Will WVU Football Swap Alabama for Pitt? Wren Baker Stays Firm in Convictions

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – On the heels of a major change to how another conference views its schedule, WVU director of athletics Wren Baker discussed how that could impact West Virginia in the Big 12.

“We’ll know more in the next few days but that announcement did not surprise me,” said Baker before further elaborating on what type of schedule model will benefit WVU and what he would like to see happen in an ideal world, two things that don’t seem to align.

With the SEC moving to playing nine conference games starting in 2026, Baker knows fans’ minds immediately jumped to the upcoming series with Alabama. While Baker would not confirm WVU’s desire to get out of the games against Alabama, he did reveal he’s had talks with Pitt about fitting the Backyard Brawl into a schedule before the rivalry gets renewed in 2029.

WVU AD Wren Baker says he has reached out to Pitt about playing the Backyard Brawl more. He says he even talked to them before Pat Narduzzi made his recent comments about wanting to play the rivalry again before 2029. However, Baker wants to preserve the number of home games WVU…

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Of course, Baker’s overall mindset on the best schedule for West Virginia would require removing the Alabama matchups to make the Brawl happen. Baker reiterated his stance, one he’s consistently expressed, about WVU’s nonconference schedule. Baker believes the Mountaineers should play just one Power Four opponent outside of the Big 12 each year.

In recent seasons, West Virginia has faced 11 Power Four opponents, one more than most similar schools across the country usually have on their schedule. Baker brought up his schedule strategy is based off data and how the College Football Playoff committee has acted to this point.

Baker also addressed the complications with scheduling Pitt, even if the Alabama games are removed from the schedule. In 2026, West Virginia is currently scheduled to open the season hosting the Crimson Tide, which means either Baker would have to be willing to lose a home game or Pitt would have to agree to travel to Morgantown in back-to-back years. Baker acknowledged the loss of a home game could impact WVU both on and off the field, most notably in a loss of revenue.

Baker would not confirm or deny if he would be interested in working out any agreement with Pitt to share in any revenue generated for a Brawl matchup at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. However, he did bring up the importance in keeping as many games inside West Virginia as possible due to the benefit for the local economy and assistance in tourism.

With three of the four Power Four conferences now aligned, Baker expects the ACC to be pressured into following suit and also moving to nine conferences games as well.

In Baker’s ideal college football world, there would be room to play as many regional rivals as possible. He even mentioned that he understands Virginia Tech is arguably as big of a rivalry as Pitt to people in Southern West Virginia. But unfortunately, Baker knows we do not live in an ideal world and he will not compromise what he feels is best for the Mountaineers to stack a schedule or try to appease everyone.

Find more coverage of Wren Baker at WV Sports Now.