Following this season, Texas, the No. 5 program in all-time wins, and Oklahoma, No. 6 will depart the Big 12 after a single season with the league at 14 teams following the additions of UCF, Cincinnati, Houston and BYU.
Plenty of programs on solid footing will remain once the Longhorns and Sooners depart for the SEC. But who are now the “historic” powers? Who is the all-time winningest program in the league now that it’s two traditional titans have gone?
In the short term, there are plenty of programs on solid ground, including last year’s runner-up TCU, Kansas State (who won the league last season), Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and more. The four newcomers all have had their moments through the years as well.
What the departure of the Sooners and Longhorns spells, though, is a whole lot of winning history walking out the door. This is a league that withstood the departure of Nebraska, a top 10 all-time winning program, and Texas A&M (along with Missouri and Colorado) and did not appear to miss much of a beat.
Starting in 2024, though, those traditional powers will be gone. Who now is the winningest all-time program in the Big 12?
The answer is a bit surprising and it isn’t even close. It’s West Virginia.
The Mountaineers are No. 22 in all-time wins, 34 spots ahead of the next-highest ranked program from the league’s new configuration, TCU. Newcomer Cincinnati checks in at No. 69 and only Oklahoma State rounds out the Big 12 programs in the top 100 at No. 98.
Since joining the Big 12, West Virginia has struggled somewhat to get into the flow of things like it used to be when it was a Big East power and before than a thriving Independent. The Mountaineers are actually picked toward or at the bottom heading into the 2023 season. But there’s a long, winning tradition at WVU that will be unmatched once Oklahoma and Texas head to the SEC.
West Virginia has an all-time record of 772-522-45. Among Power 5 programs, they rank just behind Clemson (789 wins) and are a game ahead of Texas A&M (771 wins).
