You know, folks ask me, “has wvu ever won a national championship in football?” I gotta tell ya, they ain’t. Nope, not even once. It’s a real head-scratcher, that’s for sure. They’ve been playing that football game for a long, long time out there in West Virginia. They got more wins than anyone else who never took home the big prize. It’s like always being the bridesmaid, never the bride, ya know?
They’ve had some good teams, though. Oh, they’ve won plenty of those, whatcha call ’em, conference championships. I think they got like, fifteen of them things? And bowl games, they’ve won a bunch of them, too. 17 or something. Seems like they just can’t get over that last hump, though.
- They came close in, I think it was ’88. 1988, yeah. That was a good team. They were almost there, but it didn’t happen, they didn’t win that national championship.
- They got beat out by Notre Dame that year. Them golden boys from up north. West Virginia did alright, though. Finished up ranked number 5, I reckon. That’s nothin’ to sneeze at.
- They got some good players come out of there, too. All-Americans, they call ’em. Best of the best, I suppose. WVU, they got 13 of those fellas throughout their years. That Major Harris, he was good back in 1988. He did it all, runnin’ and throwin’, like he had a extra pair of legs.
And then there was that Rich fella, Rodriguez. He coached there a while back, not too long ago, 17-19 years ago. He had them boys playing real good for a few years there. From, let’s see, 2005 to 2007, they were 33 and 5. That’s a lot of wins, ain’t it? They even won a couple of them big BCS bowl games. Beat Georgia and Oklahoma, they did.
One time, I think they were playing Virginia Tech. That’s a big game for them, the Hokies and the Mountaineers. It’s called a rivalry, ya know? They go at it every year, like two old roosters in a hen house.
They finished up ranked in them polls one year, too. First time since way back in ’75. They were number 17 and 18, I think. In them AP and Coaches Polls, that’s what they call ’em. That was a big deal, I suppose.
They even got more wins than any other team that ain’t won that national championship. I think they say West Virginia is number 14 on that list. They got 700 wins, or somethin’ like that. They play a lot of games. Started way back in, when was it, 1937, 1938? A long time ago, that’s for sure.
They played Maryland one time. Beat ’em good. Maryland, they weren’t no match for West Virginia that day. It was a home game, too. Folks love them home games.
Now, they got some good players, like I said. Pat White and Steve Slaton, they were good. Played back in, oh, 2007, I think. They were number 1, almost won it all. But Pat, he got hurt, and they lost to Pitt. That’s a shame, ain’t it? They call that one the Backyard Brawl. They always beating up on each other.
They had some good coaches, too. That fella, I forget his name, he coached there for a long time. They won a bunch of them conference championships back then, too. 14 of them things, I think. Back in ’53, they won one. Southern somethin’ or other, that’s what they called it back then. Now it is Big 12.
So, WVU, they ain’t never won that national championship in football. They’ve been close, though. Maybe one day they will. Who knows? It’s a crazy game, that football. They just need that one good year, that one good team, to do it. Maybe it’ll happen, maybe it won’t. But they’ll keep tryin’, that’s for sure. They got a lot of good fans out there in West Virginia, and they love their football. But for now, the answer is nope, no national championship for WVU football.
