Pat McAfee is All In on WVU This Week as His Super Dog Pick Against Kansas

Can West Virginia do more than cover the spread? Pat McAfee thinks so.
Pat McAfee takes the stage at ESPN College GameDay ahead of the University of Oklahoma-Michigan College football game on Sep 6, 2025 in Norman.
Pat McAfee takes the stage at ESPN College GameDay ahead of the University of Oklahoma-Michigan College football game on Sep 6, 2025 in Norman. | Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This morning on ESPN's College GameDay, former Mountaineer kicker/punter Pat McAfee picked West Virginia as his super dog pick of the week.

“I wasn’t allowed to pick them last week in the Backyard Brawl, but I’ll take West Virginia this week, getting 13.5 in Kansas," McAfee said. "You know, Rich Rodriguez was on the phone earlier this week, and he said, ‘Are we two touchdown underdogs? Oh, well, maybe we’ll try to get a first down. The boys are going to fight.”

When talking about moving past the Backyard Brawl and the messaging to his team this week, Rodriguez told McAfee, “The first quarter (of the season) is over. There’s some good, some bad. There’s stuff to learn from and get better at. Somebody said we’re 14-point underdogs or something like that, so we’ve got something to prove again this weekend. I hope we can get a first down. I hope that everybody comes out of the game healthy.”

The situation is one of the worst you'll see in college football, maybe all year. Phil Steele even said it will be the toughest situation a Big 12 team will enter this season during his appearance on In the Gun.

Kansas is coming off a bye, off a loss to its bitter rival, while West Virginia is entering this one feeling extremely good about itself (and rightfully so) after having erased a 10-point deficit to beat Pitt in overtime. It's a clear let-down spot, and given Lance Leipold's 5-1 record coming off a bye, it makes sense why everything is leaning in the Jayhawks' direction.

That said, when you get deep into the weeds of the matchup, the two are pretty similar. If West Virginia had beaten Marshall last week, or maybe had they just not lost in Week 2 to Ohio, I don't think this line is anywhere near double digits. The Mountaineers and Jayhawks are scheduled to kick things off at approximately 6 p.m. ET. You can watch the game live on FS1.

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Here’s What to Expect From Marchiol, Edwards and WVU’s Top Playmakers Saturday

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

Schuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.

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