On Tuesday, West Virginia takes on No. 25 Memphis in the 2025 Frisco Bowl.
The Mountaineers are 6-6 and have had a crazy last couple of weeks. Memphis is 10-2 and barely missed a chance to play in the American Conference Championship.
Our staff gives their predictions:
Ryan Roddy: It has been an absolute roller coaster of a season for West Virginia. The regular season ended with a bad loss and Neal Brown getting fired. Some players entered the transfer portal, but most stayed, for now at least. The Mountaineers also have a deep class of seniors who will be graduating from the program. Memphis is a well-rounded team. They’ve put together some high-scoring performances but also have the ability to shut down their opponent. Their quarterback, Seth Hannigan, has had himself a year. Throwing for over 3,200 yards and 23 touchdowns. As a four-year starter, he has the experience. I expect Memphis to be well-coached. I predict they come out slinging it on offense, looking for holes in West Virginia’s secondary. For WVU, I think they may come out flat offensively and have struggles defensively at times. The Mountaineers, while playing for a chance to remain a starter or at a different university, the NFL, they just don’t have the momentum right now. It will be interesting to see how Chad Scott prepared this team, but I just can’t see West Virginia taking this one.
Memphis 27, West Virginia 17
Tanner Mountz: What started as what felt like could be a super unimportant game with little meaning for WVU all of a sudden has the chance to change the future of the program. It will be interesting to see how hard the players play, especially players with eligibility remaining. Not only will players be playing to make a statement for themselves in the transfer portal, but they now have the chance to impress new head coach Rich Rodriguez to try and stay on the team. Memphis will bring in a very solid rushing attack, something the Mountaineers have been hot and cold with stopping this season. With the whole team expected to play in the game, it will be one last chance to see some of WVU’s biggest names over the last couple of seasons such as projected first round pick Wyatt Milum and Garrett Greene. If WVU comes out and plays with the fire, I expect they will have; I could see Chad Scott leading West Virginia to a ranked win in a bowl game.
Lilly Reisenweber: While Memphis is ranked 25th nationally and holds a better season record (10-2) than West Virginia (6-6), I think the Mountaineers can finish their season with a bowl win. West Virginia faced a rigorous 2024 schedule with tough competition and more competitive conference matchups. Several of their losses were to ranked teams such as Penn State, Iowa State, and Kansas State. Despite coaching changes, if the Mountaineers enter this game with the right mindset, I believe they will come out on top.
West Virginia 31, Memphis 28
