With so much returning experience in 2021, many fans expect WVU to be a dark horse in the Big 12. However, this optimism does not translate to several outlets around College Football.
In January, there were many different “way-too-early” predictions and rankings published for the Big 12. What we realized about many of these, however, is the lack of respect for WVU in them.
Here are a few outlets and their rankings for the Mountaineers in 2021:
Athlon Sports: 6th
College Football News: 7th
Longhorns Wire: 7th
As you can see, no outlet has West Virginia finishing in the top half of the league in 2021. Though they do have them hovering around the middle of the pack, none see them as a potential threat in the conference.
One outlet that did have some positive things to say about WVU was The Oklahoman. They expect Leddie Brown to once again top 1,000 yards on the ground, stating that the Mountaineer running game should be one of the best in the conference. While no rankings were given, they project West Virginia to finish with an 8-4 record in 2021, which should be good enough for a finish in the top half of the conference.
