The Virginia Tech Hokies and West Virginia Mountaineers will renew acquaintances soon, according to the a release from the schools. The neighboring rivals will play a home and home series in 2021 and 2022, with the first game being played in Morgantown and the finale played in Blacksburg the next year. Although the Hokies and 'Eers won't be playing every year, the Black Diamond Trophy will be on the line.
Virginia Tech, West Virginia to renew rivalry with home and home series
The two Appalachian rivals will get together once again for a home and home fight for the Black Diamond Trophy.
US PRESSWIRE
The former Big East foes have played 51 times in their history, including every year between 1973 and 2005. However, conference realignment has made the two rivals drift apart. West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, who played in this rivalry himself as quarterback of the Mountaineers in the late 1970s, said that losing regional rivalries like this game is one of the major negatives of realignment:
"It's happening to everybody," said Luck. "Texas is not playing Texas A&M, and for somebody that lives in Texas, that's blasfamy. Kansas doesn't play Missouri anymore. But eventually some of those games will start coming back on the schedule."
Luck also mentioned discussions with Pittsburgh to renew the Backyard Brawl, which ended in 2011 when the Mountaineers left the Big East for the Big 12.
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