While most of what you type I agree with Bluefield was not jobbed. All the points that you use are subjective. The exact same point system for AAA schools that was in use then is the exact same system used today. There was no "invite". When you use that word in my mind you are implying that one team was selected by opinion over another team. That is simply not the case now and it wasn't the case then. Whatever two AAA schools amassed the highest point average in their regular season games were "invited" to play in the AAA title game. It had nothing to do with opinion. The 1960 Weir team outpointed Bluefield even with their one loss to Wheeling. Weir beat 4 AAA size schools that went 9-1. Bluefield's schedule in 1960 included four AA schools. Graham, Gary. Mullens and Tazewell. These AA schools played other AA schools. In WV there are no welfare points for playing down like in VA. At the end of the 1960 season Bluefield finished 10-0 but was fourth in the ratings. I have never seen the final ratings in print (And believe me I have looked) but going into the final week Weir had an average after 9 games (8-1) of 14.72, Nitro 14.22 (9-0); Bluefield 13.94 (9-0) , East Bank 13.93 (9-0) and Morgantown 13.00 (9-0-1). Bluefield beat a terrible Princeton team (1-9); Weir beat Parkersburg (8-2) and East Bank and Morgantown did not play because their schedules were completed, Nitro beat AA Poca but barley maintained their lead. Weir beat Ohio State power Steubenville (9-1) and Penn State power Johnstown (7-2-1).
Bluefield played "NO ONE" in 1960 the quality of Johnstown or Steubenville. The best team we played was Big Creek at 7-3 and we needed the lights to go out at halftime and a long delay just to come back and beat them 14-13. We struggled against a 1-9 Richlands team 20-0. We only played three winning teams all year. We simply were not in Weir's class that season. I think we could have beaten Nitro. As for third place East Bank I don't really know. I would like to think Gainer would have been able to come up with a plan to beat Weir had they played but I am skeptical. What it all boils down to is Bluefield played a VERY soft schedule in 1960 compared to Weir. A slightly softer schedule when it came to Nitro and East Bank, Gainer realized this and very soon thereafter Mullens and Tazewell were replaced by AAA Kanawha Valley teams DuPont and Charleston. Even then Bluefield's schedule was a liability in the ratings because we just could not drop AA rivals Graham and Gary.
1968 was a different story. I believe Bluefield was indeed the best in the state. So lets talk about why they did not get the points that they needed in 1968. First let's backtrack to 1967. Most people don't realize this but Bluefield finished (10-0) 2nd in the ratings to Stonewall Jackson of Charleston (9-1). That is right. The Kanawha Valley team recorded more rating points in their 9 wins than Bluefield received in their 10 wins. As a matter of fact Bluefield finished just 1/2 point ahead of Charleston (8-1) for 2nd place. The last week of the season Charleston and Stonewall played their traditional rivalry game at Laidley Field. Charleston was 8-0 (9 game schedule) and Stonewall was 8-1 losing early in the season to St. Albans. Stonewall pulled the upset. The ratings were so very close between the three schools that the WVSSAC commissioner had to call G. W. Danville in Danville, VA to confirm their enrollment. Why? Because Bluefield had defeated Jefferson High of Roanoke and Jefferson had later defeated G. W. Danville. WV had to find out if Bluefield would be awarded a bonus point or not. In WV you do not get welfare bonus points. You only get a bonus point if your defeated opponent defeats a team in their class or higher. Since Jefferson was a AAA school by WV standards Bluefield would only get the bonus point if G. W. Danville was also a AAA by WV standards. The call was made to the principal at GW and as we all know that school is plenty large enough to be AAA. Bluefield got the bonus point and went from one half point behind Charleston to one half point ahead. Now on to 1968. Lets talk about how the points went down that season. In 1967 Bluefield also played a winless Patrick Henry team from Roanoke. As we all know Gainer retired after the 1967 season and went to Patrick Henry, but not as coach, he was the AD. He did not coach until the following season in 1969. Bluefield and Patrick Henry did not play a 2nd game. I have never been able to find out why. Perhaps it was a one game contract. Perhaps Gainer did not want his school to have face Bluefield. Nevertheless they did not play. Bluefield filled this slot in 1968 with a game at Logan. Or so they thought. Logan had been in conflict with the WVSSAC the whole 1967 season. First getting permission to play a player in 1967 whose age was in question and then midseason being told they could no longer play him. Logan refused to stop playing him and sued the WVSSAC. They eventually lost and in true WVSSAC vindictive character (see Big Creek 1958) they suspended the Logan football program for the 1968 season. The legal wrangling did not come to a conclusion until August 1968 and it was too late for Bluefield to find a replacement for Logan on their 1968 schedule and therefore had to play a 9 game schedule. IMO this and the fact that some of the teams that they played in 1967 had significantly worse records in 1968 than they had in 1967 is what cost Bluefield and chance at the 1968 title. Had Bluefield played and beaten a decent Logan squad and beaten them they would have made the top two. The final ratings for 1968 showed: #1 Charleston (9-0-1) 14.65; #2 St. Albans (9-1) 14.55; #3 Bluefield (9-0) 14.27. What evidence available certainly does lead to the conclusion that Bluefield was the better team that season. When you look at mutual opponents Bluefield comes out way ahead.
So my conclusion is Bluefield has never been jobbed. They simply did not amass the points the competitors did. Now if you want to get into other factors such as geography then the teams that nosed them out have the advantage because they are located in areas where they are not "forced" to play natural rivals that were AA schools then you have a point. But IMO that is Bluefield's problem and not theirs.
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