We talked for nearly an hour. Truth be told, it would have been easy to go another hour.

 

When it comes to talking about WVU, many times an hour feels like we're just getting warmed up. It certainly felt that way on Monday as West Virginia University athletic director Shane Lyons joined us on the Northside Automotive Statewide Sportsline.

 

It was the first time Lyons had appeared on the show and as you can imagine we had many more questions than there was time. We covered a wide range of topics ranging from facility plans, the future of college sports and football scheduling.

 

It was future football scheduling that seemed to catch the attention of most people, including some national media outlets. Lyons addressed the philosophy of trying to make a football schedule work in today's climate. In his opinion, a good football schedule needs to have some non-conference challenges built in to go along with a very strong conference schedule each year.

 

His hope moving forward is to include two other power five schools in the non-conference portion of the schedule. He likes neutral site games and understands the importance of fans being able to drive to those types of games. In recent years we've seen WVU play in Washington, DC and Atlanta and they will play Tennessee in Charlotte in 2018.

 

We talked about the importance of a good schedule in the event West Virginia finds itself in contention for a Final Four spot in the years to come. Baylor found itself in that exact position this past season. There is no question Baylor didn't help itself with its schedule. No power five schools were included on the Bears schedule and won't be in the coming years unless they make some changes. There are many that believe that soft schedule hurt them significantly in the eyes of the selection committee this past season and will again in the coming years if the Bears are in the national title hunt.

 

Lyons smiled and chose the more prudent, politically correct route when asked about Baylor's schedule – totally understandable for a new athletic director. I told him not to worry, that I would say it for him. Baylor's non-conference schedule is a joke. Make an effort. Show some sort of attempt to schedule even an average team from a power five conference; again, my words, not his.

 

Heck, TCU's only power five non-conference game last year was against Minnesota. No one is going to mistake Minnesota for a national title contender, but it was enough of a name brand to keep the critics at bay. TCU at least made an effort to schedule someone. Baylor has not.

 

Things really got interesting when I asked if he was going to pick up the phone and call Pitt and see about resurrecting the Backyard Brawl. “That’s on my radar,” Lyons said, “Obviously at this point I’m kind of waiting to see who their athletic director is. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I have a relationship with that individual to be able to work something out.”

 

That's a long way from the game being played, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Now that Oliver Luck and former Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson have moved on, maybe egos can be set aside and the historic rivalry can be renewed.

 

It should be. Oh sure, people can give you reasons why the game shouldn't be played. And you heard some of that talk from both of the previous administrations. Bottom line on the reluctance to get a deal done previously … it's ridiculous. Play the game. It makes sense for both sides in many ways.

 

Lyons was quick to point out that even if both parties wanted to resume the series, it most likely wouldn't happen for a while. “It’s not going to be two years from now,” Lyons said. “We’re probably looking at 2022 and ’23 to do a home-and-away, but I would love that.”

 

The reason for that, as most of you probably know, is that football schedules are done so far in advance. Many of the slots for non-conference games against power five opponents are locked up until 2022 or '23, barring a change in already agreed to games.

 

Nevertheless, Lyons admission that the game was on his radar was a step in the right direction. Keep an eye out for PItt naming a new athletic director. Once that happens, a long overdue phone call will be placed from Morgantown.

 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Shane Lyons being introduced  to a WVU basketball crowd as his wife and school President E. Gordon Gee look on, while the Coliseum is one of the facilities Lyons will be responsible for maintaining and improving. Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com. Bottom photo, courtesy of WVU Sports Communications, shows the old rivalry between Pitt and WVU that Lyons would like to see renewed.