With uncertainty swirling in college athletics, WVU needs every resource to stay attractive

Trying to follow college athletics these days can certainly make your head spin.
The NCAA and its power conferences have agreed to pay close to $2.8 billion as part of a settlement for three pending antitrust lawsuits. A revenue sharing model is in the offing. There’s talk of a salary cap for schools.
And what of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) collectives? I’ve wondered myself but read Ross Dellenger’s piece for Yahoo/Sports on Tuesday. “Our collective,” he quoted one SEC athletic director, “isn’t going anywhere.”
There’s so much to unpack, right?
Yet on Wednesday I saw a post on X from WVU’s Country Roads Trust. It said they’d received a $30,000 anonymous gift for the Mountaineer wrestling program and the Country Roads Trust Ownership Group had “matched” with an additional $29,000. During the Million Dollar May campaign, $78,000 has been raised for the sport.
And it hit me.
That’s exactly what needs to happen if WVU athletics wishes to be relevant going forward in these crazy competitive times.
Mountaineer athletics must be strong across the board, especially since the school is not in the warm arms of colossal conference giants Big Ten and SEC.
WVU MUST stay attractive.
Again, I know it makes one dizzy to keep up. But look around. Florida State and Clemson are suing the ACC over the Grant of Rights contract. The ACC is suing right back. If the schools are successful, that could lead to a jailbreak of teams from the league.
There are a couple teams left in the cold from the Pac-12 implosion. There was a since-debunked rumor that Utah, a new member of the Big 12, was entertaining a move to the ACC.
I think we can agree there’s uncertainty in the air, right?
So it’s good for WVU fans to see Country Roads Trust is hustling to help. They have the Million Dollar May campaign still going with the 1863 Coal Collection of bourbon whiskey being auctioned. They are pushing Country Roads Trust Lager beer, which counts toward the campaign. There’s merchandise, etc.
The point is, if West Virginia University is serious about remaining relevant nationwide it needs to bulk up football and men’s basketball and stay strong in other sports like baseball, women’s basketball, both soccer programs, etc. It was nice to see the golf program make a splash.
I harken back to when West Virginia left the Big East and got into the Big 12 in 2011, beginning play in 2012. The Mountaineers had been strong under Rich Rodriguez and Bill Stewart in football. They had a strong national reputation, which made the school easier to sell to the Big 12.
And in these uncertain times, it’s a necessity WVU has that strong foundation again.