WVU ranked No. 20 to start 2017
West Virginia will indeed be ranked to start the season.
The Mountaineers opened up the year at No. 20 in the Amway Coaches Poll. It’s the second time since head coach Dana Holgorsen has taken over that the Mountaineers will begin the season inside the top 25 after starting the 2012 season as the nation’s 11th best team in the poll.
West Virginia was picked sixth in the Big 12 pre-season poll conducted by the media, while the Coaches Poll values the Mountaineers as fourth best in the conference.
Finishing last season at No. 17 after a 10-3 campaign, the Mountaineers will open this year against another ranked team with the revival of the series with long-time rival No. 22 Virginia Tech inside Fed-Ex Field in Washington, D.C.
Other pre-season ranked teams that the Mountaineers will face in 2017 include at No. 8 Oklahoma (Nov. 25), No. 11 Oklahoma State (Oct. 28), at No. 19 Kansas State (Nov. 11) and No. 23 Texas (Nov. 18).