West Virginia had been a member of the Big East since 1991 joining the league at the same time as Miami, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, and Temple.

Miami and Virginia Tech said adios long ago and the Mountaineers finally did the same on July 1st when they officially joined the Big 12, a fact that will hit home when Baylor visits on Morgantown on September 29th for WVU's first ever Big 12 game.

New teams, new town, new stadiums - you name it - there will be a whole lot of new for West Virginia and its fans in 2012.

While no one here's knocking the Big East, there's not much question WVU is stepping up a notch on the competition ladder and with that, there's going to be a few more curious eyes watching what's happening with the Mountaineers this season.

"What's awesome about the Big 12 as opposed to where we were last year is just the national exposure, and it's going to be West Coast to East Coast. And they're going to be putting some venues to be able to shine if they can handle that," Dana Holgorsen said at Big 12 media days.

"And that's our job as coaches, to put them in those positions and make sure that they're prepared and then get them on that stage and see what they can do from there."

Rest assured their games with Texas and Oklahoma will be on national TV.  And there's a good chance games with TCU, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State will be, as well.

How about playing at Iowa State on a Friday night in late November on ESPN?  It sounds like could happen (kickoff time TBD) and after ISU ruined Oklahoma State's national championship hopes on Friday night last season, you can bet they'll be plenty of people tuning into watch.

Not that playing on TV should come as any huge shock to West Virginia.  They've been on TV plenty.  But when you're the new team playing in a new league against nationally ranked teams, every media outlet is going to want to a piece of you at some point.

Throw in the fact they were picked to finish second in the Big 12 by said media and figure to be a preseason top ten team, and what you have is the recipe for more distractions to deal with on a weekly basis.  And that's not to forget a potential Heisman campaign to manage on top of it all.

Playing new and better teams may be the least of their worries.  How they handle the increased weekly spotlight - and their ability to stay focused in the midst of it - could have as big an effect as any on where they finish when the bowl invitations are handed out in December.