MORGANTOWN — While it’s still behind the likes of the SEC and Big 10, WVU football coach Neal Brown thinks there will be plenty of reasons for viewers to tune into Big 12 games this fall.
“I think we’ve got a little bit of ground to make up to be the best football conference in the country, but I think we’re definitely the most exciting,” Brown said during a radio interview with Heartland College Sports this week. “From a depth standpoint and a competitive balance standpoint, I think the Big 12 is number one. There are quality teams, there are teams that’ve had recent success all the way through. So it’s highly competitive.”
With recent powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC this year, Brown feels that the new Big 12 is wide-open for anyone to win.
“The hard thing about this league is that everybody that you play has an opportunity to beat you,” Brown told host Pete Mundo. “The encouraging thing is you’ve got a chance to win every single game. It’s really going to be an exciting 2024 season and it’s going to be hard to predict. I think that you could make a strong argument that maybe up to eight teams could win our football league this year.”
Excluding the Sooners and Longhorns, six Big 12 teams finished with a winning record in 2023 and seven made a bowl game. Four — WVU, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State — won at least nine games.
Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado are all coming over from the Pac-12 to boost the conference up to 16 teams for 2024. Arizona (10-3) finished the season ranked No. 11 in the country and Utah went 8-5.
The Mountaineers will only play the Wildcats this season, but also has rematches against two of last year’s newcomers, Cincinnati and UCF on the schedule.
“The thing for West Virginia is that we’re in with peer schools that are on similar footing that we are,” Brown said. “There are a lot of tradition-rich programs, just like West Virginia, that are in the league and I think it gives us a chance.”
Picked to finish dead last in 2023, the Mountaineers could be a popular pick to win its first Big 12 title this season following a 9-4 campaign. It won’t be an easy road to get there, however, as WVU starts conference play with five straight games against teams who will also have championship aspirations — Kansas, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas State and Arizona.
WVU will also play 11 power conference opponents for the fifth time in six years this season, taking on Penn State and rival Pitt in non-conference action.
“The downside is, there are very few people that are doing that,” Brown said. “This is going to be five of the six years here where we’ve played 11 Power 5. We’re one of the very few teams in the entire country that’s doing that. We’re putting ourselves at a disadvantage compared to our peers and we’re playing one less home game.”
West Virginia will open the 2024 season on national television when the Mountaineers host Penn State on Aug. 31 at noon on FOX. It will be the Nittany Lions’ first trip to Morgantown since 1992. FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show will broadcast live from Morgantown prior to the game.
