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College Football Rankings 2016: Projected AP Top 25 After National Championship

By Zach Bigalke

Jan 9, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) scores a touchdown on an 8 yard run past against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) scores a touchdown on an 8 yard run past against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman RJ McIntosh (80) reaches for West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Skyler Howard (3) during the second half at Camping World Stadium. The Miami Hurricanes defeat the West Virginia Mountaineers 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman RJ McIntosh (80) reaches for West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Skyler Howard (3) during the second half at Camping World Stadium. The Miami Hurricanes defeat the West Virginia Mountaineers 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

Previous: . West Virginia Mountaineers. 20. team. 2391. . 10-3

The Mountaineers are a 10-win team for the first time since 2011, but they also lost all three of their biggest games of the season. The last was a 31-14 shellacking at the hands of Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl. West Virginia actually took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Hurricanes had a two-score lead by the half. Skyler Howard managed just 134 passing yards all game, while the WVU defense allowed Brad Kaaya to complete 24 of 34 for 282 yards and four scores.

Dana Holgorsen’s team took down FCS national finalist Youngstown State as well as top independent BYU. They also knocked off a Missouri team that fell to 4-8 this year. But when they had a chance to put the college football world on notice and win the Big 12, they bombed against Oklahoma State by 17 and Oklahoma by 28. The loss to the Hurricanes falls in the same vein of failures on the big stage, but it won’t be enough to knock the Mountaineers completely from the AP Top 25.

West Virginia had one of the most veteran teams in the Big 12, and it remains to be seen whether they will have as good a chance to compete for the conference next year. As it is, though, they’ve finished off their best year yet since moving to the league in 2012.

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