Baker to Change Future of WVU Football Scheduling

West Virginia's non-conference set up will look much different in upcoming seasons.

Getting regional rivals back on the schedule is something former West Virginia AD Shane Lyons placed an emphasis on following the school's shift from the Big East to the Big 12. After going several years without seeing Pitt, Virginia Tech, and even Penn State, it was something he felt was in the best interest of the fans.

It sounds good and all but the problem is, scheduling two Power Five opponents in the same season makes it challenging for the team to reach a bowl game and more. Since going to scheduling two Power Five teams in the same year regularly, West Virginia has not went a perfect 3-0 in non-conference play. When playing just one Power Five, the Mountaineers have done it three times - 2012, 2015, 2016)

2012: 3-0 (vs Marshall, vs James Madison, vs Maryland)

2013: 2-1 (vs William & Mary, vs Georgia State, at Maryland)

2014: 2-1 (vs Alabama (neutral), vs Towson, vs Maryland)

2105: 3-0 (vs Georgia Southern, vs Liberty, vs Maryland)

2016: 3-0 (vs Missouri, vs Youngstown State, vs BYU)

2017: 2-1 (vs Virginia Tech, vs East Carolina, vs Delaware State)

2018: 2-0 (vs Tennessee (neutral), vs Youngstown State, at NC State)

2019: 2-1 (vs James Madison, at Missouri, vs NC State)

2020: 1-0 (vs Eastern Kentucky)

2021: 2-1 (vs Maryland, vs Long Island, vs Virginia Tech)

2022: 2-1 (at Pitt, vs Towson, at Virginia Tech)

New athletic director Wren Baker knows that this scheduling model is not something they can continue with. He recently spoke about it during an interview with Three Guys Before the Game.

"Almost every program that has ascended from whether it's back of the pack or middle of the pack to the upper echelon has done so with being very careful with picking and choosing the games they schedule that allow them to have success and build some momentum but they're also challenging at times. So, when you're in a league as good as the Big 12 from top to bottom and you have nine conference games, I think that you have to have a Group of Five opponent in those three non-conference opportunities. So, I would probably do Power Five, a Group of Five, and/or another Group of Five or FCS. The difference is the FCS allows you to always ensure that you're going to have seven and sometimes eight home games. Whereas those Group of Five teams, occasionally you can buy them but they're really expensive. So you're looking at two for one and the math becomes problematic. If you're on a year where you have five road conference games and then you have a road Power Five non-conference game, it puts you in a bind. In my mind, having the two Power Five non-conference opponents coupled with the nine conference games makes it very, very difficult. If I could change that in one magic wand wave, I would. I think moving forward, we're going to always look at probably a model that allows us to have a really good chance to come out of non-conference at a minimum of 2-1 and maybe even 3-0."

West Virginia has its non-conference slate filled out through 2027 and has two opponents scheduled in 2029. WVU has two open spots for 2028, 2030, 2031, and 2032. They don't have any opponents scheduled past 2032.

WVU's future non-confernce opponents by year:

2024 - vs Penn State, vs Albany, at Pitt

2025 - vs Robert Morris, at Ohio, vs Pitt

2026 - vs Alabama, vs UT-Martin, at East Carolina

2027 - at Alabama, vs VMI, vs Ohio

2028 - vs Tennessee (in Charlotte, NC)

2029 - vs Ohio, at Pitt

2030 - vs Pitt

2031 - at Pitt

2032 - vs Pitt

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