Pat McAfee makes major declaration about West Virginia football on ESPN

The West Virginia Mountaineers are undefeated after three games for the first time in a decade, andthey scored a marquee non-conference winon Saturday against the Virginia Cavaliers – who entered the game ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll.

And while the Mountaineersare not ranked this week, the atmosphere surrounding the fan base is certainly electric as West Virginia prepares to return home to Milan Puskar Stadium to face Oklahoma State. And one former alum who has a national platform as a college football analyst is willing to say what a lot of people might be hesitant to – West Virginia is back.

Pat McAfee declares that the West Virginia Mountaineers are 'back'

What exactly a team being "back" means varies from person-to-person: it carries a fluid definition. And maybe it's too early to say it about the Mountaineers, given that we're just three games into the football season. But McAfee is putting his cards on the table andmaking that declaration with his chest.

After saying that he wished ESPN was taking College GameDay to Morgantown instead of Knoxville this coming week, he let it be known that he believes Rich Rodriguez has the program looking like it did during his first tenure, when McAfee was a part of the team.

"What a win by West Virginia down there in Charlotte...this is pretty reminiscent of what the Mountaineers used to look like," McAfee said. "I would say West Virginia is all the way back."

West Virginia is seventh in the nation according to Strength of Record

One metric doesn't tell the whole story, but if you look at ESPN's Strength of Record metric – which is one of the metrics the College Football Playoff selection committee uses when determining the playoff field at the end of the season – it shows McAfee might be correct in his assessment.

The Mountaineersare currently seventhin Strength of Record: the only teams ahead of them are Texas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Florida, and Michigan. The Mountaineers are ahead of teams such as Texas Tech, Notre Dame, and Miami (FL).

So could the Mountaineers truly be "back?" Well, that's up for everyone to decide right now, and we probably need a few more consistent wins and to see the Mountaineers compete at a high-level against some of the best teams in the league on the back-end of their schedule to have a definitive answer. But there's plenty of reason to believe McAfee has nailed it on this one, and the Mountaineers are indeed back.

Add us as a preferred source onGoogle

Follow