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What a rocky year it’s been for the West Virginia Mountaineers. They stayed within 10 points of No. 1 Alabama and beat No. 5 Baylor, but also lost three consecutive games to TCU, Texas and Kansas State, diminishing their seeding among the Big 12 (sixth). This has been the ultimate up-and-down team, one that competed with one possible College Football Playoff team and beat another yet barely achieved bowl eligibility itself.
Yet, 7-5 is not a disappointing season, not with this schedule. The Mountaineers have faced three of the AP’s top five teams and five from the top 25, which amounts to the 10th-toughest schedule in the country according to Jeff Sagarin’s college football rankings. For that, West Virginia deserves a pat on the back.
Unfortunately, the bowl committee looks at conference seeding, matchups and profit, so this might be the only ‘attaboy’ the Mountaineers end up receiving.
So where will West Virginia play next? The Mountaineers appear to be a lock for the Liberty Bowl on Monday, December 29 versus either Arkansas or Tennessee. If they face Arkansas, it will be a carbon copy matchup of teams whose record doesn’t really represent how well they’ve played. Tennessee has not beaten a top 25 team all year, so I believe West Virginia vs. Arkansas is by far the better matchup.
If West Virginia ends up playing the Volunteers, it wouldn’t be that unfortunate since it is still a chance for the Big 12 to take a shot against the heralded SEC. Either way, we’ll soon see if the Mountaineers’ road remains rough, or if their path gets a little less rocky.
Jerry Landry is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jerry2Landry, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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