The West Virginia Mountaineers, West Virginia University's (WVU's) football team is one of the most successful in the history of the game yet has never won a national championship. How did this happen? As of 2008, the Mountaineers have won thirteen conference championships and are considered the "winningest" team in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team has a pretty impressive record of 663-442-45, yet is not that quite successful, having never won a national championship. Ironically, the Mountaineers are the "winningest" team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), ahead of Miami University and Virginia Tech.
The Mountaineers is West Virginia University's college football program. They are a member of the NCAA FBS division and are currently headed by head coach Bill Stewart as of 2008. Stewart is the Mountaineer's 32d head coach. West Virginia University used to the classified as a College Division beginning in the 1937-1938 season. By the 1939 season up t0 1972, West Virginia was classified under the University Division. In the 1973-1977 season, WVU was under Division I. From 1978 until the present, they have been under Division I-A. The mountaineers have played mainly as an independent college football team from the time of its inception in 1891 until 1990, playing only a short while in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1925 to 1927 and then later on in the Southern Conference from 1950 to 1967. From 1892 to 1918, WVU did not belong to any conference. Since 1991, after being reclassified as a Division I Independent from 1973 to 1977 and a Division I-A Independent from 1978 to 1990, the team currently competes in the Big East Conference.
In the 1988 season, the Mountaineers were undefeated in the regular season, paving their way to the National Championships in the Fiesta Bowl against the University of Notre Dame. In 1993, they once again got into the bowl game, facing the University of Florida in the 1993 Sugar Bowl. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers lost both championships, losing to Notre Dame 34-21 and to Florida 41-7. Both the 1988 and 1993 undefeated seasons were led by head coach Don Nehlen. To date, the worst season for the Mountaineers was in 1960 when they had a winless record against ten teams.
From its inception, the Mountaineers have won thirteen conference championships, eight wins in the Southern Conference and five wins in the Big East Conference. In the 2007 season, they got a No. 1 Poll ranking following week 13, from the coaches poll. They have participates in a total of 27 bowl games and has a standing record of 12-15. They have competed in the Sugar bowl three times, in the Peach Bowl four times, in the Fiesta Bowl two times, and the Gator Bowl six times. In BCS bowl games, they are 2-0 winning under quarter Patrick White and running back Steve Slaton.
2005 and 2006 were great seasons for the Mountaineers. They achieved the first-ever eleven consecutive wins in the school's history. The 2007 season was also not half bad, ranking in No. 3 at the start of the season, which was the highest preseason raking in WVU history. They would be eventually ranked No. 1 in the Coaches poll following the 13th week and finished the season with eleven consecutive wins after winning the Fiesta Bowl.
Rick Grantham is an avid sports fan. Most of Rick's articles focus on sports memorbilia. Many articles are related to baseball team memorabilia and other sports related topics. Rick is a contributing author to BooYah Village.
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