Oddsmakers Place WVU Football as Home Underdog Against Arizona

For a new rock bottom for the 2026 WVU football team, the Mountaineers open up the week as a home underdog.

Despite returning home to Milan Puskar Stadium, West Virginia’s back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and Iowa State have prompted major sportsbooks to make Arizona as much as a 3-point favorite.

And in addition to WVU coming off consecutive losses, Arizona is 4-1 and riding high after a 34-7 win over Cincinnati for their third-straight victory overall.

With WVU football fans voicing frustration, Rich Rodriguez took the podium in Ames, Iowa on Saturday night to discuss his team’s 45-42 defeat to Iowa State. And knowing Mountaineer Nation as well as any coach could, Rodriguez wasted no time in echoing the fans’ disgust.

“Too undisciplined. Not coached well enough to give us a chance,” said a noticeably frustrated Rodriguez off the top. He then even went as to relate to the fans.”I’m sure if I’m a Mountaineer fan, it’s hard to watch,” he added.

Rodriguez also made sure to cast the blame where he feels it needs to be: on the defense. A week removed from allowing 609 yards to Oklahoma State, Zac Alley’s defense gave up 577 yards, including 202 on the ground to Aiden Flora, in the loss to the Cyclones.

“We gotta play better football, in all aspects, but we certainly got some key problems to a level that I haven’t seen in a while,” closed Rodriguez, hinting about the major defensive issues.

Rodriguez’s 3-2 (0-2, Big 12) West Virginia team will host Arizona at noon ET on Saturday, Oct. 10.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.