College Football
West Virginia’s Rating in EA Sports College Football 26 Leaked
While a video game rating has no actual impact on a season, West Virginia’s placement in EA Sports College Football 26 is still interesting nonetheless.
Based on the uncertainty surrounding the roster, many are predicting a rough season for Rich Rodriguez in the first year of his return to West Virginia. That sentiment continues in whee WVU stands in the popular video game, granted the Mountaineers are ahead of one notable rival.
According to CFBrating.com, this year’s West Virginia team is rated 78 on offense and 82 on defense for an overall average of 80.
For some key players, Jahiem White, who will be relied on heavily to carry WVU’s ground game, is at 89 ahead of his first season playing in Rodriguez’s offense. Jacksonville State transfer safety Fred Perry is also at 89 to lead the defense.
In an intriguing twist, the EA Sports team is even more down on WVU’s Backyard Brawl rival than they are West Virginia. Pitt is ranked 10 spots lower in their team rankings at 62 and holds an overall team rating of 78.
WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose
At least one member of the national media believes in WVU in 2025.
On a recent edition of the CBS Sports Cover 3 Podcast, veteran college football analyst Tom Fornelli picked West Virginia as his dark horse team in the Big 12.
“I am going to go with West Virginia — I am buying into the Rich Rod hype,” said Fornelli when asked which program projected to struggle could surprise this fall. “I just like Rich Rod as a coach, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s won everywhere he’s gone…he’s never had bad teams,” he added.
Regardless of the low expectations, Rodriguez, who is being doubted nationally himself in some respects, knows preseason polls and predictions don’t matter as much in this era. And for that reason, along with his trust in his staff, he remains confident.
“I think our staff has done a good job. I think we have one or two spots left open, but in this ever-changing world of college athletics, it’s been really crazy. But I’ve said this many times. The goal post will move, we gotta move with it,” Rodriguez told WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti directly about having to make tough decisions on who to cut and who to bring in.
“We gotta do everything we can to try to improve our roster every day, not every month but every day.”
College Football 26 will be officially released to the general public on July 10. This year’s game marks a continuation in the new era of EA Sports’ College Football series.
EA Sports brought back the popular video game in 2025 after a decade long hiatus. A ruling allowing player’s names to be used with an NIL payment made the return of the video game possible in this era of the sport. Schools are also able to profit from the game.
Find more coverage of the return of the EA Sports College Football video game series at WV Sports Now.
For a related story, WVU football finds itself on one of the covers for College Football 26.
