For the first time this season, the West Virginia Mountaineers won a game because of their defense. That said, the offense should still get its flowers for scoring 24 points on the Big 12's best defense, which is double the points TCU had been giving up.

After a difficult three-game losing streak, the Mountaineers have bounced back in a big way, picking up two wins heading into the bye week, putting them just one victory away from clinching bowl eligibility with four games left on the docket.

This week's bowl projections

Athlon Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. South Carolina
CBS Sports: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Cal
College Football News: Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Oregon State
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. UConn
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs. Washington
Sports Illustrated: First Responder Bowl vs. Illinois
West Virginia On SI: Liberty Bowl vs. Auburn

Can WVU get one more win?

Remaining schedule

at No. 13 Texas Tech (6-1)
vs. Kansas (3-4)
vs. No. 18 Houston (6-2)
at No. 6 Utah (7-0)

West Virginia has three ranked opponents still on the schedule, so it's easy to look at the home game against Kansas here in a few weeks as the best chance to pick up a win, but I wouldn't completely rule them out in Lubbock, or in any game, for that matter.

That TCU defense is by far the best unit this team will see. Utah is pretty good on that side of the ball, but as far as Texas Tech, Kansas, and Houston are concerned, they each have some holes to patch up, and it's hard to cover them all when you face an explosive offense like West Virginia's.

I fully expect the WVU offense to get back to its high-powered nature coming out of the bye week, and as long as they do what they're expected to, they'll have a chance in every game. If the defense can build off its performance against TCU, they might be able to pull off an upset or two.

Big 12 Bowl ties for 2026-27 season

Valero Alamo Bowl — Tuesday, December 29, 2026
Pop-Tarts Bowl — Tuesday, December 29, 2026
Kinder’s Texas Bowl — Thursday, December 31, 2026
AutoZone Liberty Bowl — Saturday, January 2, 2027
Cactus Bowl — Saturday, December 26, 2026
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl — Tuesday, December 22, 2026
ESPN Events Pool of Games (several bowls with indirect ties)