Breaking Down WVU's 2024 Schedule Into Tiers

Categorizing each of games by level of difficulty.

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

I won't get into my final preseason record prediction for the Mountaineers just yet, but you may be able to guess where I'm leaning with this article. Today, I broke down West Virginia's 2024 schedule into tiers: No Sweat (a sure win), look like wins, coin flip, look like losses, and chances are slim to none.

NO SWEAT - vs. Albany

Albany is a good team by FCS standards, but they pose no threat to this Mountaineer team. Don't be surprised if the Danes compete for a while and give you a little scare early on, but there's no chance they walk out of Morgantown with a win. WVU is undefeated against such schools.

LOOK LIKE WINS - vs. Pitt, at Cincinnati, vs. Baylor, vs. UCF

Pitt lost most of its top tier talent and for a team that went 3-9, that's the last thing they could have afforded to have happen. I don't care where this game is played at, the Mountaineers are at worst, 7-point favorites.

The Bearcats will eventually be a bit of a problem in the Big 12 as they sit in a recruiting hotbed rich of high school football talent. It's going to take some time, however, before they have the depth to compete in the Big 12. Cincinnati may give WVU a good game, but I expect the Mountaineers to come out on top.

UCF is getting a ton of preseason love and I'm not exactly sure why. Sure, KJ Jefferson is an improvement at quarterback. Sure, the Knights have a ton of speed in the backfield. But are they worthy of being talked about as a Big 12 title contender? I don't think so.

COIN FLIP - vs. Kansas, vs. Iowa State, vs. Kansas State

Each of these three teams will give West Virginia a run for their money despite all three being at Mountaineer Field. This is part of a brutal five-game stretch for WVU and winning just two of these matchup would be considered a major positive. Losing two of these three pretty much dashes their hopes of a run at the Big 12 title.

LOOK LIKE LOSSES - vs. Penn State, at Oklahoma State, at Texas Tech

Penn State may be chalked up as an L by most, but I'll give WVU a little bit of hope. The Nittany Lions have three new coordinators and have a whole new wide receiver room and a lot of talent to replace on the offensive line.

If it were in Morgantown or a neutral field, I would have put the Oklahoma State game in the coin flip section. With it being in Stillwater, I give a hard lean to the Pokes. Mike Gundy always finds a way to do more with less and I expect that to be the same story in 2024. Oh yeah, and that Ollie Gordon guy is a bit of a problem.

The Red Raiders dealt with numerous key injuries a year ago and were unable to recover. Joey McGuire will have this team ready to bounce back and with it being the regular season finale, they'll want to send their seniors out the right way. Plus, Lubbock is not an easy place to play.

CHANCES ARE SLIM TO NONE - at Arizona

I was going to include this in the above section, but the more I think about it, it just feels very unlikely that WVU can make the trip out to Tucson a successful one. Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan are going to have a dynamic QB-WR connection and Fifita could play his way into the Heisman conversation.

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