Neal Brown's Eyes Are Set on Big 12 Title, College Football Playoffs

The West Virginia head football coach feels good about the group he has in 2024.

SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

After posting a 9-4 record in 2023, expectations are high for the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2024. Starting quarterback Garrett Greene returns alongside a top RB duo (CJ Donaldson/Jahiem White), essentially the entire wide receiver unit, and three key pieces of the offensive line.

Defensively, WVU returns a good chunk of it production in the front seven while they've retooled its secondary which appears to be improved, at least on paper. With arguably the most talent and depth Neal Brown has had in Morgantown, the Mountaineer head coach has his eyes set on accomplishing things that have never been done.

“It’s a challenge without question," Brown said about possibly making the playoff during an interview on the Zach Gelb Show. "But we’ve got a great opportunity to really get on the national landscape in Week 1. I feel strongly off our body of work from last season and who we have returning that we should be a preseason top 25 (team). The access to the playoff from where we’re sitting at West Virginia is much greater than it is in some of these schools in the SEC and Big Ten. That’s something we’re talking about. West Virginia has never been in the Big 12 Conference championship since 2012 and that’s the goal for us. The playoff…we know if we get to that game then more than likely we’re going to get into the playoff, so that’ll take care of itself. So for us, it’s about doing something that’s never been done and those daily processes to get us there.”

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