WVU and Cincy, RIVALRIES?

Will WVU-Cincinnati rekindle rivalry in new era of Big 12?


by:  Kevin Redfern  
WVU now has regional in-conference foe

The Backyard Brawl and the Black Diamond Trophy game are both highlighted by fans every time the WVU football schedule is announced, but could Cincinnati’s addition to the Big 12 finally give the Mountaineers an in-conference rival?

“When the additions were announced, Cincinnati was definitely the one that caught the attention of West Virginia fans,” WVU Head Coach Neal Brown Said.

The WVU-Cincinnati football series spans decades, going all the way back to 1921, but it did not reach rivalry status until they both competed in the Big East. That started in 2005 when Cincinnati joined the league. Until that point, WVU was 11-1-1 against the Bearcats historically, and they did not lose a game until 2003.

In Big East play from 2005-2011, the Mountaineers continued to control the series with a 5-2 record, but four of the seven games were decided by one possession. Both teams were also ranked in the top-25 in two of their Big East meetings. 

Above all else, Cincinnati will now be the closest school to WVU geographically in the Big 12.

“I think for our fans it’s important because it’s the only drivable game that our fanbase really has in our league” Brown said. “It’s a natural rivalry. There is a history there being in the [same] league previously, and so, I think for our fanbase it makes a lot of sense.

”Maybe it’s not a coincidence that the first matchup between WVU and Cincinnati since 2011 will be Senior Night at Milan Puskar Stadium on a week in which the Cincinnati Bengals are not playing on Sunday.“

(Big 12 football vice president) Scott Draper and his team did a lot of due diligence,”  Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said . “We vetted out a lot of scenarios with our ADs. I think we came up with a great schedule based on travel, based on trying to maintain some rivalries, and I’m really excited about this year’s schedule on many fronts.”

On the hardwood, WVU and Cincinnati have history that intertwines the two schools. Former WVU head coaches Gale Catlett and Bob Huggins both coached in Morgantown directly after their stints as head coach of the Bearcats.

The basketball series is tied at 10-10 historically, but WVU held a 6-4 edge in their 10 Big East games

.“That’s going to create a great rivalry over time,” WVU AD Wren Baker Said. “[But it] won’t happen overnight.”

The most historic college football showdowns are typically scheduled for the final week of the regular season. Could the Bearcats and Mountaineers meet in a Thanksgiving-weekend battle at some point in the future?

It would certainly make sense.

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Technically, Bob Huggins spent a season drinking and driving in Manhattan, Kansas between being fired from Cincinnati and coaching in Morgantown.

Looking at basketball in particular, both schools have rebuilding to do, so who knows when that rivalry will be "fun." UC boosters interfered too much, got the last coach fired, and got who they wanted, an over-hyped directional school coach that is now in over his head at Cincinnati. And ... well ... I guess Bob Huggins hasn't officially resigned from WVU yet, so maybe there's not as much rebuilding to do.