For those of you that don’t like to watch SportsCenter twice a day (shut up, you’re not better than me) let me tell you something, ESPN values your opinion. They poll the country on all kinds of stuff, but the polls most often made into graphics for the show are fan based game predictions. ESPN takes the results of the polling and spits the data back to the audience as a color coordinated map. Here are the maps for three of the most important victories, and biggest upsets, in school history.
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| Fiesta Bowl vs. Oklahoma. Source. |
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| Elite Eight vs. Kentucky. Source. |
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| Orange Bowl vs. Clemson. Source. |
At WVU we really, really, love when ESPN makes maps. Whenever it happens, the campus starts buzzing; it’s all we can talk about. The energy in Morgantown in the weeks surrounding these games was electric. Even after I graduated, I was connected to that energy through my phone, facebook, and twitter. The mountaineer network was always humming extra loudly during both the lead up to, and celebration of these victories. These wins are different; we cherish them so much because they allowed us to tell the whole nation “You were wrong”. I’m not saying that we have some sort of claim on the mantle of underdog, (it’s no secret that most of America loves a good Cinderella story) but I believe the people connected with WVU have a deeper appreciation for the scenario. Most of us have lived our whole lives as the underdog; constantly undervalued, doubted, or downright disrespected. Many of our out of state students are kids like me. We got rejected from VA Tech, Rutgers, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, etc… but WVU was waiting with open arms and rolling admissions. They scooped us up, (and even gave some of us scholarships) and gave us amazing college experiences.
That’s not to say that we’re an island of misfit toys; there are kids from both in and out of state that fulfill lifelong dreams by attending WVU. We have outstanding programs, including: the
Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, the
School of Medicine, (specifically the
Psychology School) the
Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, and our
Forensic and Investigative Science program, which is head and shoulders above every other program like it in the country. But every student who graduates from one of these prestigious schools will have to suffer through the same stereotypical (and often
patently offensive) “West Virginia jokes” for the rest of their lives. This unpleasantness does have an upside. It gives us a natural foundation of shared experience before we even set foot on campus, upon which we build relationships with our classmates. It also gives us an immediate sense of connection to all the people from WV, in my case a stronger connection than the one than I have with the people from my home state. We all feed off the doubt, fuel ourselves on disrespect, and treasure no victory like the ones coming in games which we were counted out of before the first whistle.
Before I knew anything about WVU, the school had to watch as the ACC took VT, BC, and Miami, leaving us behind to rebuild the Big East. I had to feel that sting myself this past fall as the ACC came back for another pass. This time they took Syracuse and, most painfully, our hated rival pitt. For the second time in a decade, we were not invited to the party. Despite being the
fourteenth winningest football program in history (higher than any ACC school), and having the
fourth winningest active coach in D-1 NCAA basketball.
There was never an official reason given as to why WVU did not garner an invitation from the ACC, in fact there was some dispute as to whether we even ever applied. However,
sports bloggers the world over offered up their
opinions on the matter, (as
sports bloggers are apt to do) and there was one
predominant theory: our academic record. The internet decided that the obvious reason for our exclusion was that our academics were not up to the standard of the ACC, and they were right. I warn you beforehand, this next part involves some math. According to
Forbes WVU is the 403rd ranked college in the US, a full 381 places behind the highest ranked ACC school, Duke (#22). 381 is a big number, almost as big as 384, (Clemson’s ranking) and a whole lot bigger than 6, (the number of places WVU is behind the lowest ranked school in the ACC: Georgia Tech #397). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to brag about our #403 ranking, and I realize that we would be the lowest ranked school in the ACC if we were invited. But I’m fairly certain that if Clemson and Georgia Tech don’t cause the other school’s presidents to tear tufts of hair from their beards in fits of shame filled rage, those extra six spots won’t either.
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| I learned the hard way, shame filled rage is murder on facial hair… |
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| it also makes you look like you got a haircut… |
That latest rejection is one of the reasons our legendary, (
record shattering) victory over Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl meant so much to us. Clemson was the ACC champion, the conference that decided we weren’t good enough for them, and we crushed them like Godzilla stomping on so many tiny cars. In doing so, we gained our third BCS bowl victory, (making us 3-0 in BCS games, and giving us one more BCS victory than the ENTIRE ACC conference has managed since the BCS was born in 1998) and we did it by shutting down Clemson quarterback Taj Boyd. The same
Taj Boyd that decommitted from WVU three years ago.
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| How does that taste? |
There have been big victories throughout the school’s history, but it’s a different feeling now. Instead of losing recruits, we’re attracting junior college transfers. Admissions are through the roof, last year freshmen were living in hotels because
we didn’t have enough dorm space.
Most tellingly, instead of our head coach bolting for a “destination school”, this is happening:
WVU hires Joe DeForest.
That link is to the press release that WVU put out about one of the latest hires for the football program. Most of you don’t know who he is; and unless you went to WVU, you probably don’t care. But that short sentence speaks volumes about the state of my alma mater. I’ll spare you the numbers this time, but understand that this man is one of the most successful and respected recruiters, special teams coaches, and assistant defensive coordinators in the country. He had been working for Oklahoma State for 11 years and he still decided to leave the defending Big 12 conference champion to join the WVU program, a program that will soon be an OKST conference rival. This is a move that would be unbelievable as recently as two years ago.
Coach Holgorsen and Coach Huggins are working with Athletic Director Oliver Luck to build the land grant university from Morgantown into a perennial powerhouse. While it’s certainly a trade I’d be happy to make, if things continue to track in this direction we won’t get any more of the maps we love to hate. Plus, our players won’t get to do things like this anymore.
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| I know he got the percentage wrong, but cut him some slack… he was exhausted from scoring SEVENTY POINTS! Source. |
I’m excited to see how we handle our new place in college athletics. I don’t mean on the field, I have absolute faith in our coaches’ abilities. No, what I’m most interested to see is how the student body and the alumni network react to our new status. I just hope we can keep the spirit we forged during our battle for respect, once it’s finally given to us.
Machak’s Six Mix:
Text From Last Night of the Week I gotta be honest you guys, I might have to stop doing the TFLN of the Week….. it hurts my soul so much that I’m not in college anymore.
Surprise Awesomeness of the Week This link gets you access to the newest daily deals site on the web. It’s based in NOVA and specializes in servicing the DMV, you’re welcome.
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