Morgantown, West Virginia – No one is particularly pleased with West Virginia’s 5-6 record with one game remaining in the season. The Mountaineers should’ve/could’ve won 2…maybe 3 more games than they did this season.
The season opener against Maryland was a very winnable game, as were Texas Tech at home and and Kansas State on the road. In addition, West Virginia really outplayed the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman before losing 16-13 late in the game.
Despite poor play, bad decisions and unlucky breaks throughout the season, West Virginia could very easily be 6-5, 7-4 or even 8-3 right now.
With an inevitable win at Kansas coming this Saturday, the Mountaineers will be bowl eligible and Neal Brown has a real opportunity to salvage an otherwise disappointing season.
Bowl projections from various outlets are pouring in and West Virginia is projected for some pretty decent bowl games against quality opponents.
Sports Illustrated (the real Sports Illustrated, not the ripoff West Virginia version) projects the Mountaineers to meet the Virginia Cavaliers in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Florida on December 29th. Virginia is 6-5 right now and in the ACC Coastal Division. A matchup and bowl win over Virginia would be a monumental step in the right direction for the West Virginia football program.
Both Athlon Sports and Yahoo Sports project West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl again this year. Yahoo projects the Mountaineers to play Auburn and Athlon projects Missouri and West Virginia. Beating either opponent in the Liberty Bowl would be a major win for West Virginia after starting the season 2-4.
CBS Sports and Action Sports projects West Virginia to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, against Minnesota and Rutgers respectively.
A 7-6 record and a bowl win over Virginia, Auburn, Missouri, Minnesota or Rutgers would not have been the ideal scenario for the Mountaineers at the start of the season, but it also wouldn’t be a complete failure, particularly after the extremely poor start to the season.
