West Virginia running back Jahiem White (1) scores during the first half of an NCAA football game against Pittsburgh last season in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo)

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia announced it has mutually agreed to cancel the home and away matchups with Alabama in 2026 and 2027. The Mountaineers will replace the two with home games against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 5, 2026, and Southern Miss on Sept 4, 2027.

WVU said it made the change to set up the team for success to push for a College Football Playoff appearance. Indiana recently canceled a series with Virginia to add another home game because of this philosophy, too.

“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 athletic director Wren Baker said in a release. “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. Visitors coming to West Virginia are not only critical for state tourism, but also to our local economy.”

This comes just under a week after the SEC announced it’d be moving to nine conference games, like the Big 12 and Big Ten. In the addition to the extra game, the conference stated each team was required to play a high-level Power Four team as one of their three non-conference games.

This immediately proposed questions on if the series would continue as scheduled.

During his preseason press conference on Friday, Baker said that he was aware of the situation and already had conversations about future schedules.

“That announcement didn’t surprise me,” Baker said about the SEC adding another conference game.

Extending the Backyard Brawl was a possibility to fill in as a replacement, and Baker said he reached out to Pitt athletic director Allen Greene about it, but WVU replaced those games with Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss instead.

Coastal Carolina is interesting because new WVU president Michael T. Benson just arrived this June from there. Back in 2020 at Coastal Carolina, he made a call to his alma mater BYU about conversations of a potential game.

The Chanticleers upset the Cougars 22-17. WVU last played them in 2010, winning 31-0.

It will be Southern Miss and WVU’s first meeting.

Now, WVU’s non-conference opponents for 2026 are Coastal Carolina, UT Martin and Virginia. In 2027, WVU plays Southern Miss, VMI and Ohio.