College GameDay Crew Predicts West Virginia vs. No. 25 Virginia

Well, this is no surprise...underdog mode activated.

Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit listen to Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding speak during ESPN College GameDay ahead of the Ole Miss-LSU game in The Grove in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

For the first time this season, the West Virginia Mountaineers are playing a challenging game, and because they are entering this one with a 2-0 record, their matchup against No. 25 Virginia was one of the several games the ESPN College GameDay crew predicted at the end of their show this morning.

Before I list the picks, can you guess how the selections went? I bet you can.

Desmond Howard: Virginia

"I'm going with Tony Elliott. I like what he's doing so far with UVA, so I'm going with Virginia.

Nick Saban: Virginia

"You know I love West Virginia. I'm from West Virginia, but I'm picking Virginia."

Pat McAfee: West Virginia

"What the hell was that?" McAfee said in response to Saban's pick. "I'll take West Virginia Mountaineers. We run the ball. I think we have like 120 rushes, 20 passes. Rich Rodriguez is going to go in there in a hostile environment against Beau (Pribula), and I think we pound the rock. Now, could definitely lose this one, but I like West Virginia to win this one and set up a whole new Big 12 scenario."

Morgan Freeman: Virginia

"You know what I like about you?" Freeman said to Pat. "You can talk. I am sorry. I'm going, Virginia."

Kirk Herbstreit: Virginia

"You know a guy a lot of people forgot about him because of Week 1: he opened up NC State, Beau Pribula, the transfer from Missouri...I really think he's going to have a chance to have a big game today. And as much as Pat's pulling for that underdog (shakes his head), I think Virginia at home, Pribula gets it done.

Oh, Herbie, Herbie, Herbie..

I guess Herbie didn't do too much research on this one. If he did, he would have realized that this game is being played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, not Charlottesville, Virginia. Oh, and it's going to be a HEAVY West Virginia crowd. At the end of the day, it wouldn't have mattered if he knew where the game was being played or how the crowd split; the prediction would have remained the same, and I think Mountaineer fans like it that way.

We'll see how it all plays out later tonight when the Mountaineers and Cavaliers tee things up at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game on the ACC Network or on the Watch ESPN app.