There is a little something for everybody with this year’s West Virginia home football schedule. There is the Friends of Coal Bowl on Sunday, Sept. 4, to open the season; of course the WVU-Marshall game always seems to get people’s juices flowing around here.

The Varsity Club will be doing their thing prior to the Norfolk State game on Sept. 10, and two weeks later, there is a planned celebration for Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen when his alma mater, Bowling Green, comes to town on Oct. 1.

There is the rematch against Connecticut on Oct. 8 to look forward to.

No, Randy Edsall is no longer running things on the UConn sidelines, but some of the beat downs Paul Pasqualoni’s Syracuse teams used to administer to West Virginia back in the 1990s should still be fresh on people’s minds when the Huskies come to town.

With the talented cast of players Charlie Strong is assembling at Louisville, the WVU-Louisville game is one Mountaineer fans should once again probably start circling on their calendars. The Cardinals fly into town on Nov. 5.

The Backyard Brawl is always an attention getter and this year’s game at Milan Puskar Stadium on Nov. 25 could have Big East title and BCS bowl implications. The fact that Pitt’s new coach is Todd Graham, an ex-Mountaineer assistant who brought a bunch of Rich Rodriguez’s guys with him to Oakland - as well as Graham’s prior history with West Virginia offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen when the two were coaching in Conference USA - should make this year’s game deliciously interesting.

The week leading up to this year’s Backyard Brawl could be as good as the game itself.

And then there is the LSU game on Sept. 24. The Tigers will be in everybody’s top five when the season starts, the “Mad Hatter” Les Miles well on his way to building a dynasty in Baton Rouge.

Tailback Spencer Ware looks like the next big thing in the backfield for the Tigers, and Russell Shepard appears to be another pro talent at wide receiver for LSU. Plus, the Tiger defense could be one of the best in the country this fall with corner Tyrann Mathieu and safety Craig Loston returning.

The folks in southern Louisiana are certainly hopped up. Ted Lewis of the New Orleans Times-Picayune has the Tigers No. 1 in his post-spring poll, and much maligned LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson says this could be the Year of the Tiger.

“It’s time for LSU to win the national championship game,” Jefferson said. “It’s how we all feel.”

According to Lewis, quarterback is the only real position of concern for LSU heading into 2011 even though Jefferson has been taking snaps under center now for three years. To inject a little more competition into the quarterback situation, Miles went out and brought in Zach Mettenberger from junior college.

CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd has the Tigers No. 3 in his post-spring preseason poll, while Mark Schlabach has LSU No. 5.

Recent schedules have brought some very interesting teams to Morgantown - Auburn in 2008, Virginia Tech in 2005, Wisconsin in 2003 and Notre Dame in 2000, to name a few - but you have to go back to the 1998 opener when West Virginia faced No. 1-ranked Ohio State to find a team of LSU’s pedigree and talent on the home schedule.

Before that, it was No. 1-ranked Miami in 1986. And before that, you have to dig deep into the record books and go all the way back to 1963 when Roger “The Dodger” Staubach and ninth-ranked Navy came to Morgantown. If you are older than 60, that is the game everybody seems to remember, even though Staubach wound up spending most of it on the sidelines with his team comfortably ahead.

Who knows, maybe this year’s LSU game will elicit similar memories, but for different reasons?

The priority date to renew your season tickets is May 13. Those renewing online can save $10 by logging on to WVUGAME.com.

We’ll see you in Morgantown this fall!