Are the Mountaineers Contenders in the Big 12? We're About to Find Out

With a win this Saturday in Fort Worth, Neal Brown will have achieved a couple of "new heights". It would mark his best start through five games (4-1) at WVU and would also be the first time the Mountaineers have begun conference play 2-0 during his tenure.

It could also mark the beginning of the climb.

Entering the season, Brown had a lot of pressure on him to win. Three losing seasons in four years is more than enough to put a coach on the hot seat and with a new athletic director at the helm, first impressions are everything. Losing this game doesn't raise the temperature of Brown's seat by any means, but winning it does him a whole lot of good.

If you look at the remaining schedule, West Virginia will likely be favored in four, possibly five games. Those games being at Houston, vs. Oklahoma State, vs. BYU, vs. Cincinnati, and at Baylor. I've said all along that seven wins should be enough for Brown to keep his job. Anything more than that is icing on the cake, in my opinion, especially given the quarterback situation.

ESPN FPI Gives Major Boost to WVU's Odds for Remaining Games

AD Wren Baker has made it very clear before that he is not going to dangle a win-total in front of Neal's face for him to reach in order to keep his job. You can feel good about the direction of a program with six wins and you can also feel a little uneasy about the future in an eight-win season. It's more than just wins and losses. It's about how competitive you are in your losses, the teams you beat, and the ones you lose to, as well as off-the-field progress in terms of academics and building a culture.

Since Brown has been on the job, he's never been able to fully get the fanbase to "Trust the Climb" but if he somehow finds a way to pull off the upset over the Frogs, optimism will be at an all-time high (in his tenure) with a 4-1 (2-0) record riding into the bye week.

Meaningful football in November has been non-existent in Morgantown since 2018. And believe it or not, there is a path for this team, who was picked to finish dead last in the preseason poll, to reach November with a chance to contend.

"To do that, you've got to defend your home turf which we've done so far. And then you've got to go beat quality teams on the road," Brown said earlier this week. "And this is the first opportunity we've had in league play. We've got to prove that we're a contender. We're 1-0 but I'm not sure that we've grabbed national attention or anything yet. We got to continue to win games."

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