West Virginia opens the 2026 season with a lot of buzz, and ESPN’s Power Football Index thinks the Mountaineers should have no trouble handling their first test.
WVU is listed with an 85.8% chance to beat Coastal Carolina on Saturday, while the Chanticleers come in at 14.2% to pull off the upset and leave Mountaineer fans with an early dose of frustration.
That number is understandable, even if it feels a little conservative. West Virginia is breaking in a revamped roster with plenty of unknowns, so there’s no real reason to slap a near-automatic win percentage on the matchup.
And Coastal Carolina is not the kind of Group of Six program that shows up just to take the trip and cash the check. Even with Tim Beck recently fired after three seasons, the Chanticleers have built a successful run regardless of who has been leading them.
A lot of the caution around West Virginia nationally comes back to the same places: quarterback, receiver, defensive line, and corner. Those are the spots where production is still in question, and that naturally drags down the projections.
Mike Hawkins Jr. is expected to be the answer the staff wants, and there’s a strong belief he’ll settle into that role. Still, he enters the season with only a handful of games on his résumé, which helps explain why he’s flying a bit under the radar even after arriving as a highly touted high school recruit and a sought-after transfer portal addition.
There is some history on WVU’s side here, too. The Mountaineers lost to Ohio last year, but the last time West Virginia dropped a home game to a Group of Six opponent was all the way back in 2003 against Cincinnati.
That comes with the usual pre-Big 12 wrinkle, since some people don’t view the Big East the same way after Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech departed and USF, Louisville, and Cincinnati came in. Still, that Cincinnati loss remains the last home defeat to a G5 or G6 team.
West Virginia and Coastal Carolina are set for a noon kickoff Saturday on TNT.
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WVU Basketball Just Gave Fans An Early Schedule Test To Watch
West Virginias non-conference basketball calendar is already giving fans plenty to circle, with the Mountaineers set for three exhibition games and a trip to the Players Era Tournament as part of an opening stretch that looks built to test Ross Hodges first WVU team. The schedule also brings the kind of opponent mix that can help a new staff learn a roster quickly while giving supporters a better sense of what this group might look like before Big 12 play arrives.
Hodge framed the slate as more than just a warmup, pointing to the value of competitive games and rivalry matchups in keeping the fan base engaged from the start. Among the dates that stands out most is a meeting with Virginia Tech, the sort of regional showdown that can add some early edge to the season and give Mountaineer fans a familiar measuring stick before the games start carrying more weight. [Read more 🡒]
West Virginia Opens Year 2 With One Huge Rich Rodriguez Decision
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Reports have pointed to Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. as the likely choice over returning quarterback Scotty Fox Jr., which would give West Virginia a different look at the games most important position. Coastal Carolina is dealing with its own quarterback puzzle under new coach Ryan Beard, with five players in the mix, but for the Mountaineers the wait feels especially significant because Rodriguezs second year is supposed to bring more clarity and progress. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Buzz Is Rising Fast But Two Roster Calls Loom Large
West Virginias preseason buzz is building quickly under Ross Hodge, and it is easy to see why. The Mountaineers bring in a young roster, plus transfer and high school recruiting classes that have given the program a fresh look, while former player Emmitt Matthews Jr. has already added to the optimism around what this group might become.
The schedule will not give the Mountaineers much room to settle in, either, with a demanding non-conference slate waiting before league play fully takes hold. For all the promise around the roster, the biggest questions still sit in the frontcourt picture, where the team is waiting on two important names to sort out their status and help determine just how far this early momentum can really go. [Read more 🡒]