Thoughts on WVU, Brown; keeping an eye on new Big 12 commish

For WVU fans, a loss in the Backyard Brawl against Pitt always stings.

Yet I was surprised coach Neal Brown issued a plea to support his team on Twitter.

Maybe Brown is feeling heat. He knows how much beating the Panthers means to Mountaineer fans. And, of course, there was The Fourth Down Decision.

That decision has been hashed and re-hashed since Thursday’s game in the Steel City. Personally? I would have gone for it. Surely, JT Daniels could have gotten the yardage on a sneak, right? Sometimes it’s correct to go with your gut over analytics.

Also, there were mistakes.

But many of those mistakes are correctable. Can Brown and staff use the game to teach and round the Mountaineers into a respectable team?

I believe so. It’s certainly the best team Brown has had. Daniels is certainly the best quarterback he’s had in Morgantown.

My expectation is WVU wins the next few games (Kansas, Towson and Virginia Tech) and takes its shots in conference play.

Which would certainly be a good time to shine. Conference realignment is all the buzz. The college football playoff is expanding to 12 teams down the road.

I remember when the school of thought was for the Big 12 to vote against playoff expansion so defectors Texas and Oklahoma would have a tougher path moving forward in the SEC.

But, yeah, that’s gone. WVU and the Big 12 had to take the money. Had to. Also, of course, league teams will have a better shot of cracking the playoff field.

My question now is what will new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark do? Will he be able to strengthen his league with more teams? Will he win the stare down with the Pac-12? Will both conferences stand pat? Will the Pac-12 crumble in the Big 12’s favor if, say, Oregon and Washington leave? What about the ACC? Isn’t it susceptible to a raid?

The answer to the last question is yes. Of course. North Carolina and Florida State would fit in the Big Ten nicely. (We all know, by the way, Notre Dame is the big prize, if it would ever choose to leave independent status.)

But it’s a hell of a puzzle for Yormark – and perhaps WVU president Gordon Gee and AD Shane Lyons.

Can Yormark handle the task right off the bat? Remember, Yormark has been a pro and not a college guy.

Look at his resume. COO of Roc Nation. CEO of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center. VP of NASCAR. Incredibly impressive, but he’s not had to work with the more slow-paced, laborious college system, with its committees and presidents and chancellors and athletic departments.

From what I understand, Yormark is getting guidance from Baylor AD Mack Rhoades and Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt.

Whatever the case, it’s a good sign for WVU fans that he’s trying to enter into early contract discussions with the Big 12’s multi-media partners in order to explore a possible “accelerated extension of its current agreements.”

But again, can he strengthen the conference right off the bat? If he makes an offer to a couple Pac-12 teams, will it be a significant enough offer – say $7-8 million a year — to make a jump? Remember, there is some wiggle room with the defections of Texas and Oklahoma.

If Yormark can strengthen the Big 12, he’ll be a league hero. If not, it may be a long, bumpy road.

It’ll be fascinating to watch.

My hope is WVU continues playing in a strong conference and has a decent shot at a playoff berth. Maybe that conference remains the Big 12. Maybe the ACC opens its eyes to what happened last Thursday – the biggest crowd in Pittsburgh sports history and the highest Thursday night ESPN TV ratings in five years (3.15 million viewers) – and goes after WVU. A possible jump is where Gee and Lyons would come in.

But that’s the big picture at which I keep staring. I think the 2022 WVU football team will be OK. I’m looking at seven, maybe eight wins. The Mountaineers will beat a team unexpectedly. They’ll lose to one unexpectedly.

I’ll watch. But I’ll also be watching Yormark. He’s got a heck of a challenge without the benefit of a runway.

Let’s see how he does.

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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.