Following West Virginia’s win over No. 25 Virginia, the buzz around Morgantown turned quickly to ESPN’s College GameDay and whether the show might show up for the Mountaineers’ showdown with Oklahoma State.
That possibility faded fast. ESPN went to Knoxville instead, picking Tennessee-Texas over WVU’s game. Another SEC stop, and another missed chance for the Mountaineers.
Still, if West Virginia keeps winning, the door isn’t closed. For GameDay to land in Morgantown, the formula has to be just right: the Mountaineers need to keep playing at a high level, the opponent has to bring real weight, and the matchup has to stand out as one of the best on the college football slate that weekend.
Looking down the rest of West Virginia’s home schedule, there are a few windows where it could theoretically happen.
The first one is already a tough sell. If WVU gets to 5-0 by beating its next two opponents, the idea starts to look more realistic. But Georgia at Alabama is on that same weekend, and that one is not getting passed over.
The next stretch isn’t much better. Cincinnati is unbeaten, but it would need to beat Kansas State and Arizona just to stay in the conversation.
Even then, Ohio State at Indiana looks like the more likely choice, with Notre Dame at BYU also in the mix. Most of the games in that group would get picked before WVU-Cincinnati, if not all of them.
Then comes the Kansas game, and the timing works against West Virginia. The slate simply doesn’t have enough juice, and Kansas is not coming into Morgantown with a great record. That one doesn’t have the kind of pull GameDay usually wants.
The best opening may be much later in the season. If West Virginia is still in the Big 12 race and playing well, late November could finally give Morgantown a real shot. The games listed that week include Georgia at South Carolina, Indiana at Washington, Virginia Tech at Miami, Ohio State at Nebraska, Pitt at Louisville, and SMU at Notre Dame.
That’s the spot where things get interesting. South Carolina could slide, Washington is uncertain, Virginia Tech is decent but not great, and Nebraska is likely to hit a rough patch. That leaves the final games on the board, along with WVU-Houston if both teams are still worthy of the spotlight.
A return to Morgantown in late November would be tough for ESPN to ignore.
In Other News...
West Virginias 3-0 Start Just Raised The Stakes Against Oklahoma State
West Virginias perfect start kept rolling with a win over Virginia, and the payoff goes beyond another mark in the loss column. At 3-0, the Mountaineers have put themselves in a far better place for bowl eligibility, and the early-season momentum has already started to shift the conversation around where this team might wind up in December.
Various outlets have already started slotting West Virginia into different bowl projections, and the quality of those possible destinations has improved since the Virginia win. The next test against Oklahoma State now feels especially important, because another strong result would only sharpen the Mountaineers standing and make the rest of their season look a lot different than it did a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Snap Counts Reveal Early Trust Battles Fans Should Watch
West Virginias first game against a Power Four opponent offered an early look at how the coaching staff is sorting out its trust tree, and the snap counts made the picture a little clearer. On offense, the wide receiver rotation showed which players were leaned on most, while the interior line work suggested the staff is still testing how it wants to manage the front. On defense, the distribution among defensive backs also pointed to a group that is being handled with some care as the season gets into its tougher stretch.
For fans, the bigger takeaway is less about the numbers themselves and more about what they can signal next. Coaching staffs tend to settle into patterns quickly, especially after a matchup like this, and those early usage splits can tell you who is earning steady work and who may be headed for a bigger role as the lineup evolves. If the rotations shift in the coming weeks, this opener may end up looking like the first real clue to how West Virginia wants to build around its most trusted pieces. [Read more 🡒]
WVU's First Road Test Just Got More Interesting Against Iowa State
West Virginias first road test of the season now has a little more clarity, with the Big 12 setting the Mountaineers game at Iowa State for noon Eastern and placing it on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max. Its the kind of update that turns a circled date on the calendar into a real checkpoint for a team still trying to settle into the rhythm of the year, especially with a league trip that can tell you plenty about where a roster stands.
Iowa State brings its own intrigue into the matchup under new coach Jimmy Rogers, as the Cyclones work through a rebuild while still carrying the usual Big 12 familiarity on the schedule. The series history adds another layer, because these games have tended to offer West Virginia a useful measuring stick, and this one lands in the middle of a stretch that should help define both teams early direction. [Read more 🡒]