Five Thoughts on WVU's 2023 Football Schedule

Earlier in the week, the Big 12 Conference unveiled the conference schedule for next football season, completing the full slate for West Virginia and the other 13 members of the newly expanded league.

West Virginia will play an even split of six home, six road games. They'll play four at home in league play and five on the road. The schedule is highlighted by non-conference clashes with Penn State and Pitt and sandwiched in between is the home opener against Duquesne, rounding out a full non-con slate of games with the Keystone State.

Here are a few of my thoughts on WVU's 2023 schedule:

WVU to play each of the four new members

It was a given that the Mountaineers would compete against Cincinnati and Central Florida, but I was unsure about BYU and Houston. One could argue that facing these four rather than Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Texas make the slate less difficult. It would have made sense to at least keep Iowa State on the schedule and kick Houston off to make travel a little easier, but the Big 12 could care less about that.

Brutal start to the year

Not only does West Virginia have the Backyard Brawl, but they have to open the season in Happy Valley against Penn State. Not to mention, their Big 12 opener is against a surging Texas Tech team followed by TCU, who just went to the College Football Playoff. If the Mountaineers begin the season 1-4 or 2-3, Neal Brown's seat will be hotter than it's ever been.

Same bye week as last year

WVU will play five games before its bye week (Oct. 7) where they'll spend time getting ready for a Thursday night game in Houston. Following that game, they'll have a "mini bye" with a couple of extra days to prepare for its next game against Oklahoma State.

No soft spot on the schedule

I may be saying something completely different a few months from now when more movement happens with the portal following spring ball, but this appears to be the toughest schedule WVU has had in quite a while. Aside from Duquesne, there aren't any guaranteed wins. And to be honest, I don't know if the Mountaineers will be favored in more than two-three other games besides that. It's going to be a challenging path to six wins.

What is home?

After the month of September, the first month of the season, West Virginia will only play three games at Mountaineer Field. Five of the last eight games are on the road. The only home games? October 21st vs Oklahoma State, November 4th vs BYU, and November 18th vs Cincinnati. Yes, I know WVU plays three straight at home after the season opener, but I'm sure Neal Brown wouldn't mind having a home game in a different spot to break up the monotony of hitting the road week after week.

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