If you are hoping to see WVU football throw a massive wrench into the Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff picture by pulling off a Top 5 upset, then the oddsmakers in Vegas have some bad news for you.
Most people are probably entering this week assuming that the Mountaineers, who enter 4-7 overall, will be no match for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who will make the trek to Morgantown this weekend with a 10-1 overall record. Tech is also ranked No. 7 in the latest AP Poll, and was ranked at No. 5 in last week's edition of the College Football Playoff rankings. You can count those setting the betting odds for the matchup among them.
The betting line opened for the clash between the Mountaineers and the Red Raiders this weekend, and started with West Virginia listed as 21.5-point underdogs. That quickly jumped to WVU being listed as 23.5-point underdogs as of the time this article was published. As expected, the Mountaineers will enter their ninth game of the season as underdogs after a disappointing year following Rich Rodriguez's return to the program.
Both teams will be entering the game coming off a bye week, but there is a lot more at stake for the Red Raiders entering this week's matchup than there is for WVU. The Mountaineers can no longer make the postseason after their most recent loss to Arizona State. But Texas Tech still controls its own destiny to make the Big 12 Championship, and will be in if they knock off West Virginia. But if they lose and Arizona State and either BYU or Kansas wins, they will be eliminated from contention. With a second regular-season loss and no Big 12 title to guarantee an automatic bid, the Red Raiders could see their season derailed by the Mountaineers.