WVU Football 2024 Season Media Predictions

Now that the much-anticipated 2024 WVU football season is finally here, it’s time to put an end to any offseason debates and officially predict how the Mountaineers will perform. To that end, WV Sports Now reached out to media colleagues, both local and national, to compile a diverse set of projections on how West Virginia will follow the success from 2023.

Will the Mountaineers continue climbing to an even greater level or will they be derailed by a difficult schedule? Let’s take a look at what our panel has to say.

Brett McMurphy (The Action Network): 7-5

Shehan Jeyarajah (CBS Sports): 7-5

West Virginia will be a better team than last season, but the schedule is awfully complicated. The Mountaineers arguably open conference play with five of the top six teams in the Big 12, not even counting the nonconference matchups against Pitt and Penn State. Going 5-3 through the first eight games would set up a strong season.

Ari Temkin (Big 12 Radio): 10-2

Bill Bender (Sporting News): 8-4

The schedule is set up very much like last season — where a fast start is possible no matter what happens in the much-anticipated opener against Penn State. Kansas won a 55-42 shootout in Morgantown in 2022 and the road trip to Pitt won’t be easy. How does West Virginia handle a brutal Occtober? A 3-1 record would mean a trip to the Big 12 championship game, but a split would be reasonable. If West Virginia can avoid a blemish in November, then it could be a special season. This ranges from 10 to six wins, so we’ll split the difference.

Bender went into even more detail about what he expects from WVU while appearing on an episode of the “Mike Drop with Mike Asti” podcast in July.

Mike Drop: Bill Bender on What Could Hold WVU Back in 2024

Will Graves (Associated Press): 8-4

Like last year, there will not be a signature victory. A win in the opener would put everything on the table, but I just don’t trust Neal (Brown) to get to that level yet.

Cody Nespor (Dominion Post): 7-5

West Virginia faces a brutal first two months of the season. The travel schedule is favorable, but the quality of teams coming into Morgantown is too high for the Mountaineers to run the table at home. November shapes up for a strong finish to the year.

George Gerbo (Washington Times): 7-5

West Virginia is once again a bowl team, as I expected them to be last season. The obvious question is: Does that mean the Mountaineers are ready to hang with the conference’s best? 

To even broach that conversation, Garrett Greene must be able to throw the ball as well as he runs it. West Virginia cannot be a one-dimensional offense in this league — in the Big Ten, maybe, but not the Big 12. His four interceptions were the lowest in the conference last year, but his completion percentage must jump at least 10 points — from a Big 12-worst 53% into the low 60s — for WVU to even entertain thoughts of making it to Dallas.

I expect CJ Donaldson to show us the flashes that I remember from two years ago before his season was ended early due to injury, being helped by Jahiem White, who I don’t think enough people in the league are talking about due to Ollie Gordon overshadowing the conference running back conversation.

It’s once again a tough early-season schedule for WVU (aren’t they always?), but the two-home, two-road alternating nature of their late-season slate will benefit them.

Only five of the 12 games are on the road, and two of those (at Pitt, at Cincinnati) are in neighboring states. I’m not saying the Mountaineers have looked exhausted in the past, but it feels like this is first time the schedule in travel and design has tilted in their favor since they joined the league more than a decade ago.

I think WVU will win five of their seven home games, fall at Arizona, but win the Backyard Brawl in Pittsburgh, and finish 7-5 to reach a bowl for the fourth time in five seasons. They’ll be close in most of them, with maybe at Oklahoma State the one I can truly see being a runaway (like it was late in the game in Morgantown last season). However, as the Mountaineers are wont to do — Thursday night at Houston, anybody? — they’ll fall victim to a few situations that will be “ones that got away.”

Alex Wiederspiel (WKMZ): 8-4

There really is a lot to like about this WVU team – the weapons returning on offense, the game breaking quarterback who has vowed to continue being great while improving at being good, and a defense with some important pieces returning at all three levels. Also consider this was a WVU team a year ago that powered through early season struggles to a 4-1 start despite Garrett Greene missing significant time in that stretch. It’s cliche, but Neal Brown’s group last year had grit, character and perseverance to them. If those traits are now program DNA, the floor is much, much higher for this team – and the ability to reach their ceiling becomes less daunting.

My concerns are four-fold: 1) How much will Garrett Greene improve in 2024? 2) Will he stay healthy with his playing style? 3) Will WVU adequately replace the football IQ and leadership of guys like Zach Frazier and Doug Nester? 4) Can WVU survive a brutal first two months of the schedule?

WVU is the clear favorite to me in four games – Albany, Pitt, Cincinnati, and Baylor. There are two games where I’d call them a clear underdog. Then there are six swing games of varying difficulty – with two games I could be talked into WVU as a favorite and a few I could be talked into WVU as an underdog.

My gut tells me the schedule is just a little too hard for this iteration of WVU to truly meet the upside. A trip to the Big 12 Championship is possible. The upside is there for this to be one of the most effective three-phase WVU teams in the last decade. Still, there are just too many legitimate questions for me to get there on this being a special season. Much like their head coach, they should be good. I’m not sold on either Brown or the team being great – yet.

WVU head coach Neal Brown after beating UNC in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. on Dec. 27, 2023. (Mitchell Northam / WV Sports Now)

Keenan Cummings (WVUSports.com): 9-3

Dave Weekley (WV MetroNews): 7-5

The fan in me is leaning 8-4, but 7-5 is probably more realistic. PSU appears to be a legit Top 10 team, WVU has to navigate arguably the toughest five-game Big 12 stretch in the conference and the Pitt game is on the road. Greene is a good QB, but does WVU have a true No. 1 WR? On defense, a lot of questions, especially regarding the rebuilt secondary.

Wes Uhler (Steelers Nation Radio): 9-3

I think the team is better than last year’s 8-4 squad, but is facing a difficult schedule that really only has one easy game. The offense will be the best we’ve had since 2018, and if the defense can also take a step forward, this team has a legit shot to be playing for a Big 12 championship in December.

Matty Staudt (Jam Street Media): 10-2

Steve Slaton (WVU legend): 10-2

Mike Gill (97.3 ESPN): 7-5

Andrew Stockey (WTAE): 7-5

Josh Taylor (KDKA): 6-6

Neal (Brown) rallies them against UCF and Texas Tech to go bowling.

Cassidy Wood (KDKA): 8-4

Losses to Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Arizona. Will get back on track vs Cincinnati, then lose to Texas Tech – that environment is tough.

Author’s note: After asking Cassidy if she forgot to include Penn State as a loss, she responded “I said eight wins. That includes Penn State.”

Justin Walker (Couz’s Corner): 8-4

I think the Mountaineers will be a better team than last year. The problem is, so will many of the other teams in the Big 12 and WVU has to play five of the top six teams in the conference. It’s hard to imagine them getting through that Big 12 slate with less than three losses, plus a probable loss to Penn State.

Sports Now crew….

Mike Vukovcan (Pittsburgh Sports Now): 7-5

Kelsie LeRose (WV Sports Now): 10-2

WVU Football will have the most talent and confidence on the field this season in a while, leading to a 10 win season. However, the Mountaineers will likely lose at least one game they were favored to win. Plus two more in the very different looking Big 12.

Logan Carney (Sports Now graphic department/Butler Eagle): 8-4

I think WVU is set up for a decent season. I’m a big fan of Garrett Greene and this offense, not to mention for the first time in his tenure, Neal Brown actually sees a lot of his starters return.

As everyone who is covering this team has been saying, WVU’s benefits rest with their offense – their QB, HBs, and OL – and experience while questions remain about their transfers in the secondary.

On the flip side, they also have a tough schedule again this year. Still dealing with Shane Lyons’ moronic decision to use 2/3 of his non-conference slots on P5 teams each year, WVU will host No. 8 Penn State and travel to Pitt for the Backyard Brawl. Both are tough games, and I only have WVU beating Pitt because WVU is the better team this year, but it being a road game – and yes WVU fans, Acrisure is a road environment – that game could go in favor of the Panthers.

Outside of that, I like No. 22 Arizona to win the conference this year, which pains me as a Sun Devil to admit, beating WVU in Arizona on the way. My other two losses for WVU are No. 18 Kansas State at home and on the road against No. 17 Oklahoma State.

All that being said, the Big 12 is wide open this year with a bunch of teams that are borderline top 25 and not a top 10 team residing in the conference. In an expanded playoff with the top five conference champions guaranteed a spot, one of these borderline top 25 programs is going to have a magical season.

While I have them at 8-4 – which would likely have them ranked, but not winning the conference – I don’t blame WVU fans for thinking it could be their team as the conference champions behind their team’s offense and experience.

Ethan Bock (WV Sports Now): 8-4

West Virginia fans may see an 8-4 season as a disappointment with the expectations coming in, but the Mountaineers have a tough schedule ahead of them. The first eight weeks feature five-preseason ranked opponents, which doesn’t even include a rivalry game in the Backyard Brawl. Neal Brown and his staff had a quiet offseason, in a good way, for the transfer portal/NIL era. A healthy amount of great production on the offensive side should keep West Virginia a competitive team for most of the season.

Mike Asti (WV Sports Now/Yardbarker): 8-4

At the end of the day, I do believe the 2024 Mountaineers are a better and more well rounded team than they were one year ago. But with that said, the schedule should be tougher, especially at the start of Big 12 play. I see WVU keeping it close with Penn State to open the season, but still falling short of the historic moment at home. I also believe the long road trip to Arizona will be too much and have that game circled as a loss. Add in a couple other “swing” games going the wrong way and West Virginia finishes 8-4.

I will add, I would not be surprised if WVU drops the season finale at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are not a better team or program, but that is a miserable road trip to end a season and could be a “trap” game before the bowl, or especially if it’s ahead of the Big 12 Championship Game with everything on the line.

An 8-4 season will likely mean Neal Brown continues on as head coach and most of the recruiting etc stays the same. So while I don’t envision a truly special year, certainly not the best in program history by any means, I also don’t see WVU falling off a cliff or 2023 being just some aberration. I expect a fun season and a solid bowl game appearance, but I don’t expect a Big 12 title.

In summary, only a few people have WVU truly contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff, either thanks to a Big 12 championship or an at-large bid. Ari Temkin is probably the only one of the 10 win projectors without a fan bias factored in. However, most of those polled do have West Virginia experiencing a quality season overall. On the flip side, one person does have the Mountaineers crawling to bowl eligibility late in the season.

For a related story, who are some potential breakout candidates for WVU in 2024? Also, who are the transfer additions poised for a big year?

For anyone curious, check out the accuracy of the 2023 predictions.