WVU Ranked Last and Phil Steele Says it All Comes Down to These Two Things

In his 2025 college football preview magazine, the czar of college football, Phil Steele, predicted West Virginia to finish 16th (dead last) in the conference.

It doesn't come as that much of a surprise, given the Mountaineers having over 70 newcomers, questions at quarterback, and a brand new coaching staff, but what gives them a bleaker outlook than, say, Cincinnati, UCF, or Houston?

For Phil, it's two things - the timing of the newcomers and the schedule. Steele explains in great detail in the latest episode of In the Gun.

"When I went over the team with Coach Rich Rod, a lot of the players on the team hadn't even been there yet. They brought in all these new players, but they came in after spring, a good portion of them, so they're going to have to get acclimated real quick in the fall.

"You mentioned UCF and Oklahoma State, the big thing is the schedule. You look at West Virginia's schedule this year, and I rate them as playing the second-toughest schedule in the Big 12. They have five Big 12 road games this year, and there's what I call the big boys in the conference; there are six of them. Guess what? West Virginia plays five: Arizona State, TCU, BYU, Utah, Texas Tech. The lightest team they play is UCF. I think Houston is much improved this year. They had a great defense last year. Colorado has come down towards the bottom of the Big 12, but Kansas looks good as well.

"When you look at where the games are played, I think Utah is one of the best teams in the Big 12. West Virginia hosts them, so I've got them an underdog in that game. I think TCU is one of the best teams in the Big 12. West Virginia hosts them, I've got them an underdog in that game. And the same thing with Texas Tech. There's five road games - Kansas, BYU. UCF, Houston, Arizona State - dogs in those games.

"And in reality, West Virginia is going to be picked 14th, 15th, or 16th by everybody. I just happened to put them at 16. I think the schedule had a lot to do with that. The fact that a lot of the players that are being counted on came in after spring practice, but I do mention in the magazine that Rich Rod surprised me two years ago at Jax State, where I picked them last, and they ended up winning nine games that year. I wouldn't put it past them, but that is a tough schedule."

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