With August in full swing, and schools across the state about to start (WVU’s first day of class is the 18 th ), you might think that sports news might be on the field of play. Instead, the biggest recent news is in Congress and courtrooms.
First, the Congressional part. There is a bill in the Senate called the Protect College Sports Act. It has bipartisan sponsorship, and its stated purpose is to try to restore some sanity
to college sports. There are multiple parts of the bill, including a partial antitrust exemption for the NCAA, which will allow it to enforce eligibility and transfer rules. It also addresses NIL rights, a salary cap, coach movement, conference size, among other topics. The Big 10 and SEC had been opposing the Act, but after some negotiations, they gave their stamp of approval. So there is a bill that should move forward, although when the full Senate will vote on it remains unclear. After that, it would go to the House of Representatives, and there is potential for changes to be made that would derail the whole agreement. That being said, this is the closest we’ve gotten to this kind of law for the NCAA.
The day after the Big Ten and SEC decided they were OK with that law, a federal judge in Colorado gave a ruling that essentially granted a fifth year to athletes who had entered college in 2022, and used up four years of eligibility. As you might expect, the NCAA has already appealed this ruling, so the final outcome isn’t yet known. It is not as sweeping as some rulings – it is limited to some fifth year seniors, and the judge clarified that roster limits weren’t impacted, and that if a senior was not already in the portal, they could not enter the portal (though those might get challenged by athletes).
For football, there will be limited impact, because fall camps are already starting, and coaches might be reluctant to take on a new player (remember, many of the players they might have been interested in are now in NFL camps). In basketball, there is the potential for some chaos, as several players may now be on the market. I did see a tweet from a sports journalist who pointed out that some coaches were a bit leery, because if the decision were to be reversed, they would risk forfeiting games. In WVU’s case, it could mean the return of Brenen Lorient, who would theoretically have an extra year of eligibility. It also means that Javan Buchanan shouldn’t have eligibility issues (the Boise State transfer had applied for a waiver, which the NCAA denied). Both Lorient and Buchanan have filed for an injunction that would allow them to play this coming season.
In news that is more “on the field” related, USA Today released its preseason football poll. Now, keep in mind that there are teams that are in the preseason poll that will finish out of it, and vice versa. Last year, Penn State, Clemson, and LSU were all in the preseason Top 10, and none of them even received a vote in the final poll. And eventual champion Indiana was ranked 19 th in that preseason poll. This year, there are four Big 12 teams in the preseason Top 25: Texas Tech (12), BYU (15), Utah (21), and Houston. Three of those teams are also part of WVU’s last four games (BYU is not on WVU’s schedule this fall). If you look at the also receiving votes, you can find TCU (28), Arizona (31), Oklahoma State (37), Arizona State (44), and Kansas State (t52). Non-conference foe Virginia checks in at #32. WVU faces all of those teams except Arizona State and Kansas State, so from the preseason poll, the Mountaineers will have a pretty challenging slate.
College teams are getting to wear sponsored patches on their uniforms starting this season. WVU announced its patch sponsor: Antero Resources. The agreement is for Antero to have a patch on all WVU uniforms for the next five years.
In other preseason polls, the women’s soccer team was picked third in the Big 12, and #20 in the nation, while the men’s team checks in at #23 nationally in their preseason poll.
