You have almost made it. The college football season is upon us. In a matter of days, the Mountaineer football team will return to the practice field. It won't be long now until we're discussing actual on-field performance rather than the speculation we engage in all off-season. We are not quite there, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of news to discuss surrounding the WVU football team and the Big 12 Conference.

 

Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the past week, or lowlights in a few cases:

 

WVU Announces Non-conference Foootball Opponents

 

I think West Virginia has done a fantastic job with the most recently announced games. The two neutral site games, versus Virginia Tech in Washington, DC and in Charlotte against Tennessee are home runs. Both locations are heavily concentrated with WVU alums and both are easily accessible from most parts of West Virginia.

 

What's one thing we know about Mountaineer fans? If a football game against a big-name opponent is within a reasonable driving distance, they will show up in droves. Most of the time this has proven to be true when it comes to bowl games. With the announcement of these early season games we will see if the theory still holds when it comes to the beginning of the season. My guess … it will.

 

We have talked many times on our Sportsline radio show about the need (and desire of fans) to play regional rivals. That is especially true since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 where the closest in-conference opponent is 900 miles away. Assuming all of the games stay in the schedule (a big assumption I realize, given we've seen games like this that are scheduled many years in the future canceled … think Florida State and Michigan State), I'm a fan of all of them.

 

Maryland should be on the schedule. Virginia Tech should be on the schedule. Penn State should be on the schedule. Tennessee is a great addition from a fan perspective. They are a traditional power, from a great conference and in fairly close proximity to our state. The North Carolina State series was also a nice addition. The Wolfpack don't bring the same sizzle name-wise that Tech and Tennessee do, but it is still a school that has been successful, from a Power Five conference and the geography works.

 

I give the WVU Athletic Department an A on the recent schedule announcements. Get Pitt on the schedule next and that grade goes to an A+.

 

Legal Troubles Across the Big 12

 

Unfortunately, this was a topic that was much too prevalent this week in the world of sports, especially throughout the Big 12 Conference. Troubled TCU Defensive End, Devonte Fields found himself in the center of another controversy this week as word came out that he had been separated from the university pending an investigation. He subsequently turned himself into authorities. He is accused of punching his ex-girlfriend in the face and pointing a gun at her. This news comes one week after Fields was voted Preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

 

New Texas coach Charlie Strong didn't have to wait long to get his first true test of his highly publicized core values system. Longhorn receivers Kendall Sanders and Montrel Meander were arrested earlier this week in the wake of sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged incident last month. Both have been suspended from the team.

 

Just a few days earlier at Big 12 media days, Strong had said "If you don't want to be a part of this football team, break a core value. Then you're telling me you don't want to be here, starter or no starter." One of the core values: treat women with respect.

 

Again, just like the incident with Fields, this one involving the Longhorns is alleged at this point. However, after reading the police report, if the allegations are true you won't be seeing Sanders and Meander anywhere near the Austin campus this fall.

 

Strong is known as a disciplinarian, going as far as requiring his players to keep their dorm rooms clean on a daily basis. Let's see how he handles this much more serious allegation involving two players who were expected to play a big role for the Longhorn offense this year.

 

This violence against women and sexual assault on college campuses has to stop. We are seeing far too many reports of these incidents on campuses across the country. According to the USA Today, 66 schools are under investigation from the federal government for their handling of sexual assault cases on their campus. One of the most high-profile…Florida State for its handling of a case last year involving Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston.

 

Big 12 Media Days

 

Conference media days have slowly evolved into little more than television content. The production is great, the big-time feel of the event is there, but is there really any substance to the event? What I mean by that is, rarely do we get any news from these events any more. It's fun to watch and talk about, but do we ever get anything significant from the coaches or players? Answer: Rarely.

 

However, what we have come to expect at this event is news coming from the conference commissioner, Bob Bowlsby. He kicked off media days earlier this week by decimating the current state of college athletics. He went after the NCAA enforcement process and staff by saying "cheating pays" in college sports. He went on, "enforcement is broken. The infractions committee hasn't had a hearing in almost a year, and I think it's not an understatement to say cheating pays presently."

 

He wasn't done. Bowlsby expressed serious concerns about the future of the NCAA by saying, "If you like intercollegiate athletics the way it is, you're going to hate it going forward. There's a lot of change coming.” He concluded by saying he expected to spend the rest of his career in the courtroom and that wasn't necessarily what he signed up for when becoming an athletics administrator.

 

First of all, I'm not sure he was wrong with anything he said. And truth be told, he was expressing publicly what many college administrators have said privately for a while now. The surprising part wasn't the content of his speech, it was simply that he said it in such a public forum. Bowlsby is a smart guy. He's calculated with his comments. He doesn't speak just to get a reaction, create headlines or keep himself in the news. Because of that, Bowlsby taking such a public stance on the alleged cheating and the future of college sports was a bit of a shock. So much for no substance at media days, huh?

 

What do you think? Are you concerned about the future of college sports? Has all of this talk about money, television contracts and unions lessened your interest in college football or basketball? Leave a comment below or send me a tweet: @bradhowe07

 

Editor's Note: Top photo of Dana Holgorsen, second photo of students and fans, and third photo of Karl Joseph making a tackle all by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.