College GameDay Coming to WVU-Scenarios

With the news of College GameDay coming to Morgantown, WV for next Saturday’s matchup between #16 West Virginia and #2 LSU, I thought I would take a moment to examine the best and worse possible scenarios for how events play out next Saturday.  After all, this will be GameDay’s first ever visit to Morgantown and, let’s face it, with a paltry schedule of nobodies on the remainder of the WVU schedule, this was easily circled as the game of the year, probably back in 2010 sometime.

Also, with the news of Pitt and Syracuse taking the first available flight out of the Big East (destination: ACC), the future of the Big East and West Virginia athletics is, once again, in question.  Some rumors have West Virginia and Rutgers joining Pitt and Syracuse in the ACC.  Others have WVU joining Texas A&M in the SEC.  Still others have Connecticut and Rutgers in the ACC, Missouri and Texas A&M in the SEC, and West Virginia as the leverage to force Missouri’s hand.  So, I present, below, my dream and doomsday scenarios for the unfolding of events next Saturday, September 24, keeping in mind that the conference shuffling may not play out in full for weeks, or maybe even months.

 

DREAM SCENARIO:

* GameDay goes off without a hitch. Lee Corso pulls out a coon-skin cap and the Mountaineer lets him fire the rifle.  The crowd roars in approval.
* 20,000+ fans gather to show support for WVU, setting a new record (besting the record set last year by Missouri for their game with Oklahoma – link).
* West Virginia puts in temporary bleachers behind the south endzone.  A new record attendance is announced.
* West Virginia jumps out to an early lead and never looks back.  Wins by 3 TDs.  Geno passes for nearly 400 yards.  Announcers are astounded at the efficiency of the brand new Holgorsen offense against the toughest defense in the SEC.
* GameDay Finale includes talk of Geno as a Heisman contender, and WVU as a serious national championship contender.
* LSU fans that attend the game are treated respectfully and, aside from the outcome of the game, enjoy their time in Morgantown.
* After the game, a press conference is held to announce WVU as the 14th member of the SEC, securing the future of West Virginia athletics for decades to come.

DOOMSDAY SCENARIO:

* GameDay goes okay, but a number of fans sneak in the West F’ing Virginia shirts. 
* Lee Corso picks LSU and crowd erupts in chants of “F*** Lee Corso.”
* West Virginia falls behind early and can’t seem to solve LSU’s defense.  We finish with negative yards rushing and Geno’s intercepted 3 times, one returned for a touchdown.
* The crowd is out of the game early, and LSU goes on to win easily.
* LSU fans that attend the game are eaten alive by drunk WVU “fans.”  The student section, sick of poor officiating, starts throwing stuff onto the field, prompting multiple personal fouls to be called on the fans.  There is a new Morgantown record in arrests made at a night game.
* During the game, a press conference is held announcing Missouri will be joining Texas A&M in the SEC.
* The ACC picks up Rutgers and UConn to reach 16 teams.
* The Big-12 is able to weather the storm, and picks up Louisville and TCU.
* West Virginia is left in the cold with Cincinnati and South Florida as the only remaining teams in the Big East, who panics and invites everyone from Conference USA.
* The four power conferences continue to take shape, and WVU remains on the outside looking in.  The Big East loses the automatic BCS bid when it comes up for evaluation again.
* With no good TV markets and no automatic qualifier status, revenue drops by over 50 percent.  The Big East is able to negotiate a bid to the Myspace.com bowl in Boise, Idaho, against the Sun Belt champion.

 

I could go on, but I’m only depressing myself.  Besides, I have plenty of conference expansion rumors to to catch up on.