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The Mountaineers are ranked No. 22 in the @AP Preseason Poll #HailWV pic.twitter.com/cIVjSKrk5N
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) August 21, 2017
The West Virginia Mountaineers will enter the season ranked in the polls of both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25. WVU, who entered the Coaches Poll at #20, will start the season at #22 in the Associated Press Top 25.
AP Top 25 - Week 12
| Rank | Team | Previous | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Previous | Movement |
| 1 | Alabama (57) | 1 | - |
| 2 | Miami (4) | 7 | +5 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 5 | +2 |
| 4 | Clemson | 4 | - |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 6 | +1 |
| 6 | Auburn | 10 | +4 |
| 7 | Georgia | 2 | -5 |
| 8 | Ohio State | 11 | +3 |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 3 | -6 |
| 10 | Oklahoma State | 12 | +2 |
| 11 | TCU | 8 | -3 |
| 12 | USC | 15 | +3 |
| 13 | Penn State | 16 | +3 |
| 14 | UCF | 14 | - |
| 15 | Washington State | 19 | +4 |
| 16 | Washington | 9 | -7 |
| 17 | Mississippi State | 18 | +1 |
| 18 | Memphis | 20 | +2 |
| 19 | Michigan | 21 | +2 |
| 20 | Stanford | NR | - |
| 21 | LSU | NR | - |
| 22 | Michigan State | 13 | -9 |
| 23 | South Florida | 22 | -1 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 23 | -1 |
| 25 | NC State | NR | - |
| Others Receiving Votes | Virginia Tech 110, Northwestern 72, Arizona 49, Iowa State 27, Boise State 6, Georgia Tech 6, Army 3, Iowa 2, South Carolina 2 |
The Mountaineers start the year one slot behind the Virginia Tech Hokies, their opening opponent in 2017. Based on the opening poll, the Mountaineers will face 5 ranked teams in 2017: Oklahoma (#7), Oklahoma State (#10), Kansas State (#20) and Texas (#23) along with the Hokies.
As has been written before, Texas is the only team garnering national love early and often despite having a losing record last year.
The Southeastern conference continues to receive national love as Auburn (#12), LSU (#13) and Georgia (#15) are all ranked in the top 15 but only won 8 games last year.
Former Texas head coach Charlie Strong, who now coaches the South Florida Bulls, will start the year at #19 after taking over a program that went 11-2 last year.
The SEC leads the nation with 6 ranked team but the beleaguered Big 12 is close behind with 5 teams in the Top 25 to start the season. The ACC will have 5 teams to start the season ranked while the Big Ten and Pac-12 have 4.