New Bowl Projections Revealed for WVU After Week 1

An updated look at where folks have the Mountaineers bowling this winter.

West Virginia's Cam Cook (4) breaks a tackle against Coastal Carolina's Chandavian Bradley (0) during an NCAA college football game in Morgantown, W.Va., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan) | (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

After watching last weekend's second half in the season opener, you're probably thinking there's no way in heck that West Virginia looks like a team that will become bowl-eligible.

But the way the Mountaineers looked in the first half, when they were actually running some offense and not just beating their head against the wall in the form of a loaded box, they were dominating Coastal Carolina, as they should.

It was very obvious that Rich Rodriguez didn't want to put anything on tape that he didn't have to, regardless of what he said about never thinking about any future game. He did admit to calling a conservative offense, though, which is partially what led to Coastal being able to climb back into it.

Assuming they are more of the team we saw in the first half, this team will absolutely make a bowl game, at a minimum. Speaking of bowl games, a fresh batch of projections has been released, and several outlets still have the Mountaineers going bowling.

Week 2 Bowl Projections for West Virginia

West Virginia University Football | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Athlon Sports: Cactus Bowl vs. Illinois

CBS Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. Missouri

College Football News: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Navy

ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Washington State

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Projected to miss a bowl

Pro Football Network: Projected to miss a bowl

Sports Illustrated: Liberty Bowl vs. South Carolina

West Virginia On SI: Cactus Bowl vs. Northwestern

Can the Mountaineers find four more wins beyond this weekend?

West Virginia University quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

I'm aware some fans hate when folks like me chalk up a win over an FCS opponent, but let's just face it: West Virginia is winning this weekend. WVU is 26-0 all-time against such opponents, and this isn't the one that's going to beat them, much less put a scare into them, with all due respect to UT Martin.

So by Saturday evening, West Virginia will just need four more wins with 10 games to go to make a bowl game. Five of those 10 remaining games are at home, and they will definitely have a strong contingent of fans in Charlotte against Virginia as well. If the defense gets things cleaned up, I think they are a slam dunk to get to a bowl game.

Big 12 Bowl ties for the 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)