With yesterday's news that the College Football Playoff committee was receiving a bit of a mid-season shake-up, WVU Sports Hall of Famer Pat McAfee took a moment on his show to address Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, who will be returning to the selection committee, on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday.
McAfee brought up WVU football during the conversation about playoff contenders – mostly in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, referring to the Mountaineers "slipping in the back door" for the playoff despite a 4-6 record. But the Mountaineer legend did have some high praise for his former team while putting the spotlight on West Virginia on national television.
"Take a second and look at that WVU Mountaineers team and how they're playing now, if we're trying to get the best teams in there – Scotty Fox and these boys, a little bit of a hard edge," McAfee said.
And while McAfee certainly knows that WVU won't be a playoff team this season, just like the rest of us do, he highlighted something for a national audience that West Virginia fans have started to take notice of – this team, which is mostly playing to lay a foundation for the future (and maybe bowl eligibility) is looking a lot better than during the first half of the season.
McAfee also pointed out the 55,000+ fans in attendance for the Colorado game, and pointed out how optimistic it is for the program's future that fans are committed to turning out and packing the stadium despite the tough start to the season and the knowledge that what is being played for is mostly building towards next season.
"We're not going anywhere this season. We are, right now, building for next season, is what we're doing. Might end up with a bowl game," McAfee said. "But I think everybody is in the same understanding that we are building a program right now, so the fact that that place was filled up – good news, great news."