By: Justin Walker | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – All Mountaineer fans are well aware of what the last six years have been like for the West Virginia football program. Historically, it may go down as one of the worst stretches in WVU football history. It’s at least the worst since Don Nehlen took over the program in 1980.
One of the many complaints WVU fans had about Neal Brown’s tenure as head coach from 2019-2024 was the fact the Mountaineers were never ranked in the Associated Press (AP) polls. The AP released their preseason poll for 2025 on Monday and for the 100th. consecutive time, the West Virginia Mountaineers were nowhere to be found. WVU football has not appeared in an AP Poll since 2019. They have the second longest drought of any Power 4 team, behind only Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have not been ranked in the AP poll since 2012.
While many fans complain about polls being meaningless, being ranked in the Top 25 shows that a program is winning more than they are losing. It shows they are being noticed. It shows that the program is at least somewhat relevant on the national stage. For a football program with the history of West Virginia, it’s unacceptable to the fanbase and the administration for it to be unranked for such a long period of time.
Mountaineer fans across the globe are hoping that 2025 is the year the flying WV can be removed from graphics such as the one referenced above. They are hoping the return of Rich Rodriguez gets West Virginia football back to its winning ways and back to being ranked in the AP Top 25.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
