MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When the Big 12 coaches made their preseason appraisals in July, they placed West Virginia and Kansas State in the final two available slots. (Iowa State and Kansas weren’t budging from the bottom rungs.)
Entering conference play this week, the Mountaineers (3-0) and Wildcats (2-1) wield more favorable ratings, which is at least partly a product of the underperforming teams picked ahead of them. Nonetheless, this Saturday’s game in Morgantown feels meaningful enough that a sellout could be in the offing.
K-State lost its only legit nonconference test 26-13 at Stanford, a game that wasn’t sealed until Christian McCaffrey’s 41-yard touchdown with 2:12 left.