Saturday Blitz
Fansided

West Virginia Football: 5 bold predictions for 2017

By Matthew Bartlett

MORGANTOWN, WV - DECEMBER 03: Marvin Gross #18 of the West Virginia Mountaineers runs up field after intercepting a pass by Zach Smith #4 of the Baylor Bears in the first quarter during the game at Mountaineer Field on December 3, 2016 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - DECEMBER 03: Marvin Gross #18 of the West Virginia Mountaineers runs up field after intercepting a pass by Zach Smith #4 of the Baylor Bears in the first quarter during the game at Mountaineer Field on December 3, 2016 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next

2. Mountaineers are a top 10 team on November 1

West Virginia plays eight games before the calendar rolls into November. If things break the right way for them they could very well be undefeated headed into a Nov. 4 matchup at home against Iowa State.

The Mountaineers play just two challenging games in the first two months of the season, both of which are not true road games. They open the season at FedEx Field for a neutral site showdown with No. 21 Virginia Tech. Win or lose, that game comes so early in the year that it wouldn’t be held against them if they were to fall to the Hokies. The only other preseason ranked opponent they face is No. 10 Oklahoma State, but they get them in Morgantown. West Virginia is a dangerous team at home and should make that one a close one as well.

Between those games they have road trips to play Kansas, TCU, and Baylor. None of those promise to be much of a threat. Add a few easy wins at home against East Carolina, Delaware State and Texas Tech and you’ve got the recipe for a fantastic start to the season.

West Virginia finishes the season against Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma. That stretch promises to be much more challenging to navigate and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mountaineers drop two, if not all three of those games. They don’t look like a team that’s going to enter bowl season in the top 10, at least not yet. Yet don’t be surprised to see them high in the rankings entering the later portion of the schedule.

Home/West Virginia Mountaineers