Recruiting heated up last week and appeased worriers who wondered when West Virginia would rise up and meet or exceed Kansas’ five-person class for 2014. Well, five players pledged, four to the 2014 class and one to the 2015 class, and the Mountaineers and Kansas State can say their six-player class is finally bigger than every one in the Big 12 but the one found at Kansas.

Huzzah!

What we’re finding out about recruiting in this Big 12 is that comparing and competing within the walls of the conference isn’t that big of a deal.

“To be 100 percent honest we don’t lock horns with Big 12 schools on recruiting a whole lot,” Dorchester said. “On some guys, yes, but not real often do we go head-to-head when it comes down to us and another Big 12 school. We’re probably unique in a lot of ways where we don’t recruit a whole lot against the other teams in our conference.”

What’s most interesting, and what gets Dorchester going, is how the Mountaineers are better armed now to combat some negative recruiting and to leverage themselves against some regional foes than they were before.

Let’s be honest. A kid growing up in this generation, he thinks Cincinnati is a relevant program in the scheme of college football just because they had a good couple of years,” Dorchester said. “They don’t understand what teams are actually good, whereas Oklahoma and Texas, those names resonate with people. In the Big East, what school resonated with people in a historical perspective?

“Syracuse and Pitt claim those national titles, but no one we’re recruiting was alive for them. So it’s definitely helped us because the one thing we’re trying to push to our kids is that you’re more than just a regional star. You’re going to get national exposure. We’re a coast-to-coast conference in a lot of ways.”