So let me get this straight. Marshall edges WVU by a run in a midweek baseball game, and suddenly it’s all about “the rivalry”. But let’s be honest – just because one side says it doesn’t make it so. Real rivalries are built on history, balance, and mutual stakes, or are they? Then again, Marshall did just beat the Mountaineers in what has been a historic run this season. I suppose they deserve a nod from the bigger school in the state. READ MORE: WVU vs. Marshall: A One-Sided Obsession
It Takes Two to Tango
From the outside looking in, this does feel like it should be a rivalry. Without a professional sports team in the state of West Virginia, there are very few options. And with WVU located up north in Morgantown there are tons of fans, especially down south, that naturally support Marshall. Unfortunately, Marshall simply doesn’t have the resources to compete in every sport, all the time. I wish WVU had two power houses in the state, but it doesn’t. WVU’s student body is roughly double Marshall’s, underscoring the differences in scale between the two institutions.
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Here’s the win/loss records for these sports:
Football
- Series Record: WVU leads 12–0
- First Meeting: October 28, 1911
- Last Meeting: September 1, 2012 (WVU won 69–34)
- Streak: WVU has won all 12 meetings
Men’s Basketball
- Series Record: WVU leads 34–11
- First Meeting: January 16, 1929
- Last Meeting: March 18, 2018 (WVU won 94–71)
- Streak: WVU has won the last 6 meetings
Baseball
- Series Record: WVU leads 21–9
- First Meeting: March 1, 2008
- Last Meeting: April 15, 2025 (WVU won 5–4)
- Streak: WVU has won the last 2 meetings
Men’s Soccer
- Series Record: WVU leads 17–8–4
- First Meeting: October 26, 1983
- Last Meeting: November 17, 2024 (0–0 draw)
- Streak: Marshall is unbeaten in the last 3 meetings
This doesn’t look like a two-sided rivalry to me. But if you look at the Marshall fan pages on X (formerly Twitter) it happens all the time. And no – a three-game winning streak in men’s soccer doesn’t make up for an 0-12 record in football!
You Got Mossed!
So where did this narrative from the Thundering Herd fanbase come from? Let me take you back to my first year at WVU. Leading up to the 1997 football season, Marshall secured the most talented athlete to ever come out of West Virginia – Randy Moss. (Sorry, Jerry West fans.) Moss’s troubled past led to his departure from both Notre Dame and Florida State, opening the door for both WVU and Marshall to recruit the hometown prodigy. Ultimately, Moss chose Marshall, throwing major shade at the Mountaineer football program.
“I didn’t want to go to West Virginia because I wanted to play for a winner,” Moss famously said after committing to the Herd.
At the time, Marshall was a powerhouse in Division 1-AA (now FCS), while WVU was struggling to compete in Division 1-A (now FBS). This set the stage for their first meeting in 80 years to kick off the 1997 season. The game was a thrilling back-and-forth affair, with WVU initially leading 28-3, only to find themselves trailing at the start of the fourth quarter. In the end, the Mountaineers prevailed 42-31. Moss, however, was phenomenal, scoring two touchdowns in the loss.
That game was the catalyst for the “Friends of Coal Bowl” series, which ran from 2006 to 2016, with Marshall failing to win a single game in the rivalry.
Need a Boost
With WVU playing in the Big 12, a Power Five conference, it must build a schedule that helps their chances of making the playoffs and other bowl considerations. But let’s be honest: the Mountaineers open the season against Robert Morris this year. A game against Marshall could fit nicely in this spot without hurting WVU’s postseason aspirations. Marshall, after all, just hired former WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson as head coach and is coming off a Sun Belt Conference Championship. Gibson has already started stirring the pot of this so-called rivalry.
“I was on the other side of this rivalry at WVU. Nobody wanted to play Marshall for a lot of different reasons,” said Gibson trying to put pressure on WVU. “The biggest reason was you didn’t want to be the one that lost to Marshall”
But there are other factors at play here.
Show Me the Money
The two schools haven’t faced off on the football field since 2012 and there’s nothing on the schedule through at least the 2032 season. WVU might be open to hosting Marshall in Morgantown, but there’s little chance the Mountaineers would agree to a trip down to Huntington. A move that would be a major boost for the Herd, both financially and in recruiting.
So, for now, the so-called “rivalry” lives on only in men’s soccer, where both programs compete in the Sun Belt Conference. And that’s fine. Let the Mountain State Derby have its day each fall.
But when it comes to football, men’s basketball, and baseball? Let’s be clear: this isn’t a two-sided rivalry. It’s a one-sided obsession. Marshall has never beaten WVU in football, rarely competes in basketball, and just snapped a 10-game losing streak in baseball with a one-run midweek win. Until the Herd starts winning consistently, and on a stage that actually matters, that’s all this will ever be.
