Iowa State Will Be West Virginia's Biggest Big 12 Home Game Since 2018

It's about to get rowdy in the mountains this upcoming Saturday.

BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When the new AP Top 25 rankings were released on Sunday afternoon, the Iowa State Cyclones checked in at No. 11. West Virginia still has some work to do before seeing a number next to its name, but taking down essentially what is a top-10 team could go a long way in doing seeing that ranking come to fruition.

This one on Saturday is massive for the Mountaineers. It's an opportunity to show the overall growth of a program under its head coach and to make a statement that they are indeed a player in this Big 12 Conference title race. It's not a game that will make or break West Virginia's season, but winning this matchup will give this team a ton of momentum and also, a lot of national attention. One thing to keep in mind is Neal Brown is 2-14 against top 25 opponents during his tenure as the WVU head coach.

Sifting back through recent schedules, it was difficult to find a game in league play that was more meaningful than the one they're about to play this Saturday. The last conference home game that meant a great deal, in my opinion, was the 2018 showdown with Oklahoma which was obviously before Neal Brown took the program over.

By winning this game, you increase your margin for error down the stretch. Everyone has talked extensively about this five-game stretch that WVU has to open its Big 12 schedule and if you're able to win the first three, you have to like where you stand. Sure, you would have loved to beat Pitt in the Backyard Brawl and probably should have. But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't impact West Virginia's chances to get to...dare I say it? The College Football Playoff.

There's a lot of football between now and the end of the season, so even mentioning the CFP may look ridiculous here in a couple of weeks, but for now, they control their destiny. And is there truly a better time for WVU to hold its first-ever "Coal Rush" than an 8 p.m. kickoff against a top-15 opponent? Morgantown is going to be rocking this Saturday, as it should. The fans have been through a lot since that 2018 loss to Oklahoma. They've been waiting for a game like this to pop back up for quite some time.

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