West Virginia Football 2026 Schedule: Full Breakdown and Outlook

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The idea is for the West Virginia attack and team to be good enough to handle the schedule no matter how tough it is. When the Rich Rodriguez offense rocks, everyone else has to adjust to it.

But it would help if the Mountaineers could get a few breaks with the 2026 schedule.

The Good, the Bad, and Who West Virginia Misses in 2026

West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez looks at plays during the first half of the game against Kansas Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Sept. 20, 2025.© Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Good

There’s only one true road game – at Iowa State – over the first half of the season. The second away date doesn’t come until Week 8. However …

The Bad

Three of the last five games are away from Morgantown. In a perfect world, it would’ve been nice to get some of the warmer weather Big 12 teams in the West Virginia weather in late November. Having to go to TCU, Texas Tech, and Utah is a problem.

What Big 12 Teams West Virginia Will Miss

Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Colorado, Kansas State, UCF. There’s no complaining about not having to deal with BYU or Arizona State, but it doesn’t play four teams that didn’t go bowling last year.

West Virginia’s Best and Worst Case Scenarios in 2026

Best Case: The first half builds up to the second half

The Mountaineers own home, pull off the 50/50 date in Charlotte against Virginia, and they’re at least 6-1 going into the finishing kick. Fully jelled by November, they pull off a road upset to be in the Big 12 title chase going into the Houston and Utah games.

Worst Case: The offense doesn’t work on the road

There might be only four road games, but the Mountaineers will almost certainly be the underdog in all of them – and possibly against Virginia. They don’t get by Iowa State early, the season takes a bad turn with losses to TCU and Texas Tech, and they need to pull off a win at Utah to get bowl eligible.