West Virginia Sits Ahead of 15 Power Four Schools in ESPN's SP+ Rankings

The lack of returning production hurts the Mountaineers in this ranking system.

Sep 7, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Jahiem White (1) runs the ball during the first quarter against the Albany Great Danes at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The post-spring/way-too-early ESPN SP+ power rankings came out on Thursday and West Virginia checked in at No. 57.

What are the SP+ rankings exactly?

Well, it's a formula that measures how good a team will be based on returning production, which WVU has very little of, recent recruiting, and recent history. Returning production, according to Bill Connelly, "makes up about two-thirds of the projections formula."

Considering the Mountaineers will have well over 60 newcomers this season, it's a little surprising to see them ahead of 15 other Power Four teams. Those schools? Oklahoma State, Houston, Arizona, UCF, Boston College, Michigan State, California, Cincinnati, Maryland, Mississippi State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Stanford, and Purdue.

For WVU to be as high as they are, the formula has to like what WVU did in the transfer portal, since the recent history has been pretty ugly in terms of the win-loss column.

Below is a look at where each opponent on WVU's schedule is ranked

Robert Morris - N/A (FCS)

Ohio - 80

Pitt - 47

Utah - 31

Kansas - 50

BYU - 27

UCF - 61

TCU - 31

Houston - 59

Colorado - 52

Arizona State - 22

Texas Tech - 26

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