WVU HC Neal Brown Not Shying Away from Magnitude of Remaining Games

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Labeling the final four games of the 2024 season as “important” to West Virginia would be an understatement. Based on everything that’s happened so far this year, WVU head coach Neal Brown knows magnitude of finishing strong, saying as much during his weekly press conference on Monday.

Coming off a necessary week off, granted one that included a big change to his coaching staff, Brown’s opening statement of the week tells the whole story about the mindset of the Mountaineers.

“The fate of our season will be determined in the next four weeks. We’re fired up,” said Brown.

WVU HC Neal Brown: “The fate of our season will be determined in the next four weeks. We’re fired up.”

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) November 4, 2024

Sitting at 4-4 but 3-2 in the Big 12, Brown also shared his outlook as far as the conference race. While most WVU fans are busy wanting him fired and orchestrating ways to voice their displeasure, Brown reiterated that “the league is still wide open” and West Virginia is far from out of it.

He even mentioned that he has always felt a team with two conference losses is going to end up in Dallas playing for the Big 12 title. Brown brought up both Iowa State and Kansas State, the two schools who handed the Mountaineers their two conference losses to date, losing shows anyone can beat anyone and you don’t have to be unblemished to contend this season.

But Brown is also taking each game as it comes, making the upcoming matchup with Cincinnati the only focus right now.

With both teams coming off bye weeks and looking to close the season on a high note, oddsmakers view WVU as a slight underdog when they travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats.

On Sunday, DraftKings and FanDuel opened their Week 11 lines with Cincinnati as a 3.5-point favorite over the Mountaineers. For other major sportsbooks, Circa Sports is even more confident in the Bearcats with them at -4.

WVU enters the matchup at 4-4 (3-2, Big 12) while Cincinnati stands at 5-3 (3-2, Big 12).

In the first ever meeting between the schools as Big 12 foes, West Virginia beat Cincinnati 42-21 in convincing fashion in Morgantown during the 2023 season.

For a related story, a. national analyst argues firing Jordan Lesley signals WVU will be retaining Neal Brown.