-Now there are rumors circulating that WVU is going to the Big 12. I won’t bother publishing links; if you didn’t already know about them, you can easily find them on various websites throughout the blogosphere and mediasphere. Fueling this round of hyperventilation is the fact that this rumor has been published by the Boston Globe. I won’t link to that article either, mostly because my concerns are elsewhere. Where? With the fans who are gleefully celebrating our allegedly imminent exit from the Big East.

On the one hand, should WVU move to the Big 12, we should all be relieved that we’ve landed in a conference considered one of the giants in American college football.

But on the other? We’ve absconded from the Big East in precisely the same duplicitous, underhanded way that the University of Miami, Boston College, Virginia Tech, the University of Pittsburgh, and tonight’s opponent, the Syracuse University did. The same people who wailed about those defections are going to dance in the streets at our own. All of the treachery that those five schools have been repeatedly criticized for will immediately be forgotten, and the moral high ground that WVU once stood on will crumble beneath its feet. The hypocrisy on display is rank at best and galling at worst.

I recognize the desire not to see our impressively successful teams left behind during the seemingly neverending conference shakeups. I recognize the desire to see our team continue to play real, genuine games and real genuine competition. I recognize the fact that WVU ought to consider itself damned lucky if it does get promoted, given how little we put on the table in terms of population, attendance, and television markets? But like this? By doing precisely the same thing that we’ve criticized others for doing? And being gleeful about it?

From Morgantown to Matewan and all points in between, it might be a relieving day when and if we get promoted to a bigger, allegedly more stable conference, but I’ll be goddamned if its going to be a great day.

-WVU plays the Syracuse University Fighting Orange tonight. Last year, they beat us. This year, we’re playing them in a dome, on turf, in climate controlled conditions. Against BGSU, WVU hung 55 points on the board, and that was in cold rainy miserable outdoor weather. Think about the possibilities this evening. My prediction? Geno throws for 400+, 5tds, and the Mountaineers win by 30+.