College Football Realignment: Reputation Leads SEC, ACC to Reject West Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers have seen increased success in both football and basketball over the past decade.

The football program has won at least eight games every year since 2002 and appeared in two BCS bowls.

Between 2005 and 2007, they finished inside the top 10 each year and have finished in the 25 every year since 2006 up until last year.

The basketball program is part of the most difficult conference in college basketball and since Bob Huggins took over in 2007, the Mountaineers have been regulars in the NCAA tournament.

In 2009-2010, Huggins led them to the Final Four, and they have fared well in the Big East on a consistent basis.

But success in sport is not all that matters in the world of realignment, and West Virginia is in danger of not finding a home should the worst happen.

As talk continues to heat up about "super conferences" West Virginia has seen two other bids to join those conferences turned down.

According to Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports, the university has seen the ACC and SEC reject their bids for inclusion in possible realignment.

This is hardly a shocking development from the ACC. The conference has turned down the Mountaineers a few times in the past and maintained a firm line of not accepting them into their academically elite conference. Not every conference considers academics very highly for inclusion, but the ACC is one that does.

West Virginia has never been known for their academics. More than anything, the school is known for its active student life. According to College Football Talk, they are not a member of Association of American Universities as it is.

As for the SEC, they don't gain much from including West Virginia at all. There is minimal recruiting, no major market and they don't have a dire need to anybody else should the conferences decide to expand.

There is a chance the Big East survives this realignment anyway. Should the Big 12 choose to dissolve, the Big East would be the ideal conference to scoop up a number of teams.

West Virginia is more than welcome to stay put, but it is obvious they are concerned about what can happen should super conferences form.

If things grow out of control and the SEC needs more teams, West Virginia will certainly be in the running.

That will take time though, and the Mountaineers are going to have to be patient before they know what awaits them next.