Big 12 Power Rankings: Terrible Start to the Season for Big 12 Only Gets Worse

Aug 31, 2013; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver K.J. Myers (19) celebrates a WVU touchdown against the William

8. West Virginia Mountaineers

Record: 2-1 (0-1)

Previous Ranking: (Trend: Down)

Last Week: West Virginia 41, Georgia State 7

This Week: at Maryland

Next Week: vs. Oklahoma State

This Maryland game is going to be crucial to the Mountaineers hopes of making a bowl game this season. A loss means they have to pick up four win in Big 12 play, which seems like a tall order at this point. However, a win means they only need to knock off Kansas, Iowa State, and then win one of Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas State. Baylor and Oklahoma State are technically also possibilities for wins but that’s unlikely.

West Virginia needs to take a similar game plan that they had against Oklahoma into their trip to Maryland. While the Terripans are 3-0, they are a soft 3-0, with their best win coming at Connecticut. In that game, Maryland struggled mightily against the pass. While WVU’s passing offense isn’t what it was last season, their philosophy should still work against the ACC school.

A win here would be huge for the conference as the Big 12 doesn’t have very many non-conference wins against BCS schools. Win this game, and West Virginia could do a lot for both their conference and their bowl chances.