CBS Sports Projects Another Bottom of the Barrel Finish for WVU in 2026

Expectations should still be reasonably low in year two of Rich Rod 2.0 in Morgantown, but to think this will be a bottom of the barrel team again in 2026 is a bit bold.

CBS Sports' Shehan Jeyarajah is rolling with that bold prediction, placing West Virginia 15th in his Big 12 power rankings.

"West Virginia had some exciting moments and some forgettable ones in Rich Rodriguez's first season back in Morgantown. Amazingly, the Mountaineers now bring in 69 new players to completely reshape the roster once again. Even exciting young quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. wasn't safe, as the Mountaineers added Oklahoma quarterback transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. There'll probably be a few more highs the second time around, but at some point, we simply have to see some consistency."

Well, for starters, it's more than 69 newcomers. Try 80+.

That said, much of the 2025 roster were guys that were only going to be here for a year anyway. They had a bunch of seniors and then a lot of guys that I like to call roster fillers. Rodriguez was hired late in the process a year ago and missed out on the high school signing period and the first big wave of the transfer portal. He and his staff were just trying to fill out a team.

Half of the time, I really question how much research is done when others dig into the roster turnover. Yes, there are reasons to be skeptical, but they raised the floor (and ceiling) of just about every position group. The offensive line is going to be much, much better. They landed the nation's leading running back in Cam Cook and have two promising dual-threat quarterbacks on the roster. Combine that with a much more manageable schedule in 2026, and you should see marked improvement in year two.

How in the world is West Virginia behind Colorado, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State? You know, the team that has maybe more roster turnover than anyone in college football and has a first-year head coach in place.

Let's not forget that Rodriguez's team suffered a rash of injuries in 2025, which played a major part in why they were not competitive in the first half of league play. As bad as they were, they played much better down the stretch, competing against TCU, beating Colorado, taking down No. 22 Houston, and falling just shy of Arizona State.

If Rodriguez can get that out of that squad, he's going to get a whole heck of a lot more out of this group in 2026.

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