WVU Football Falls Off Bowl Projections Ahead of Trip to Arizona

No matter what, WVU has always been projected to at least reach another bowl game this season…until now. West Virginia’s 45-18 loss to Kansas State dropped the Mountaineers to a 3-4 (2-2, Big 12) record and now off the board when it comes to bowl projections, according to one of the most veteran college football writers.

When Brett McMurphy of the Action Network released his latest bowl projections on Monday, he couldn’t find any room for WVU. Prior to the Kansas State game, McMurphy had the Mountaineers in the Liberty Bowl against Vanderbilt.

But since that time, Vanderbilt has jumped into the Associated Press Top 25, leaving WVU as one of only four FBS programs who has failed to be ranked by the AP in any week since 2019. And of course, West Virginia endured another embarrassing loss on national television.

This is now the second time this season McMurphy predicted WVU will miss bowl eligibility, also doing so after Pitt stormed back from down 10 in the final minutes to win the Backyard Brawl, 38-34.

Now in his sixth season as West Virginia’s head coach, Brown has three bowl appearances and two bowl victories. Brown beat Army in the 2020 Liberty Bowl, lost to Minnesota in the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl and then won the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The Mountaineers failed to reach a bowl game under Brown in 2019 and 2022, finish at 5-7 both seasons.

Historically, the WVU football program has appeared in 40 bowl games (tied with BYU for 23rd for most all-time). West Virginia owns a 17-23 record in bowl games.

Up next for WVU as they look to turn their season around is a cross-country road trip to Arizona.

On Sunday, DraftKings set Arizona as a slim favorite in their opening line for the first meeting between the schools Big 12 foes. The line has since moved more towards Arizona s a 3-point favorite on most sports books.

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, Ariz., will be televised on FS1 at 7 pm ET.

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