MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Two weeks into Rich Rodriguez’s return, West Virginia football has hit rock bottom. The Mountaineers aren’t just struggling; they’re officially being recognized as one of the worst programs in the country right now.
After an embarrassing 17–10 loss to Ohio in Athens, WVU landed at No. 20 in CBS Sports’ Bottom 25 Rankings — a weekly list reserved for the absolute worst teams in college football. For a program that once lived in the Top 10 under Rodriguez, finding itself among the sport’s cellar-dwellers is both surreal and humiliating.
Here’s what CBS Sports’ David Cobb had to say about the Mountaineers: “Part 2 of the Rich Rodriguez era at West Virginia brought the same Week 2 opponent as Part 1 of his tenure with the Mountaineers taking on border foe Ohio. Only this time, the result was much differen, as the Bobcats stunned WVU 17-10 to cast an early pall over Rodriguez’s reunion with his alma mater.
A record crowd of 26,740 at the Bobcats’ Peden Stadium witnessed Ohio’s victory, which was no fluke. The Bobcats outgained West Virginia 429-250 and doubled WVU up in time of possession. If not for three second-half interceptions by the Mountaineers defense, Ohio would likely have won by more.”
Back in 2001, Rodriguez’s very first win as WVU’s head coach came against these same Ohio Bobcats. That victory sparked a run of 60 wins over the next six seasons, three BCS bowl trips, and West Virginia’s rise to national prominence.
CBS Sports tweaks its formula each year to make sure Power Four schools are represented, but WVU is now a program that is grouped alongside the likes of UCLA, Stanford, Western Michigan, and… Akron.
With the Ohio loss, WVU’s bowl hopes in 2025 already look slim. The Mountaineers would need to find six wins against a brutal Big 12 schedule, and based on Saturday’s showing, even that feels like wishful thinking.
Rodriguez has preached patience since returning to Morgantown, but patience is hard to sell when your alma mater is being called one of the 20 worst teams in the sport.
The only way out? Fight, scrap, and claw every single week — starting with Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. Rivalries have a way of flipping narratives, and WVU desperately needs one of those season-defining moments.
