Rich Rod Pounds the Table to Bring Back Regional Conferences

West Virginia in the Big 12 has never been an ideal fit in the geographical sense.

Even with the recent additions of Cincinnati and UCF, the Mountaineers would be better suited to be in one of the other three Power Four leagues, making road trips more feasible for fans and less expensive for the athletic department.

It seems like conference realignment has simmered down for now, but it's only a matter of time before things get shuffled up once again.

Hopefully, next time around, there is more common sense that goes into the decisions as opposed to having Cal and Stanford in the ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE, for crying out loud.

Or Oregon and Rutgers being in the same league.

And with all due respect to the West Coast members of the Big 12, it would be nice not to have a football game start at 10:30 p.m. Eastern.

Realignment has killed regional rivalries, including the Backyard Brawl.

Rodriguez was asked at Big 12 Media Day about what needs to happen to get that series going again instead of entering another multi-year hiatus. He did mention that they tried to make it work and that the Panthers will be back on the schedule in 2029, but he took the opportunity to pound the table for the next realignment shift, which I'm sure Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark just loved.

Jul 8, 2026; Frisco, TX, USA; West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez speaks to reporters during Big 12 Conference Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I’m not afraid to share my own opinions. I love the Big 12, but it’d be nice to have some regional…have us all come together…can’t we all come together and shake hands and give each other a group hug and then have a Eastern regional, a South regional, and a North regional? And then everybody share the money, there’s money for everybody, and we can all get along, like 60 of us or so. I think that would be great. Did anybody else say that? Probably not. They might be afraid. Hell, I don’t care. I think that would be good.

"I’m going to put my pitch right now," he continued. "I’m not speaking for anybody other than Coach Rod, that he would love for all the Power Four teams to come together, shake hands, and let’s get the biggest TV package in the history of TV packages. And then we could have Pitt and Virginia Tech and Penn State and Maryland, Cincinnati, and maybe Virginia or North Carolina. All right there and our fans can drive to it. You know, we have a rivalry every year and everybody make money. Wouldn’t that be fun? Can we put that together? I got all the ADs out there shaking their heads like I’m nuts. But I got a lot more time behind me than ahead of me. I just want to get this thing right before I leave.”

While Yormark probably wishes he hadn't gone off on a tangent, he has every right to.

Someone has to speak up about it, and although it's unlikely to lead to anything changing, calling out how ridiculous this whole current setup is is something everyone can get behind.

Once we get close to the TV deals expiring for each conference, which is still several years away, perhaps there will be a plan in place (don't hold your breath) for the NCAA to move to more of an NFL model, where all of college football TV revenue falls under one umbrella instead of every conference left fighting for its own deal.

If this were to ever happen, then going back to regional conferences would feel more realistic.

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