After a 9-4 season in 2023, the West Virginia Mountaineers seem to be a shoe-in for bowl eligibility this season, but the question lies in just how far they will go.
Brett McMurphy of Action Network HQ released his first bowl projections of the season on Monday. Though McMurphy left WVU out of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, he naturally recognized the Mountaineers with a spot in one of the 35 non-playoff bowl games.
If McMurphy’s projections land, West Virginia would travel to Fort Worth, Texas on Dec. 27 for the Armed Forces Bowl. The Mountaineers would play Air Force in the Falcons’ eighth appearance in the “Bowl for the Brave.”
Though West Virginia will be campaigning for a College Football Playoff appearance this season, starting with a matchup against McMurphy’s projected ninth seed Penn State, the Armed Forces Bowl would not be an unfavorable landing spot. Last season’s game featured Air Force winning for the second straight year, this time over 11-2 James Madison, 31-21.
The Armed Forces Bowl, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, has featured a military academy team, whether that be Air Force, Army, or Navy, for seven of the last 10 seasons. Five teams ranked in AP’s top 25 poll have played in the game, including James Madison, who competed as the No. 24 team in the nation last season.
Outside of West Virginia, the Big 12 earned plenty of praise in McMurphy’s Week 0 projections. 11 Big 12 programs earned spots in the projected bowl games, including Utah, who represents the Big 12 alone in McMurphy’s College Football Playoff predictions landing as the fourth seed in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
WVU will fight to join College Football Playoff projections starting Aug. 31 at home against Penn State. The game kicks off at noon in Morgantown’s Milan Puskar Stadium.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
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