It can be argued that no team in what was once an Eastern alliance of football independents has failed to find a proper placeholder as thoroughly as West Virginia has. For decades both before and after Bobby Bowden would first become famous during his stint at Morgantown, the Mountaineers were part of a regional country club which featured many annual battles with bitter and mostly nearby rivals including Pitt, Penn State, Syracuse, Boston College, Army, Navy, and in later years Rutgers and Temple. Th at loose confederation, however, could never properly organize itself into a league that would include the Nittany Lions, as Penn State was always desirous of a spot in the Big Ten and the greater national spotlight it would provide the program. Penn State eventually got its wish, eschewing an eventual Big East football league that brought many of those old independents together.'
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