West Virginia

West Virginia University was founded in 1867, only a few years after the Mountaineer State seceded from the Old Dominion during the throes of the Civil War. For most of their history, West Virginia has struggled to find a home within the college football universe. They didn't get into the SEC, the Big 10, or the ACC. Eventually, they got into the Big East -- only to see their most natural rivals (Pitt and Virginia Tech) flee that conference for the ACC. They are currently on their way to the Big 12 -- although it is not clear exactly when that will happen. West Virginia also suffers from the demographics of being in one of the smallest states in the Union, population-wise, and it's not exactly the easiest place to recruit outsiders.

But despite these difficulties, the Mountaineers have a long and proud football tradition. They have rarely reached the heights of their more privileged neighbors in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but they have had their moments -- in 1988, for example, they went undefeated in the regular season, losing only to Notre Dame in a national championship showdown. According to Wikipedia, they have an all-time record of 700-457-45, which makes them the winningest school never to claim the national championship. They also won the 2006 Sugar Bowl (over Georgia), and the 2008 Fiesta Bowl (over Oklahoma).

They have an odd history in the UCFC. On November 8, 1924, Syracuse lost the UCFC to West Virginia Wesleyan, which lost the title to West Virginia on October 24, 1925. The Mountaineers defended their title nine more times -- beating a variety of schools, from Penn State to Davis & Elkins -- before losing the crown to Missouri 27-0 on October 30, 1926. Since then, West Virginia has played in only six UCFC games, and they've been thoroughly dominated on all six occasions. Their last appearance in the UCFC took place on October 26, 2002, when Miami (Florida) crushed them by the score of 40-23. Thus, their all-time record in UCFC play is 10-7.