Don Nehlen is immortalized as WVU pummels visiting Cincinnati on Senior Day – The Gold and Blue Nation Podcast
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There is just one game left in the regular season. West Virginia enters the final regular season contest of the year with a 7-4 overall record, and has the chance to clinch just the fourth eight-win season since the program joined the Big 12 Conference.
The Mountaineers know they’re going bowling for the third time under Neal Brown. With just two weeks separating WVU from learning its bowl game opponent and destination, here are the latest postseason projections.
Action Network — Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Syracuse (Dec. 23)
West Virginia and Syracuse have not faced one another during the regular season since 2011, but the two programs have seen each other twice in the postseason since. The Orange have won the last four meetings in the series, which dates back to 1945. Syracuse fired head coach Dino Babers over the weekend.
Athlon Sports — AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs. South Carolina (Dec 29)
Don Nehlen manned the sidelines the last time West Virginia and South Carolina faced one another. WVU and USC have squared off twice in the postseason, with the Mountaineers winning the first meeting in the 1969 Peach Bowl.
CBS Sports — AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs. Mississippi State (Dec. 29)
A home-and-home series in 2006-07 are the only meetings to date between West Virginia and Mississippi State. West Virginia won both of those games. The Bulldogs’ athletics department fired first-year head coach Zach Arnett last week.
College Football Network — Guaranteed Rate Bowl vs. Nebraska (Dec. 26)
Tom Osborne’s No. 4-ranked Cornhuskers shut out the Mountaineers in the only meeting between the two programs in the 1994 season-opener. Matt Rhule is in his first year as head coach at Nebraska, and will be coaching for bowl eligibility this weekend against No. 20 Iowa.
ESPN — Guaranteed Rate Bowl vs. Illinois, OR AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs. Troy
ESPN’s bowl game prognosticators have conflicting opinions on what bowl game West Virginia will appear in. One has WVU returning to the desert to play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Illinois — a program the Mountaineers haven’t faced since 1973. The other projects a juicy matchup between Brown and his old team. WVU and Troy have never faced one another on the gridiron. The Trojans are 9-2 entering the regular-season finale.
Sporting News — Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Utah State (Dec. 23)
There’s no on-field history between West Virginia and Utah State. The Aggies suffered their sixth loss of the season over the weekend, meaning they will be playing for a postseason berth in the final game of the regular season.
