The Big 12 Conference’s 5 best rivalries that could emerge in 2023
By John Scimeca
3. Cincinnati – West Virginia
In their first year in the Big 12 Conference, the Bearcats will travel to Morgantown in Week 12 (the penultimate week of the regular season) to face West Virginia. The Mountaineers themselves are relative newcomers to the Big 12, having joined the league a decade ago from now-defunct Big East football.
The addition of Cincinnati is a welcome one for West Virginia, which hasn’t had a suitable geographic rival to pair up with since joining the Big 12. These two schools have faced each other 20 times partly due to a short stretch of time as co-members of the Big East. West Virginia owns a 16-3-1 series advantage, with the programs’ first meeting occurring in 1921 — more than a century ago.
These appear to be evenly matched programs, as six of the teams’ nine meetings between 2002 – 2011 were decided by less than a touchdown margin. While Cincinnati hopes to recapture the magic of its 2021 CFP run two years ago under current Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, West Virginia will aim to realize its talent potential in ways that it hasn’t since Dana Holgorsen roamed the sidelines.
It probably won’t be as bitter as the famed “Backyard Brawl” between West Virginia and Pittsburgh, but this matchup promises to bring some sparks to the Big 12.