THE GAME ? Western Michigan opens its 102nd season with a ranked oppnent for the fifth time in program history. West Virginia is ranked third in the Associated Press preseason poll, while the Mountaineers are in the sixth spot on the USA Today/Coaches preseason poll.

TELEVISION ? The Bronco football program continues to gain regional and national notoriety through television exposre. Western Michigan is scheduled to play on live television at least five times this season. WMU opens with its first two games on the ESPN family of networks with its West Virginia game airing on ESPN+ and its home opener available on ESPNU. The WVU game will also air live in the Kalamazoo market on CW7 (Channel 7 on Charter Communictations and Channel 17 on Comcast). The game will be called by John Sanders and Renee Nadeau will have analysis.

RADIO ? This and all Western Michigan football games will be broadcast live on the Bronco Radio Network and its new flagship station, WZUU - 92.5 FM. Robin Hook (play-by-play) and Monty Porter (analysis) will have the call as they have together for the past nine seasons. A national audience will also have a chance to hear Bronco football as all Big East games will air this season on XM Satellite Radio (Channel 203).

WEB SITE ? WMU home football games (not televised by the ESPN family of networks) can be seen live via the official athletics web site (www.wmubroncos.com) by subscribing to Bronco Insider, which can be found on the home page of the site. You are able to listen to each Bronco football game on the Internet by signing up with Yahoo Sports through the link at the bottom of the home page. Live Stats are available for FREE for all Bronco home games by clicking the link atop the home football page.

For information on the game please open the Game 1 Notes attached as a PDF at the bottom of this release.

SERIES IN BRIEF ? Western Michigan and West Virginia will meet on the field for only the second time in program history. The Mountaineers hosted the Broncos on Sept. 7, 1996 and sent WMU back to Kalamazoo with a 34-9 loss. THE

COACHES ? Bill Cubit (Delaware, 1975) begins his third season as the head coach of Western Michigan. He is 15-9 overall at Western Michigan and led the Broncos to their first bowl game since 1988 last season. Rich Rodriguez enters his seventh season at WVU. He holds a record of 50-24 at his alma mater and has led the Mountaineers to three Big East titles, one outright, and a pair of bowl victories over the pas two seasons.

UP NEXT ? Western Michigan opens its home season with the annual CommUniverCity Night. The game, which will take place at 8 p.m. on Sept. 8, will mark the first time a Big Ten opponent will play at Waldo Stadium. WMU and Indiana will take the field against one another for the second-straight season. The Broncos opened the 2006 campaign Memorial Stadium and suffered a 39-20 loss to the Hoosiers.