There were many reasons the West Virginia Mountaineers football program bolted to the Big 12 Conference as soon as it could. One of the biggest was recruiting, and after Saturday's impressive 48-45 victory on the road against the No. 15-ranked Texas Longhorns the Mountaineers may see a boost in interest from recruits, especially from those in the state of Texas, believes SB Nation's Bud Elliott:
The Mountaineers were already experiencing some bump in Texas recruiting (five commitments in 2012) simply by joining the Big XII and hiring a coach with Texas ties in Dana Holgorsen. But to go to Austin and beat the Longhorns while running an offense that many high schools in the state employ is huge. Texas recruits are going to give West Virginia a much longer look than they would have previously.
Already, the No. 5-ranked Mountaineers (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) have eight players on their roster from the state of Texas – six freshmen and two sophomores. Next week, West Virginia has a chance to go 2-0 in the state when they visit the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a national televised contest on ABC or ESPN.
By the end of the season, West Virginia could go 4-0 against Texas-based programs, having already beat the Baylor Bears, 70-63, Sept. 29, and still yet to host the TCU Horned Frogs on Nov. 3.