The West Virginia Mountaineers have added a pair of Sun Belt Conference opponents to their future non-conference football schedules, the school announced Tuesday.
West Virginia will host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. The game will mark the second meeting between the two schools.
In their first meeting in 2010, West Virginia defeated Coastal Carolina, 31-0, in Morgantown. At that time, Coastal Carolina was a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
West Virginia has also added a home game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2027. The game will mark the first-ever gridiron meeting between the two programs.
Both the Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss games are replacements for contests against the Alabama Crimson Tide. West Virginia and Alabama have canceled their home-and-home football series in 2026 and 2027 today following the SEC’s decision to move to a nine-game conference football schedule next season.
The Mountaineers now have one power opponent, one Group of Six opponent, and one FCS opponent on its schedule next season.
“This scheduling philosophy has proven to be successful across college football. It aligns our football program with its competition in terms of potential postseason opportunities and advancement,” WVU Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said. “I am also aware of the importance of a seventh home game in 2027 for our fans and the huge economic impact it brings to our state, city and tourism division,” Baker added. “Visitors coming to West Virginia are not only critical for state tourism, but also to our local economy.”
UPDATE (Aug. 29, 2025)
Copies of contracts for both games were obtained from West Virginia University via a state Freedom of Information Act request. Coastal Carolina will receive a $1.2 million guarantee for the 2026 contest, while Southern Miss will receive a $1.1 million guarantee for the game in 2027.
FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
West Virginia Football Schedule
Doesn’t the Big 12 require one P4 OOC opponent? This leaves the Mountaineers short in ’27 by my math
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Not necessarily Jim.
You are correct. The road game with Alabama in 2027, will be replaced with Southern Miss. Nobody is going to take this team seriously. No Big time OOC opponents in the next 7 years, except for Tennessee in Charlotte in 2028.
I hope everyone that wants 9 sec games is happy with this. I’d rather have seen bama vs West Virginia than bama vs vandy or Kentucky.
Conference schedules are generally boring.
CFB was better with more independents.
Football I agree, back in the 80s early 90s the independents and smaller conferences was a lot better in my opinion. I’ve never been a fan of conference game rematches and now there is a good chance teams could play 3 times in a year. Don’t get me started how New Year’s Day bowl games suck now compared to 1990.ESPN has ruined much of this along with fox