Updated Bowl Projections for West Virginia
The West Virginia Mountaineers sit at 5-3 on the season with just two games remaining finishing on the road at Iowa State (Dec. 5) and ending with Oklahoma at home (Dec. 12).
The Big 12 Conference champion is contracted to appear in the Sugar Bowl, but this season, it is reserved for the College Football Playoff Semifinals. However, according to the Big 12 Conferences' official website, each conference champion from the contract bowls (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC & Pac 12) has a guaranteed spot in its contracted bowl or in another New Year's bowl (Peach, Fiesta or Cotton) if the contracted bowl is a semifinal game and the conference champion is not selected to participate in a semifinal game. The highest-ranked champion from the Mountain West, American, Conference USA, Sun Belt, or MAC is guaranteed a spot in a CFP bowl, and the remaining spots are filled based on the rankings of teams after the contract bowls have been filled.
The Big 12 annually has seven bowl affiliations and eight during even years with the First Responders Bowl.
We take a look at where some of the experts project the Mountaineers postseason fate.
Big 12 Conference Bowl Affiliations (In order of selection)
Sugar Bowl
Valero Alamo Bowl
Cheez-It Bowl
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl
First Responders Bowl (During Even Seasons)
ESPN
Kyle Bonagura - Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs. Kentucky
Mark Schlabach – Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs Ole Miss
CBS
Jerry Palm - Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs. Arkansas
Sporting News
Bill Bender – Guaranteed Rate Bowl
West Virginia vs. Maryland
Athlon Sports
Steven Lassan - Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs. Kentucky
247 Sports
Brad Crawford – Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs. Ole Miss
College Football News
Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs Arkansas
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