The West Virginia Mountaineers are expected to be the best thoroughbred in the BIG EAST stable when the 2008 football campaign kicks off in spite of the fact West Virginia is under new leadership in first year head coach Bill Stewart. Stewart was elevated to the head job on an interim basis when Rich Rodriguez departed for Michigan in December. Following the Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma, the interim tag was removed and the job was Stewart’s for good. At BIG EAST media days meetings in Newport, R.I. in July, the Mountaineers received 22 of 24 first place votes in a poll by media representatives.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook SBGglobal.com have installed the Mountaineers as -125 favorites to win the BIG EAST title and set the odds at +1500 to win a BCS national championship. SBGglobal oddsmakers have set the OVER/UNDER wins total number at 10.
The Mountaineers are a team that finished 11-2 in 2007 and 5-2 in the BIG EAST. The team, earned the BIG EAST Bowl Championship Series berth last season on its way to a 48-28 win against Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, will be led by two-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, senior quarterback Pat White, who enters the 2008 season as a bona fide Heisman Trophy candidate. He needs 724 more rushing yards to become the top rushing quarterback in NCAA history passing Missouri’s Brad Smith.
West Virginia also returns its entire offensive line as well as sophomore running back Noel Devine. Entering this season as one of the top running backs in the BIG EAST,
Devine was a unanimous preseason selection to the All-BIG EAST team and was named to several All-American teams.
For the Mountaineers to enjoy the success of 2007, they will have to navigate a brutal schedule in 2008 including a trip to play BIG 12 North contender Colorado in Boulder and hosting SEC West favorite Auburn in Morgantown.
West Virginia Mountaineers 2008 Football Schedule
Aug 30 Villanova
Sep 06 @East Carolina
Sep 18 @Colorado
Sep 27 Marshall
Oct 04 Rutgers
Oct 11 Syracuse
Oct 23 Auburn
Nov 01 @UConn
Nov 08 Cincinnati
Nov 22 @Louisville
Nov 28 @Pitt
Dec 06 South Florida
