ESPN Predicts Lousy Bowl Destinations for WVU

If West Virginia ends up at either of these bowls, it will be a major step in the wrong direction.

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Despite coming off of a nine-win season and returning most of their key talent on both sides of the ball, West Virginia is not being viewed as a true contender in the Big 12. As a matter of fact, most analysts and sportsbooks believe they'll barely become bowl eligible.

On Wednesday, ESPN college football analysts Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach made their preseason bowl projections.

Kyle Bonagura: vs. South Carolina in Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Mark Schlabach: vs. Kentucky in AutoZone Liberty

Excuse me? The Gasparilla Bowl? What are we doing here? I mean, the Liberty Bowl isn't a great projection either, but it has at least a little more history and value. For either of these projections to hold true, this likely means West Virginia only picks up six or seven wins. I just can't envision a scenario where this actually happens. Oh wait, maybe one - injuries, and a lot of them.

Why so many folks are down on West Virginia, I have no idea. If they just look at the percentage of returning players on defense and think, wow, this team is in some trouble, that's lazy research. While WVU's defense may not be a top of the league unit, it's going to be significantly better than it was in 2023. They have two solid corners that will allow them to play press coverage, they have more experience at safety, and a very talented linebacker group that is as deep as it's ever been.

Don't be shocked if you see these nearly weekly bowl projections change dramatically for WVU within the first few weeks of the regular season.

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