West Virginia Mountaineers

The West Virginia Mountaineers play with a chip on their shoulder, representing the entire state as its only major college football program. Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown erupts to "Country Roads" after every win, a tradition as central to the program's identity as its blue-and-gold colors. West Virginia's move from the Big East to the Big 12 in 2012 raised the program's national profile while preserving its proud, blue-collar fan culture.

West Virginia fielded its first football team in 1891 and has never won a national championship, though the program came agonizingly close in the 1988 season, finishing 11-0 before falling to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl for the title. The Mountaineers also reached the 2007 season's brink of a title shot before a stunning late-season loss to Pittsburgh. West Virginia has produced standout quarterbacks like Major Harris and Pat White, and Rich Rodriguez's high-tempo spread offense in the 2000s helped modernize the sport.