It’s no secret the start to the season for WVU has been no sunshine and roses. Despite much offseason hype from local and national news outlets, the Mountaineers struggled in out of conference play, going 1-2 including a fourth quarter collapse to rival Pitt on the road.
To start Big 12 play, WVU looked like it would fall to 1-3 and 0-1 in conference play but some late fourth quarter heroics by the whole team has the Mountaineers back in position to make some noise in the Big 12 conference.
Everything still stands in front of Neal Brown and company with long term goals for the season. That’s the beauty of the new college football playoffs. Nobody is ever out of the running until conference play. With West Virginia being able to pick up a much needed win to start their Big 12 play, it now puts themselves back into the conversation.
So what happens if WVU is able to beat the Cowboys on the road this upcoming Saturday? It would certainly put belief and fire back into the program which fans saw all offseason leading up to week one. But beyond the obvious ‘a win makes the team and fans happy,’ there is a deeper level in the Big 12 standings that will go a long way for WVU should they pull out a win.
First, it would keep the Mountaineers undefeated in the Big 12. That is the most obvious one. However, it would also bump Oklahoma State, a team picked by many to win the conference, down to 0-3 in the conference and completely out of the running for one of the two championship game spots.
Another layer on top of it all is the matchup between Arizona and Texas Tech, two teams that are both undefeated in the Big 12 and currently ahead of WVU, who sits at sixth in the standings. Either the Wildcats or Red Raiders are bound to lose that game which would bump WVU up just one more spot with a win.
While jumping one spot in the standings might not seem like such a big deal, that one spot further solidifies the Mountaineers controlling their own destiny to play in Dallas come December.
The matchup between WVU and Oklahoma State is a pivotal game for both programs. The Cowboys will be in desperate need of a conference win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and the Mountaineers will look to pick up a massive win to start their toughest stretch of play of the season.
With two teams having so much on the line, it is bound to make for some fireworks in Stillwater. The game is set for a 4:00 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 5. The game can be viewed on ESPN2.
