Can West Virginia Maintain the Grind of a Big 12 Schedule?

2012 has the potential to be one of the most exciting seasons in the storied history of WVU football, but can the Mountaineers maintain the grind of a Big 12 schedule, one which will test them on a weekly basis?

WVU may have never seen a schedule as tough as it will see in 2012. Five Big 12 teams (No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Baylor, No. 13 TCU, No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 16 Kansas State) finished highly ranked last season.

And in Mark Schlabach's "Way too Early Top 25," the ESPN columnist includes five of WVU's Big 12 opponents in his 2012 preseason poll (No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 12 Kansas State, No. 15 TCU, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 21 Texas).

The last time WVU faced a schedule with this many ranked teams was in 2001 (No. 1 Miami, No. 13 Syracuse, No. 15 Maryland, No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 25 Boston College). That season, the Mountaineers finished 3-8.

The Mountaineers' 2012 schedule starts with three manageable non-conference games (Marshall, James Madison, Maryland) and a Robert Griffin-less Baylor team. There's no reason to believe they won't open 4-0 next year.

Then the schedule toughens: Five of their next six games, all Big 12 opponents, are against teams ranked in Schlabach's preseason poll.

Since 2004, when Miami and Virginia Tech left the Big East conference, the Mountaineers have been sailing through weak Big East and non-conference opponents. They were able to reach and win three BCS bowl games.

Starting in 2012, things are likely to become a lot more difficult for the Mountaineers.

Along with WVU's 2012 five ranked opponents, the Big 12 claims a sixth-ranked team—you guessed it, the Mountaineers.

They're going to be good; Schlabach ranks them No. 7.

But can they handle the grind of a Big 12 schedule, where they'll have to bring their A-game week in and week out?

The Mountaineers have to take everyone seriously in this league, or what happened to them last year against Syracuse will be a common occurrence.

The 2012 Mountaineers return loads of talent on both sides of the ball, including two Heisman hopefuls. but it may not be enough.

They're also going to need depth, and lots of it. They'll need depth in 2012 to entertain any thoughts of winning their first Big 12 title.

It's going to be an exciting year for the Mountaineers.