College Football Playoff Rankings 2018: Selection Sunday Top 25 projections
By Zach Bigalke
team. 2391. . (8-3). Previous: . West Virginia Mountaineers. 16
West Virginia wasn’t able to beat Oklahoma in the regular-season finale at home, which allowed the Sooners to snatch the spot in the Big 12 championship game instead of the Mountaineers. With no chance to make up the NC State game after the Wolfpack opted to schedule East Carolina for a make-up game, Dana Holgorsen’s crew ended the regular season 8-3.
The Mountaineers were fueled by a top-10 offense, led by the nation’s third-best passing attack. Will Grier finished the regular season second behind only Dwayne Haskins in passing touchdowns, tossing 37 scoring strikes before the bowl game. And the defense did a solid job forcing turnovers, making up for giving away more than 400 yards per game by averaging nearly two takeaways each outing.
Despite no chance to get to 10 wins this season, the Mountaineers have still been one of the top 16 teams in the country throughout the 2018 season. The College Football Playoff selection committee will respond in kind by keeping West Virginia in the same spot they entered championship weekend. Now the Mountaineers wait to see who they will land for a postseason opponent.