New Bowl Projections for WVU Following Their Win Over Cincinnati

Taking a look around where folks expect the Mountaineers to land this winter.

Oct 17, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers cornerback Geimere Latimer (1) celebrates a defensive stop during the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Personally, I never like to call a single game a "must-win" game because, technically, they all are.

But with regard to West Virginia's bowl hopes, they absolutely had to win this past weekend against Cincinnati. Falling to 3-4 is a tough hurdle to overcome, but even more so with the remaining schedule, which features some of the best teams the Big 12 Conference has to offer.

With WVU coming out on the right side of a 45-42 shootout with Cincinnati, the Mountaineers are starting to be featured in some bowl projections.

This week's bowl projections

Athlon Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. Oklahoma
CBS Sports: No projection
College Football News: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Army
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): No projection
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Cal
On3 Sports: No projection
Sports Illustrated: No projection
West Virginia On SI: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Washington

Can WVU find two more wins?

West Virginia University linebacker Ashton Woods celebrates with defensive lineman Yendor Mack after holding Cincinnati on fourth down. | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Remaining schedule

at TCU
at Texas Tech
vs. Kansas
vs. Houston
at Utah

Winning this weekend at TCU won't be easy, especially since the oddsmakers have them as near-touchdown underdogs, but it can be done.

The Horned Frogs don't necessarily have an explosive offense, and while this WVU defense has made everyone look good, it's probably the weakest offense they've seen yet in Big 12 play. The other side of that, though, is that TCU has the league's best defense.

If they do get this one, you'd have to like their chance to get one more win with four cracks at it. Everyone is circling the Kansas game as one they can grab, and rightfully so. They haven't looked good this year and might be 2-7 or 3-6 coming into that game.

The one WVU is going to want back right now is that Iowa State loss. They had multiple opportunities to get a stop at the end and couldn't, and then, of course, the fumble at the end by DJ Epps, although the loss didn't come down to that one play. If they had that, they'd be sitting at 5-2 right now and feeling pretty good about making the postseason.

Big 12 Bowl ties for 2026-27 season

Valero Alamo Bowl — Tuesday, December 29, 2026
Pop-Tarts Bowl — Tuesday, December 29, 2026
Kinder’s Texas Bowl — Thursday, December 31, 2026
AutoZone Liberty Bowl — Saturday, January 2, 2027
Cactus Bowl — Saturday, December 26, 2026
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl — Tuesday, December 22, 2026
ESPN Events Pool of Games (several bowls with indirect ties)