Kansas State Debacle Triggers Massive Plummet for WVU in ESPN FPI

The loss to Iowa State didn’t hurt WVU too much in the ESPN FPI (Football Power Index), but following that up with an even worse performance against Kansas State triggered a massive drop.

West Virginia fell all the way from 38 to 53 this week. This comes after only moving backwards a bit from 33 to 38 following the loss to the Cyclones.

The Mountaineers have experienced a roller coaster ride as far as the ESPN FPI is concerned, jumping from 51 to 33 thanks to dominating Oklahoma State in Stillwater. However, WVU’s wins now appear to be tainted by the overall issues for OSU and Kansas coupled with West Virginia’s poor play when facing quality competition.

It will now be interesting what happens to WVU depending on the outcome of the upcoming matchup with Arizona. Will a big win over another disappointing Big 12 team mean anything, even with it being on the road? And will a loss send WVU to its worst ranking of the season?

For context, the ESPN FPI has the Wildcats at No. 70.

DraftKings set Arizona as a slim favorite in their opening line for the first meeting between the schools Big 12 foes. The Wildcats were initially listed as just a 1.5-point favorite, but it’s now advanced to -3.

Arizona Set as Slim Favorite Over WVU in Battle of Struggling Teams

And part of their reasoning may come down to the struggles of both teams. West Virginia will enter the game at 3-4 (2-2, Big 12) while Arizona also sits at 3-4 (1-3, Big 12).

On Sunday, the Big 12 announced that WVU’s next game against Arizona at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, will be televised on FS1 at 7 pm ET.

For a related story, Neal Brown dismissed the idea of a quarterback change for any reason other than injury.