West Virginia Poll: Fans would enjoy resumption of WVU and Marshall rivalries — with conditions
August 30, 2024
As football season kicks off again, state residents would embrace the return of more contests between West Virginia and Marshall universities — although terms and conditions would have to apply.
The latest MetroNews West Virginia Poll showed that 85% of respondents favor football games between the two programs — under the conditions of most games being at WVU’s home in Morgantown with an occasional game in Marshall’s Huntington stadium.
West Virginia has won all 12 of the football games against Marshall from 1911 to 2012, the last time the teams played. Only three of the games have been in Huntington, including one in 1915.
“I want to put this question in context because we’ve asked this question over the years: Should WVU and Marshall play in sports? It’s an easy yes, but we wanted to put some context around it,” said pollster Rex Repass, president of Research America and a former Marshall football player.
“Essentially we were saying, as you know, sports fans, WVU each year plays a lower level mid-major like Kent State or someone out of conference like Maryland. And then as far as Marshall is concerned, the context was Marshall will play a (lower conference) school like Eastern Kentucky or they’ll also play a major school like North Carolina State. So, how would you favor or oppose WVU and Marshall playing periodically with most games in Morgantown and an occasional game in Huntington. So this is what we saw.”
The poll showed similar results with basketball: 86% support the Mountaineers and Thundering Herd playing early in the season, rotating the game between Morgantown and Huntington.
For many years, the game was on a neutral court in Charleston, but it has been discontinued since 2015 — with a 2018 matchup occurring in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. WVU leads the series, 34-11.
Repass said the basketball version of the question had context as well.
“We said, ‘How would you feel about WVU and Marshall playing basketball early in the season and alternating the sites between Morgantown and Huntington?’ And we saw 86% said ‘yes we favor that idea.’ So we think the context around that is appropriate. Just to ask the question without any context is hard to think about how that would work.”
Repass made his presentation at the annual business summit at The Greenbrier Hotel hosted by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
As he looked out into the crowd watching his presentation, Repass remarked, “So presidents, athletic directors, legislators if need be, let’s get these teams playing again.”
Marshall University President Brad Smith, who was in the audience, audibly responded “We’re all in.”
The MetroNews West Virginia Poll, which mostly focuses on politics and the economy, included 400 completed interviews among registered voters likely to vote in the coming general election. The polling took place August 21-27. All 55 counties are included in the sample. The confidence level is +/- 4.9 percentage points.
The West Virginia Poll, which is presented by The Health Plan, asked more questions about sports. The poll indicated that more than half of respondents — 55% — consider themselves to be sports fans.
Most, 54% identify themselves as WVU fans. Eleven percent say they are Marshall fans. Twenty-seven percent say they are fans of both. And 8% say they are fans of neither.
In professional football, the Pittsburgh Steelers get the most support among West Virginians at 36 percent. Next were the Dallas Cowboys at 12%, the Kansas City Chiefs at 10%, the Cincinnati Bengals at 7%, the Baltimore Ravens at 6% and the Cleveland Browns at 4%.
In baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates receive the most West Virginia support with 25% followed by the Cincinnati Reds at 17 percent. Then came the Atlanta Braves at 10%, the New York Yankees at 9% and the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles, each at 5 percent.
Most West Virginians surveyed were not avid watchers of the recently-completed Summer Olympics. Thirty-eight percent said they did not watch the Olympics at all, 26% said they watched some and 25% said they watched very little, mainly highlights.
Story by Brad McElhinny, MetroNews