West Virginia came in to the season thinking two things, conference championship and National Championship.  I suppose you could say those are most every team’s goals going into the season.  However, after a loss to South Florida two weeks ago one of those goals seemed to fly out the window.  The Bulls derailed the Mountaineers route to New Orleans and their dreams of playing for a National Championship, or so it seemed.

This college football season has been like no other.  Memorable games with unbelievable outcomes, unexpected teams ranked in the top ten, and a slue of possible Heisman trophy candidates.  Much different from a year ago when Ohio State reigned supreme at the #1 throughout the season until the championship, and Troy Smith was pretty much handed the trophy by this time a year ago.  However this season is different, much different.  Predictions of who will be playing where come December are up in the air.  Only a handful of unbeatens remain and five of them sit outside the top ten and one unranked.  Huge match-ups loom on the horizon and the outcome of the second half of the season is anybody’s guess. 

At the moment LSU is master of the house having disposed of tough competition en route to a #1 ranking and has the Super Dome in sight.  Aside from the Tigers, the #2 spot and a chance to play for the title is about as certain as a Dave Wannstedt goal line play call.  This bodes well for the West Virginia Mountaineers, who at the moment are on the outside looking in. 

BCS projections put the Mountaineers somewhere between #5 and #9.  A range of spots that look promising with half of the season remaining.  The teams at the top of the rankings all have opportunities to fall.  LSU has games with Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas remaining on their schedule to go along with a possible SEC championship game.  Cal sits at the #2 spot with 7 games remaining including tussles with USC, Arizona State, and Washington, not to mention 4 of their last 7 games take place on the road. 

Ohio State has been impressive against unimpressive competition.  The Buckeyes schedule gets significantly tougher in the second half as they must travel to Penn State and Michigan and also get Illinios and Wisconsin at home.    Boston College is another team who has dominated inferior competition, and the Eagles have tough games ahead at Notre Dame (despite their record ND is no easy place to play), Virginia Tech and finish with Florida State, Maryland, Clemson and Miami to go along with a possible ACC Championship game.

Perhaps the team with the easiest road to #2 is Oklahoma, who, if they can get past Missouri on Saturday is not projected to play another ranked team until the Big XII Championship game.  South Florida looked vulnerable against FAU and still has tough games with Rutgers, Cincinnati, Louisville and UConn. USC and Oregon both sit ahead of West Virginia in the polls but must play each other, knocking one of the teams out with two losses.  USC must also still face Cal, Arizona State, UCLA, and Notre Dame.  Oregon also has road dates with Washington and UCLA while they get USC and Arizona State at home.    South Carolina could be another team ranked ahead of WVU in the BCS rankings on Sunday, but the SEC is as tough a conference as there is and getting through the rest of the season without losing another game is unlikely.

West Virginia’s schedule is no easy task either.  All of the teams above have tough roads to any BCS game let alone the National Championship.  West Virginia must go on the road to Rutgers and Cincinnati while getting Louisville and Connecticut at home.    Not to mention a tough game with Mississippi State and the emotional Backyard Brawl with Pitt.