on traveling to the Eastern Time Zone for conference games.

Amid all the seriousness and complexity of the recent shift in college athletics, one new Big 12 athletic director apparently hasn’t let it affect his sense of humor. 

While talking to reporters on Saturday, Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson addressed possible divisions in the Big 12 and took a bit of a shot at one of his new conference foes. While addressing travel and possible regionalization in the new-look conference, Anderson was interrupted by university president Michael Crow, who asked, “We’re not giving you a remote office in Morgantown?” 

“I promise I’m not going to Morgantown,” Anderson said. “I’mma assign that to [deputy athletic director] Jean Boyd. Send me to Texas and the rivalry with Arizona and start a new one with BYU, Utah and Colorado.”  

ASU AD Ray Anderson & Dr. Crow on possibility of divisions in Big 12 pic.twitter.com/CZhlEHbXzi

— Brad Denny (@BDenny29) August 5, 2023

Morgantown is, of course, where West Virginia University is located, and Anderson, apparently, doesn’t seem to keen on making the trek east. Arizona State, Arizona and Utah are set to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 ahead of the 2024 fall semester in the latest wave of schools to bolt from their previous conference.