A fresh week brings a fresh batch of bowl guesses for West Virginia, and the Mountaineers are showing up all over the map.
WVU heads into this weekend’s matchup with No. 25 UVA after opening the 2026 season 2-0 with a win over UT-Martin, and the latest projections reflect just how early this whole picture still is. Different outlets have the Mountaineers slotted into different bowls, with several landing them in Shreveport.
CBSSports has West Virginia facing Nebraska in the Cactus Bowl in Tempe, Arizona on December 26, a change from its earlier pick of Missouri in the Liberty Bowl.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura projects WVU against UCLA in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 22. That’s a shift from his previous projection of no bowl game at all. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach also has the Mountaineers meeting UCLA in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on December 22, replacing an earlier pick of Washington State in that same game.
AthlonSports sees WVU drawing Tulane in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on December 22, moving off an earlier matchup with Illinois in the Cactus Bowl.
CollegeFootballNews has a different direction entirely, projecting the Mountaineers against Army in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas on December 23, after previously pairing them with Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The Big 12’s bowl order this season, 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.
There’s also the wrinkle of the “Pac 12 Legacy Bowl Tie-Ins,” with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah tied into the Valero Alamo Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl, the Holiday Bowl and Tony the Tiger Sun bowl alongside the Big 12.
West Virginia’s bowl history is still a mixed bag. The Mountaineers are 17-24 all-time in bowl games and have won just three since joining the Big 12 Conference.
Neal Brown’s teams have beaten North Carolina in the 2023 Duke's Mayo Bowl and Army in the 2020 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Before that, WVU’s lone Big 12 bowl win came in the 43-42 win over Arizona State in the 2016 Cactus Bowl.
The Liberty Bowl has been a familiar stop, with West Virginia appearing there three times and going 1-2, including losses to Texas A&M in 2014 and Utah in 1964. The Mountaineers have also played in the Cheez-It Bowl three times and gone 1-2 there. That game was previously the Cactus Bowl, where WVU beat Arizona State, and it is now the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, though it also includes a loss to Missouri in the Insight.com Bowl back in 1998.
West Virginia’s only other First Responder Bowl appearance came in 2017, when the game was still called the Heart of Dallas Bowl, and the Mountaineers fell 30-14 to Utah.
In Other News...
Zac Alley Just Put West Virginias Biggest Defensive Concern On Blast
Communication is now the first thing West Virginias defense has to clean up, and defensive coordinator Zac Alley made that point clear after the recent game. For a unit that has spent the early part of the year trying to find consistency, Alley said the biggest issue was not a lack of effort so much as getting the call to travel cleanly from the sideline to the field and back among the players once the offense started shifting looks.
The challenge ahead is sharper than just lining up correctly. Alley pointed to formation changes and motion as the moments that exposed the problem, which means the Mountaineers will spend the coming stretch focused on anticipating what is coming instead of reacting late. If that communication improves, so does the chance for the defense to look like a unit playing with confidence rather than one constantly sorting out the details. [Read more 🡒]
Backyard Brawl Is Getting A Stage WVU Fans Will Love
West Virginias basketball presence in the Pittsburgh area is getting a bigger platform, with Mountaineers players, coach Ross Hodge and athletic director Wren Baker helping promote the inaugural Hope Gas Backyard Basketball Classic. Set for Dec. 9, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena, the event brings together four Division I programs in one building and gives the region a rare, full-day showcase of local college hoops.
For WVU fans, the centerpiece is exactly the kind of stage the Backyard Brawl can thrive on. The doubleheader will feature Pitt, West Virginia, Duquesne and Robert Morris, with the Pitt-WVU matchup serving as the headliner in a setting designed to make the rivalry feel even bigger. It is another reminder that this series can still command attention well beyond the usual calendar date, and this one already has the makings of a marquee trip for Mountaineer supporters. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Suddenly Has A D-Line Problem After Darius Wiley Blow
West Virginias defensive front took a major hit in the season opener when Darius Wiley suffered a lower-body injury against Coastal Carolina and later underwent successful surgery. Rich Rodriguez said Wiley is done for the season, and the recovery timetable stretches well beyond this fall, leaving the Mountaineers to adjust quickly on a unit that already had little room for error.
Emerson Joy, Wilnerson Telemaque and Brandon Caesar are among the players now being asked to absorb more of the workload, and the question is how much the line can hold up while the roster reshuffles around such a significant absence. For a defense trying to settle in early, losing a piece like Wiley so soon forces West Virginia to find answers on the fly, and the ripple effect could linger deep into the year. [Read more 🡒]