Each Wednesday/Thursday/whatever day we want, WBGV will post our predictions for that week's WVU game as well as 5 of our best picks against the spread (or ATS if you're an addict). Get ready for some straight knowledge. Holla.

Stiles:

Hoo boy. Opening game. I've been looking forward to this for a while. A long while.

This Western Michigan team is not the pushover opening game like in years past (cough Marshall cough). They have some talent coming back and they've played some big time teams over the past couple years. But let's be real. They will be overwhelmed by the speed that West Virginia possess. Especially on offense. I look for a pretty high scoring affair, but the Mountaineers cruise.

WVU 48
Western Michigan 17

Oregon State -6.5 vs. Utah (Thursday)
Missouri -5 vs. Illinois (in St. Louis)
Georgia Tech +3 @ Notre Dame
Virginia Tech -27.5 vs. ECU
BC -6.5 vs. Wake Forest

Western Michigan is a good football team. They played in a bowl game last year. Sure that bowl game was a blowout loss to Cincinnati in balmy Toronto, Canada in January, but you take what you can get...especially in the MAC.

No matter what the bowl game, Western Michigan is picked to win the MAC East this year, which is no small (read: very small) feat. They are not your usual patsy, like Buffalo @ Rutgers or Murray State @ Louisville. While probably not giving us the hardest time, they will at least keep our starters in the game for more than 15 minutes. I would expect to see White and Slaton for at least 2 and a half quarters, probably more like 3.

If everything goes to plan, we should have a comfortable lead by the start of the 4th quarter. And you know if that happens, no one will have left their seat, mostly because that means Jock Sanders and Noel Devine will get to take over the show. It should be a lot of drunk...er, fun.

WVU 42
Western Michigan 13

Syracuse +3 vs. Washington (Friday)
UAB +21 @ Michigan State
Georgia Tech +3 @ Notre Dame
Missouri -5 vs. Illinois (in St. Louis)
Colorado -2.5 vs. Colorado State (in Denver)