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WVU Big 12 Preseason Poll History: Where They Were Picked vs Where They Finished

Looking back at how WVU did compared to their preseason expectations.

The Big 12 Conference released the 2022 preseason poll on Thursday and for the fifth time in West Virginia's 11-year history as a member of the league, the Mountaineer football program was selected to finish eighth by the media. WVU has finished above expectations in three of the previous four years but no higher than sixth. 

This marks the ninth season West Virginia has been voted in the bottom half of the Big 12 preseason rankings, with an average ranking of 7.1 and ending the season on average at 5.8 - a differential of 1.3.  

Twice the Mountaineers were picked to finish second. The 2012 addition of the Mountaineers, headlined by Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, were expected to contend with Oklahoma for the Big 12 crown, only for Kansas State to claim the title while the Mountaineers finished eighth. 

Will Grier, David Sills and, Gary Jennings were leading the charge for a predicted second place finish in 2018 only to falter at the backend of the season with consecutive losses to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in the final two games of the season, finishing fourth in the league standings. 

Jul 14, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown speaks to the media during Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium.

West Virginia's best Big 12 regular season came in 2016 and marked the biggest jump from preseason to the final Big 12 results in program history. Predicted to finish seventh, Skylar Howard, Shelton Gibson and Wendall Smallwood, behind a stingy defense, led the Mountaineers to their first 10-win season in five years, including a program-high seven Big 12 wins and a program-best third place finish in the Big 12 standings. Overall, West Virginia holds a 44-45 Big 12 record in 10 seasons. 

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is entering his fourth year at the helm, and this is the third Big 12 preseason poll that his squad has been voted to finish eighth. The Mountaineers were predicted eighth in Brown's first two seasons but finished seventh and sixth, respectively. Last season, the Mountaineers were voted sixth and ended the season sixth. Brown holds an 11-15 conference record and 17-18 overall in three years. 

2022 Big 12 Preseason Standings (First place votes)

1. Baylor (17)

2. Oklahoma (12)

3. Oklahoma State (9)

4. Texas (2)

5. Kansas State

6. Iowa State (1)

7. TCU

8. West Virginia

9. Texas Tech

10. Kansas

2021 Big 12 Final Regular Season Standings

1. Oklahoma State 8-1

2. Baylor 7-2*

3. Oklahoma 7-2

4. Iowa State 5-4

5. Kansas State 4-5

6. West Virginia 4-5

7. Texas 3-6

8. TCU 3-6

9. Texas Tech 3-6

10. Kansas 1-8

*Big 12 Champions 

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