West Virginia University

The Academics
Location: Morgantown, WV
Type of School: Public
Total Student Population: 28,840
Undergrads: 21,930
Demographics: 2% Asian; 3% Black; 2% Hispanic; 91% White; 2% International
Sex Ratio: 55% male; 45% female
%age of Natives: 54% are West Virginians
Ranking: 3rd Tier Full Research University
AVG SAT of admitted kids: 1050
Endowment: $380,000,000

CURRENT CONFERENCES: Big East
Football stadium capacity: 60,000
Men's Basketball capacity: 14,000
Women's Basketball capacity: 14,000
Most notable money sport: Football

West Virginia University is a public university located in the north central part of the state, and is about 80 miles or so away from Pittsburgh, PA. Like Delaware, it is a large university for a small state and a large portion of its student body (nearly half) are from neighboring states, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. Academically, they have the best reputation in their own state, but they have merit and have a large presence in the Pittsburgh, and Washington metropolitan areas as well where jobs are more plenty than in the Mountaineer State.

Why WVU Should Get in the ACC
We return to a football first school once again, where the Mountaineers have been a Big East power, being in two BCS bowls and are consistently a ranked team this decade alone, mostly under the current spread option brought by Rich Rodriguez and further refined by the current don, Bill Stewart. Men's basketball has enjoyed a resurgence this decade with John Beilein who got the Mounties in their second Elite Eight in school history in 2004-2005 and had another Sweet 16 appearance the year after, and had yet another Sweet 16 when longtime Cincy coach Bob Huggins came along. WVU women's basketball has been consistently in the NCAA and NIT this past decade, and there's no reason why they will stop getting there in the future. Their facilities are also of adequate size and quality, and they will be ready to play and perform well in each of the money sports. Bringing WVU to the ACC also will reunite them with rivals such as Virginia Tech and finally get them in the same league as Maryland, in particular once again, for football. Bringing in WVU also keeps the ACC below the Mason Dixon line.

Why Not
Well, sports is not the problem at West Virginia. Nicely put, the academics leave something left to be desired. Duke, Wake, UVA, UNC, and Georgia Tech will be very, very livid if the ACC wanted to bring in WVU under any circumstance.

WVU Alumni

Fielding Yost (1897) - Star Tackle for Mountaineers; known for transferring to Lafayette for one game midseason to play against Pennsylvania to beat them in an upset (also got a law degree from Lafayette); best known as a football coach making stops at Ohio Wesleyan, Kansas, Nebraska, Stanford, but his mark at Michigan is what made him the model "Michigan Man" where he won six national championships

Jerry West (1960) - All time leading scorer and guard for WVU and led them to the 1959 Final Four; Best known for being a star guard for the LA Lakers where he scored 25,000 pts and won the 1972 NBA Finals; was an LA Laker head coach and GM after his playing days; Hall of Famer (has to be); also known for being the logo man of the NBA

Bob Huggins (1977) - Former PG for WVU; best known as the former head coach at Cincinnati where he went to the 1992 Final Four; also had a stint at Kansas State and sparked their program and is now the current WVU head men's basketball coach

Rich Rodriguez (1985) - Former reserve DB at WVU and fan favorite as a player; best known as the former head coach of West Virginia where he got two BCS bowls out of them and now is the head coach at Michigan

Patrick White (2008) - Former QB for WVU from 2005-2008; gained 10,000+ yards passing and rushing with 103 TD's; 6th winningest QB of all Division 1 FBS QB's; now a QB with the Miami Dolphins


Your Take
WVU is the school in the little state that could. But academically, it sucks for ACC standards.

How do you like WVU as an ACC school?

West Virginia is a perfect fit for the ACC and the ACC is a perfect fit for it.

Great location for the ACC, and good at both basketball and football will be highly competitve in both

West Virginia and Virginia Tech can renew their rivalry too. Great for both

I can see your points why, most sports fans want great teams, not necessarily the best schools.