Sports - WV vs Cincy preview

The Mountaineers play Cincy tonight at their place. The way the two teams have been playing, it doesn't look good West Virginia. It could be ugly. The Bearcats appear to be a legit top 5 team while the Mountaineers seem to be posers on the skirts of the top 25. There are a few reasons to look forward to the game. First of all, the Mountaineers have nothing to lose. If it the Bearcats thump the Mounties tonight it will only prove what we already thought. Secondly, many teams play to the level of the competition. That hasn't been the case for Cincy as they have crushed plenty of teams, but maybe it's the case for West Virginia. Sure, Louisville played West Virginia even last week and just couldn't get out of there own way or they may have had a shot to win the game, but that doesn't mean West Virginia will play badly tonight. The only team that really handled West Virginia was USF who seems to have the Mountaineers' number. Perhaps the Mountaineers will rise to the occasion. Thirdly, Pike is healthy enough to play again and there is quarterback controversy which is never good for a team. Pike is supposedly going to get some snaps tonight. Perhaps neither quarterback will get comfortable under the unusual circumstances. Fourth, the pressure on Cincinnati and a possible undefeated season and trip to the national championship game has to be building. That pressure can cause poor play (we wish we could forget the Pitt game that kept WV from a title game). Sixth, UConn ripped up the Bearcats defense that had previously been pretty good. Maybe the Huskies exposed something there.

So, do I expect an upset? No, but it wouldn't be the craziest thing to happen this year. From what I've seen the Mountaineers have played two tough road games and when things started to go against them, Jarrett Brown and the Mountaineers started to crumble under the pressure. West Virginia must start well or it could escalate fast. I don't think the Mountaineers have the coaching, the discipline, or the players to get it done if Cincinnati plays well. However, should they pull off an upset it would put them in the middle of the Big East championship race and make the next couple of weeks interesting. A loss will make me a Bearcat fan the rest of the year for the sake of the Big East.

Looking ahead, I think West Virginia loses its final three games and finishes 7-5. These three combined with USF are the toughest of the year. That would put the Mounties at 3-4 in the Big East. Not an awful season, but not a good one either. WV has a chance at Rutgers in the home finale, but I've said before that the Knights usually improve as the year goes on and it appears that is holding true this year. One win in the final three games would give the Mountaineers a winning record in conference and enough to consider it a decent season.