West Virginia’s preseason numbers from ESPN’s Football Power Index don’t exactly scream breakout season.
The Mountaineers are slotted at No. 66 again, the same preseason spot they held a year ago, and the model has them nudged up only slightly from last season’s 5.2 projected wins. ESPN’s computers also aren’t giving WVU much room to dream big in the Big 12 race or the College Football Playoff picture.
That ranking comes with a clear message: the Mountaineers are still being treated like a team that has plenty to prove. And while West Virginia is working with a roster that looks more talented across the board and a schedule that appears more manageable, the projection system isn’t buying in just yet.
The projected win total suggests the early part of the season could be where the story gets written. On paper, the first half of the schedule looks fairly workable, but the back end is where things could get ugly. If WVU stumbles early, the November stretch could make the year feel a lot longer.
The bowl outlook is tied to that same uncertainty. Rich Rodriguez has a strong track record when it comes to getting teams to the postseason.
Since becoming a Division I head coach, he has missed a bowl game in consecutive years just once - his first two years at Michigan. In his second season during his first run at WVU, he took the Mountaineers to the Continental Tire Bowl and started a run of six straight bowl appearances for the program, though he was not there for the last one.
He also guided Arizona to the New Mexico Bowl in his first year there and reached bowl eligibility in five of his six seasons with the Wildcats. At Jax State, he made two bowl trips in two years as an FBS program.
Even with that history, ESPN’s projections still have West Virginia trailing teams like Texas Tech and BYU, with Houston, Arizona and others also sitting ahead in the mix. That’s why the Big 12 title path looks like a long shot.
The College Football Playoff odds are even thinner. West Virginia could technically get there without winning the Big 12, but that kind of path is viewed as almost nonexistent. The projection puts it at sub one percent.
So the computer forecast is pretty blunt: better than last year, maybe, but not by enough to turn WVU into a playoff threat. The bigger picture here is more modest. If the Mountaineers do take a step forward in 2026, it’s likely to be the kind of progress that shows up in the win column and the bowl picture, not in a national title chase.
Baby steps.
In Other News...
Larry Fitzgerald Just Took A Brutal Shot At West Virginia
Larry Fitzgerald didnt exactly soften his old rivalry when he revisited West Virginia on a recent appearance on Pardon My Take. The former Pitt star leaned into the long-running Backyard Brawl tension, bringing up the kind of edge that has always made Pitt-West Virginia one of the nastier feuds in the sport and reminding listeners that his biggest moments against the Mountaineers came even when his team didnt walk away with the win.
For West Virginia fans, the comments were another reminder that the Pitt rivalry still has a way of surfacing old wounds, even while the series is on hiatus. The Backyard Brawl is set to return in 2029, and whenever it does, Fitzgeralds remarks will only add a little more fuel to a matchup that has never needed much help getting heated. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Has A 2027 Target Suddenly Changing The Recruiting Conversation
The EYBL Session IV stop in Las Vegas is giving West Virginia a useful early look at a 2027 class that is starting to take shape, and a few names tied to the Mountaineers have already stood out for different reasons. Paul Osaruyi has been productive enough for Arizona Unity with 7.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while Javion Tyndale has been one of the more dynamic guards on the floor, averaging 19.3 points and 3.5 assists for UPLAY Canada as his team keeps winning.
The more interesting part for WVU is how quickly the conversation around this group can change once the live evaluations keep rolling in. Tyndales strong play has only added to the attention around him, and with a visit to Morgantown coming in early September, the Mountaineers have a real chance to deepen that connection. Osaruyi, meanwhile, still brings size and production, but the next round of recruiting talk may hinge on whether his efficiency catches up to the rest of his game. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez May Have Found The Answer To WVUs Run Game
Rich Rodriguez went into the transfer portal looking for a way to jump-start West Virginias rushing attack, and he appears to have made running back Cam Cook the centerpiece of that effort. Cook arrives after leading the nation in rushing yards last season at Jacksonville State, which is exactly the kind of production Rodriguez wanted to plug into a ground game that has been a priority since he got back to Morgantown.
The fit is about more than one back, though. Rodriguez also brought in Jacksonville State offensive line coach Rick Trickett and added linemen Amare Grayson and Cam Griffin, giving the Mountaineers a familiar framework around Cook as he transitions into a new offense. If the run game is going to look the way Rodriguez envisions it, this is the group that will help determine how quickly it gets there. [Read more 🡒]