Recently, one of my favorite espn.com columnists has been railing against WVU for playing what he describes as a "cupcake schedule."

Because I respect the guy most of the time, I have resisted giving him a CHAW award. I did, however, take the time to try to enlighten him as to the circumstances surrounding WVU's 2006 schedule. Here then, is the email I sent him:

Before I start, I should say that I am a loyal reader from back to your first stint with Page 2 a few years back, so please don't think I'm one of these fans that pops out of the woodwork to criticize something you've written.

With that said, you have criticized West Virginia in recent weeks for their cupcake schedule, and I just don't think you really understand the situation in which WVU was placed which led to this season’s schedule. WVU is considered a national title contender because its last game against a national powerhouse resulted in a BCS bowl victory over SEC champion Georgia, but its schedule for the 2006 season was largely determined by factors out of its control. (For the record, I am the co-owner and head writer of a WVU sports blog called www.wemustignitethiscouch.com, so I will admit that I’m not terribly objective here… Ha!)

Schedules for major collegiate programs are typically made 5-6 years in advance. 5 years ago, WVU was in a Big East containing perennial powerhouses Miami and Virginia Tech, as well as solid Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Boston College teams. A trip through their conference schedule alone was a challenging test, as was playing Maryland yearly before that team began to struggle recently. At that time, WVU did schedule a couple of out-of-conference cupcake teams as a warm-up for in-conference play.

Then, as I’m sure you’re aware, came the ACC Conference Raid of 2003, in which Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College suddenly (and surprisingly) announced their intention to move into the ACC. Left scrambling to save a league now with only 5 football schools, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese invited Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida to the Big East Conference to replace the previous teams. Obviously, there’s a drop in talent there, but Tranghese was left with few alternatives.

(Or, in haiku:
Mountaineers schedule
victim of ACC raid,
but onward they go.)

Meanwhile, WVU was still contractually obligated to play the out-of-conference teams scheduled at that time. Eventually, Virginia Tech pulled out of their yearly game with West Virginia (as will Maryland after this year) for reasons still unknown to WVU, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin strong-armed WVU into a yearly matchup with Marshall (an inferior in-state “rival”), “cupcake” Buffalo backed out of their contract with WVU for this year, leaving WVU to scramble to find a 12th opponent (eventually scheduling Eastern Washington), Syracuse, Pitt, and Maryland had unexpectedly bad seasons, and WVU was left with only Louisville and Rutgers (yes, Rutgers- they are good now, I promise) as serious contenders on their schedule this year. (Although Pitt is threatening to crack the top 25 soon.)

WVU has, though, attempted to schedule tough out-of-conference opponents for the past few years. Beginning next season, WVU will start a series with Auburn, and in the years following will also include series with Florida State and Michigan State. Other teams in the conference (notably Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, South Florida, and Connecticut) are rapidly improving as well, also increasing WVU’s strength of schedule.

In short, WVU had a very small window to replace 3 annual, nationally respected opponents while at the same time wading through unusually crappy seasons from traditional powers like Syracuse and Pittsburgh in its own conference. It did so, but those changes don’t take hold until next season. Like I said earlier, it typically takes about 5 seasons for the new schedules to kick in.

Hopefully you now understand the predicament in which WVU was placed which led to their “cupcake” 2006 football schedule. I won’t argue that the schedule isn’t cupcake, but I will say that it was due to circumstances beyond WVU’s control, so you might want to cut them some slack.

Still enjoy your work,
Jude