West Virginia’s open week has not slowed the bowl chatter one bit.
After back-to-back Big 12 wins pushed the Mountaineers to 5-3, they sit just one game short of bowl eligibility, and the latest projections are starting to sharpen around a familiar destination. The most common landing spot this week is the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, set for December 22.
CBSSports has WVU facing California there, while ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura also slots the Mountaineers into that same matchup against California. ESPN’s Todd Schlabach keeps West Virginia in Shreveport as well, matching the Mountaineers with California in the Independence Bowl. CollegeFootballNews goes a different direction with Oregon State in the same bowl.
AthlonSports is the outlier this week, sending West Virginia to Memphis for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on January 2 against South Carolina. That projection is also a shift from its previous pick, which had the Mountaineers against Oklahoma in the Liberty Bowl.
The Big 12’s bowl order, after the College Football Playoff selections are made, runs through the Valero Alamo Bowl, Pop-Tarts Bowl, Kinder’s Texas Bowl, AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Cactus Bowl, and then the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.
The picture is still muddied by the “Pac 12 Legacy Bowl Tie-Ins,” with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah tied into the Valero Alamo Bowl along with the Big 12, plus the Las Vegas Bowl, the Holiday Bowl and Tony the Tiger Sun bowl.
West Virginia’s bowl history is not exactly short on twists. The Mountaineers are 17-24 all-time in bowl games and have won just three since joining the Big 12.
Neal Brown’s teams beat North Carolina in the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Army in the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Before that, the program’s only Big 12 bowl win came in the 43-42 victory over Arizona State in the 2016 Cactus Bowl.
The Liberty Bowl has been a recurring stage for WVU, with three appearances and a 1-2 record there. The Mountaineers have also played in the Cheez-It Bowl three times and gone 1-2, with that bowl formerly known as the Cactus Bowl and now called the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
That run includes the loss to Missouri in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl. West Virginia also has one appearance in the First Responder Bowl, a 30-14 loss to Utah in 2017 when the game was known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
In Other News...
WVUs Offense Has Two Stars But One Big Stretch-Run Concern
West Virginias offense has leaned heavily on a pair of stars through the bye week, and the numbers help explain why the unit has looked so dangerous at times. Quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr. has played at an elite level, while running back Cam Cook has been one of the most productive backs in the country, ranking third nationally in rushing yards. The rest of the offense has been a mixed bag by comparison, with the articles grades and snap counts showing a group that has delivered enough support to keep the Mountaineers moving, but not always with the same week-to-week consistency.
The stretch run will be about whether West Virginia can get more from the pieces around those two difference-makers. The bye week gives the staff a chance to reset, evaluate where the offense has been strong and where the weak spots have shown up, and then decide what changes might help as the season resumes. For a team with obvious firepower at quarterback and running back, the bigger question is whether the supporting cast can rise enough to keep the offense from becoming too dependent on Hawkins and Cook. [Read more 🡒]
WVUs November Gauntlet Will Decide Whether This Season Becomes More
West Virginias path to a bigger finish this season is about to get a lot clearer, and a lot harder. At 5-3, the Mountaineers have put themselves in position to make the final month matter, but the schedule ahead brings three ranked opponents into the mix and leaves little room for a slip if they want to turn a solid season into something more meaningful.
ESPNs FPI matchup predictor does not exactly make the road look inviting in the final four games, and the numbers reflect what the eye test already suggests about the challenges ahead. The good news for West Virginia is that the season is still sitting on a knifes edge, which means November can still push this group toward a strong finish. The bad news is that the margin for error shrinks quickly when the opposition gets this steep. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginia May Have A Star QB It Can't Take For Granted
Mike Hawkins Jr. has been one of the biggest reasons West Virginias offense has looked dangerous this fall. The Mountaineers quarterback is drawing national attention for production that goes well beyond the box score, sitting ninth among quarterbacks in PFF grades while piling up efficiency marks that separate the truly productive passers from the merely busy ones.
Hawkins has also given West Virginia a rare blend of explosiveness and restraint, leading the nation in rushing touchdowns while ranking near the top in yards per completion and adjusted yards per pass attempt. The deeper concern for the Mountaineers is how much of that growth has come from a quarterback who is making difficult throws, creating chunk plays and limiting mistakes despite a completion rate shaped by aggressive downfield attempts and a few too many drops around him. [Read more 🡒]