Why is West Virginia Unranked in the Preseason Top 25?

Monday afternoon, the AP Top 25 released its first batch of rankings for the 2024 college football season. And as you would probably guess, the West Virginia Mountaineers were not included. They did, however, receive 17 votes.

It’s not all that shocking that WVU continues to get overlooked heading into this season, but why does it keep happening?

For one, many voters probably look at last season as an anomaly. When you look at WVU’s strength of schedule heading into last year, it didn’t appear very favorable. By season’s end, everyone viewed it as a soft schedule. On top of that, this year’s schedule, on paper at least, looks way more challenging with WVU’s first five Big 12 games coming against teams picked to finish ahead of them.

I hate to be this harsh about it, but it’s the truth…some of these voters put very little time into submitting their rankings and just go with what they’ve seen and heard rather than doing their own research to justify why certain teams are in as opposed to others.

The biggest misconception I continue to see with this team is that the defense is going to be what holds this team back. They just see how many new players are projected to start and think this isn’t an experienced group when in reality it is. They brought in two rock-solid veteran corners in Ayden Garnes and Garnett Hollis Jr., added a freakish athlete of a pass rusher in Ty French, added depth in the front seven with DL TJ Jackson and LB Reid Carrico, and a handful of others in the secondary.

Many of these voters probably don’t realize that linebacker Josiah Trotter was expected to play a bunch and potentially start as a true freshman before he was lost with a knee injury. The coaches view him as a starter, and they should. Fellow linebacker Trey Lathan led the team in QB hits despite playing in just four games. And because of Lathan’s absence, Ben Cutter was able to step in and gain a ton of experience.

All offseason long, this West Virginia team has been overlooked and undervalued. Head coach Neal Brown spoke on this last week when asked about receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.

“If you just look at our resume and how we finished the year, the number of quality wins we had a year ago and what we have coming back on both sides of the ball…with a convincing bowl win, year to year if you just put blind resumes up, that resume is going to get in the top 25. With nine wins in a Power Four conference with a bowl win, and with the returning experience. So what gives? I don’t know. To me, it goes back to some of our better players and I’ve said this on repeat but some of our better players are being undervalued, especially Garrett Greene. You have to go prove them.”

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