West Virginia’s bye week gave Rich Rodriguez and Mountaineer fans a chance to exhale after those back-to-back wins over Cincinnati and TCU, and it also brought a fresh round of bowl projections for the 2026 season.
The Mountaineers didn’t move up or down during the weekend off, but the latest forecasts have them landing in a few different places than before. The destinations range from familiar to unexpected, and the opponents are just as varied.
Athlon Sports has West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl against Oklahoma. CBS Sports slots the Mountaineers into the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against UConn.
College Football News sends them to the Boca Raton Bowl to face Florida Atlantic. ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura projects the Puerto Rico Bowl against UMass, while ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has them in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against Iowa.
Sports Illustrated places West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl against Nebraska. West Virginia On SI also picks the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, with Louisiana Tech as the opponent.
With four games left, the path to a bowl still looks straightforward in one sense and tricky in another. West Virginia is at No.
13 Texas Tech, hosts Kansas, hosts No. 18 Houston, and finishes at No.
6 Utah.
The clearest target is the Kansas game. The Mountaineers need one more win to become bowl-eligible, and that matchup feels like the safest bet on the schedule.
After that, the road gets much steeper. West Virginia is a heavy underdog at Texas Tech, though the offense could keep things interesting if it shows up at its best in what could turn into a back-and-forth game.
The home date with Houston looks like the best remaining chance to knock off one of the ranked teams. Houston’s offense is efficient, but its defense has been vulnerable, especially against the pass, where it ranks 123rd nationally.
Then comes Utah, and that one looks like the toughest ask of all. The Utes are rolling right now and making a strong case as the best team in the country. Winning that game at night on Black Friday, with so much on the line, would be a major long shot.
The bowl games in play include the Valero Alamo Bowl on Tuesday, December 29, 2026; the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Tuesday, December 29, 2026; the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on Thursday, December 31, 2026; the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Saturday, January 2, 2027; the Cactus Bowl on Saturday, December 26, 2026; the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on Tuesday, December 22, 2026; and the ESPN Events Pool of Games, which includes several bowls with indirect ties.
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