Nick Saban Believes WVU Has 'A Chance' to Contend in the Big 12

The West Virginia native is starting to buy stock in the Mountaineers.

Jan 1, 2026; Pasadena, CA, USA; Nick Saban on the ESPN College Gameday set during the 2026 Rose Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Rose Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Milan Puskar Stadium is going to be rocking Saturday night under the lights for the Mountaineers' Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State. With a win, not only will they begin league play 1-0, but they will almost certainly become a ranked team by Sunday afternoon.

Legendary Alabama head coach and West Virginia native, Nick Saban, didn't wait around until tomorrow morning to reveal his pick for this one. He let it out this afternoon during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

“I think there’s a lot of teams in the Big 12 that actually have a chance, and I think West Virginia, obviously, is one of the teams that’s a little bit of a surprise. The one thing I like about West Virginia in this game against Oklahoma State… when you can run the ball like they run the ball… the quarterback and the tailback, you can shrink the game. And when you’re playing against a team like Oklahoma State, who is going to throw it, and the quarterback’s going to be the whole game and all that, if you can keep the ball away from them enough and can control the tempo of the game by running it, I think that gives you a hell of a chance to win.”

Last week, he had a lot of folks in the state mad because he picked Virginia to beat WVU in Charlotte. Don't worry, Nick; I picked the Cavaliers too. Saban explained the reasoning for picking Virginia a week ago and told McAfee he's going with the Mountaineers this week.

“I’m picking them. But you know sometimes, when you pick the other team… You know, I used to hate it when I was a coach, and we had a night game or whatever, and we were watching gameday in a room with Ms. Terry, and you guys all picked Alabama. It used to piss me off. I wanted you guys to pick somebody else. I knew that our players were sitting there listening to how they were getting picked, and that rat poison is just pouring in, and now everybody thinks we’re going to win. That’s why I picked Virginia (last week). It finally comes out.”

“I think it’s great because the people in West Virginia have a lot of pride," Saban said about Rich Rodriguez being back in Morgantown and winning. "You know, I’m from there. We all have a lot of pride in our state, and he’s a West Virginia guy. And for him to be successful there makes it double good.”