The West Virginia Mountaineers will be looking to stay relevant in the Big 12 in 2019, but with a sea of changes taking place with the gridiron program following their modest 8-4 season from a year ago, no one knows just what to expect as Year 1 of the Neal Brown era gets underway.
If you’re looking to find out just how many victories West Virginia will likely record this coming season in the hopes of cashing in big on their value-packed NCAAF win total odds in the online sportsbook, then you’ve come to the right place.
Thanks to the expert collegiate gridiron analysis and predictions that you’re about to get, you’re going to have a great idea of just how many games the Big 12 title hopefuls are going to win in 2019 and whether they’ll challenge for the national championship. Now, let’s get started.
West Virginia Mountaineers 2019 Season Win / Loss Total Odds & Betting Prediction
2018 Team Leaders
- Touchdowns: David Sills V (15)
- Rushing: Kennedy McKoy (802)
- Passing: Will Grier (3864)
- Receiving: David Sills V (986)
- Interceptions: Kenny Robinson Jr. (4)
Why West Virginia Will Top Their Win Total Odds?
There are some good reasons to believe West Virginia will top their modest win total odds of five victories. First, there’s the fact that the Mountaineers have won at least seven games in each of the last five seasons under former head coach Dana Holgorsen.
Then, there’s the fat that Neal Brown has proven to be a successful head coach by going 31-8 at Troy the past three seasons after going 4-8 in his first season at the school. The 38-year-old is one of just six FBS coaches with 10 victories in each of the past three seasons. In 2017, his Trojans upset No. 25 LSU 24-21 to end the Tigers’ 49-game non-conference winning streak at Tiger Stadium.
Brown inherits a quality stable of running backs that includes Kennedy McKoy, powerful running back Martell Pettaway and sophomores Leddie Brown and Alec Sinkfield. Last but not least, Brown also has some quality players on the defensive side of the ball, starting with junior college defensive end Taijh Alston, junior nose guard Darius Stills and his brother, nose tackle Dante Stills.
Why West Virginia Won’t Top Their Win Total Odds?
On the flip side of the coin, there are also a bunch of good reasons to expect the Mountaineers to come up short of topping their win total odds.
The Mountaineers will have a new quarterback under center with former starter Will Grier moving on the the NFL after tossing an insane 71 TD passes and just 20 interceptions the last two years. While Brown did manage to entice Oklahoma graduate transfer Austin Kendall to join the program and he’ll likely start over junior Jack Allison and redshirt freshman Trey Lowe, although replacing Grier is clearly going to be super difficult.
Another reason West Virginia might struggle this coming season is the fact that Brown has some real question marks on the offensive line. Left tackle Yodny Cajuste is off to the NFL and there are question marks at center, left guard and right tackle as well. Last but not least, the general consensus is that Brown is basically starting over with a program that has lost a lot of talent and has a ton of inexperience on both sides of the ball.
Prediction
The Mountaineers will get by James Madison in their opener and I expect them to handle NC State and Texas Tech at home later in the season while taking out Kansas on the road. However, outside of those wins, I’m thinking West Virginia is in for trouble against the likes of Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, not to mention road dates at Baylor, K-State and TCU look like potential losses as well.
No matter how hard I try to see the Mountaineers reaching the six-win mark, I just don’t see it happening. Five victories sounds about right for West Virginia and Neal Brown as he takes the first steps toward rebuilding the program in his image. 2019 will be a struggle, but Brown has proven his chops and the future could be bright for the Big 12 longshots, just not in this coming season!
Pick: 5 Wins
