WVU is the most winningist team in the NCAA without a National Champioship.
They have had many successful years throughout the program’s history, including a recent stretch in the early 2000s when they believed they would find the holy grail.
It has now been around six years since the Mountaineers last appeared in the AP Top 25 poll, with their most recent ranking coming in 2018 under head coach Dana Holgorsen.
That team was led by quarterback Will Grier, wide receiver David Sills V, and linebacker David Long Jr. All three were drafted into the NFL.
Mountaineer fans are still waiting for those moments to return and hope they will come again. Under head coach Neal Brown, who took over in 2019, here are the Mountaineers’ records by season:
- 2019: 5-7
- 2020: 6-4
- 2021: 6-7
- 2022: 5-7
- 2023: 9-4
- 2024: 3-4 (so far)
During Brown’s tenure, the Mountaineers have appeared in three bowl games (2-1) winning: the 2020 Liberty Bowl against Army and the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl against North Carolina.
However, Brown’s record against AP Top 25 teams is a lackluster 3-17. All three wins occurred in or before 2021, meaning WVU has not beaten a ranked team in nearly three years. Additionally, none of those three wins came against teams that finished the season ranked in the Top 25
The Mountaineers are now in an unfortunate category. With Vanderbilt breaking into the rankings this season, only West Virginia, Texas Tech, and Rutgers remain among the Power 4 programs that have not appeared in the AP Top 25 since 2019.
West Virginia extended the contract of Coach Neal Brown through 2027 after the win in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl Game last season. It was his best season as head coach here, but it seems as the Mountaineers are falling into the same scenario that they have been in for a majority of his tenure.
It is unclear what the next move is for the program. The Mountaineers have now lost two consecutive home primetime games against ranked Big 12 opponents. They suffered a collapse in the highly anticipated Backyard Brawl, blowing a 10-point lead with less than five minutes remaining. Furthermore, the team looked unprepared in the season opener, a sold-out game against Penn State.
