Since West Virginia has maintained possession of The Belt by defeating Marshall, it will fall to one of these teams to wrest ownership during the coming season:
99 James Madison Sep 15 vs. James Madison (Landover, Md.)
74 Maryland Sep 22 Maryland
39 Baylor Sep 29 Baylor (Homecoming)
13 Texas Oct 06 at Texas
40 Texas Tech Oct 13 at Texas Tech
34 Kansas State Oct 20 Kansas State
8 TCU Nov 03 TCU (Mountaineer Week)
6 Oklahoma State Nov 10 at Oklahoma State
4 Oklahoma Nov 17 Oklahoma
64 Iowa State Nov 23 at Iowa State
85 Kansas Dec 01 Kansas
The numbers to the left of the teams are from Sagarin’s Pre-season rankings and are used to be able to include teams from the FCS as well as the FBS with a hint as to their strength.
In the poll indicate your guess as to who will win The Belt from West Virginia, whose Sagarin rank at pre-season was – 23 West Virginia.
Public poll will close before the James Madison game.
If it might help your decision making, here’s how the Sagarin rankings have changed since this weekend’s games:
OLD NEW
23 West Virginia 23
99 James Madison Sep 15 vs. James Madison (Landover, Md.) 103
74 Maryland Sep 22 Maryland 79
39 Baylor Sep 29 Baylor (Homecoming) 32
13 Texas Oct 06 at Texas 16
40 Texas Tech Oct 13 at Texas Tech 42
34 Kansas State Oct 20 Kansas State 34
8 TCU Nov 03 TCU (Mountaineer Week) 5
6 Oklahoma State Nov 10 at Oklahoma State 8
4 Oklahoma Nov 17 Oklahoma 3
64 Iowa State Nov 23 at Iowa State 56
85 Kansas Dec 01 Kansas 88
Unless a team has a defense like Bama’s, they’re not stopping WVU from scoring, and I don’t think Texas will have a defense like that. So what teams have an offense to match up with WVU? The first one I see is OSU. With that game in Stillwater, I picked the Cowboys.
Where’s the option to call WVU the cowards that they are? If they had manned up and played the game they contracted to, we’d own the Belt as of this coming Saturday. Now we’re stuck with Savannah State. Honestly, I just feel bad for those kids, just got beat 84-0 by OkState and now they have to come here. Their AD should be fired, the $450K they’re getting for this game isn’t worth it.
Just in case you’re still interested in voting in the poll, here’s how those Sagarin rankings have changed after the Week 2 games:
OLD NEW Newer
23 West Virginia 23 22
99 James Madison Sep 15 vs. James Madison (Landover, Md.) 103 88
74 Maryland Sep 22 Maryland 79 71
39 Baylor Sep 29 Baylor (Homecoming) 32 14
13 Texas Oct 06 at Texas 16 12
40 Texas Tech Oct 13 at Texas Tech 42 11
34 Kansas State Oct 20 Kansas State 34 4
8 TCU Nov 03 TCU (Mountaineer Week) 5 25
6 Oklahoma State Nov 10 at Oklahoma State 8 23
4 Oklahoma Nov 17 Oklahoma 3 8
64 Iowa State Nov 23 at Iowa State 56 24
85 Kansas Dec 01 Kansas 88 100