Community Bulletin
Dogs will be $50 and cats $25 at an Oct. 17 adoption day at Lewis-Upshur Animal Control in Buckhannon, where LUV 4 Animals and Jenkins Subaru invite visitors to walk a dog or hold a kitten before they decide. Read more →
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BUCKHANNON — A grab bag of notes as we roll into Week Eight.
A fun — or painful — fact to open: Since Rich Rodriguez left Jacksonville State, the Gamecocks are 14–7 without him. Since West Virginia hired him away, the Mountaineers are 7–11 with him. WVU also cut a $1.25 million check to cover his buyout and committed $18.5 million over five years to him. At the moment, each victory under Rodriguez has cost roughly $2.5 million. Sigh.
The College Football Playoff is closing in on a deal to expand to 24 teams, with the new format expected to debut in 2027, pending final approval. The proposed structure — a “19+4+1” model — would include 19 at‑large bids, four Power Four champions and one Group of Six champion. And yet, even with expansion, it’s hard to imagine WVU sniffing the bracket. At this point, the Mountaineers feel more like a women’s basketball and baseball school.
The Big XII isn’t earning much national respect either. No league team sits inside the top seven of the AP poll. Several are lurking, though: BYU at No. 8, Texas Tech at No. 10 and Utah at No. 11. BYU has a chance to boost the conference’s profile when it hosts No. 2 Notre Dame on Saturday. Texas Tech may be the league’s best bet to run the table — the Red Raiders face only one ranked opponent the rest of the way, a Nov. 14 trip to No. 18 Oklahoma State.
Crunch Staff & Friends Leaderboard
Name | Overall | Last Week
Duane | 40-9 | 4-3
Bobbie | 39-10 | 4-3
Corrie | 38–11 | 3-4
Brian | 36–13 | 2-5
Katie | 30–19 | 2-5
Monica | 25–24 | 2-5
It was a rough week across the board. Only Bobbie and I posted winning records — and just barely at 4–3.
Readers didn’t fare much better, but Elissa Linger claimed the weekly contest with a 5–2 mark. No tiebreaker was needed; she was the lone entrant to reach five wins. She earns a $20 gift certificate to a local restaurant. Todd Ware continues to lead the season standings at 41–8 (45 points).
As always, readers will see seven games each week, with Game 7 serving as the tiebreaker. Picks are due by 7 p.m. Friday before kickoff. Click here for this week’s games.
Week Eight Games
East Fairmont (1–6) at Buckhannon‑Upshur (2–4)
B‑U didn’t climb much in the SSAC ratings last week — beating a winless Class AAA team doesn’t yield many points. East Fairmont won’t offer much either, but staying put is better than sliding out of the top 16. One playoff projection shows a 3–7 Buccaneer team missing the postseason, making this matchup feel like a must‑win if B‑U hopes to reach the playoffs for a second straight year.
Duane: Buckhannon‑Upshur | Bobbie: East Fairmont | Corrie: Buckhannon‑Upshur | Brian: Buckhannon‑Upshur | Katie: East Fairmont | Monica: East Fairmont
West Virginia Wesleyan (3–4) at West Liberty (5–1)
Almost no one picked Wesleyan last week — and the Bobcats responded by thumping Fairmont State 34–16 in a game that wasn’t nearly that close. If WVWC’s Mike Kellar isn’t the MEC Coach of the Year, it’s hard to imagine who would be. West Liberty sits atop the league at 3–0, tied with Charleston. Wesleyan, at 2–2, likely can’t climb back into title contention, but it can certainly disrupt the teams above it.
Duane: West Liberty | Bobbie: West Liberty | Corrie: West Liberty | Brian: West Liberty | Katie: West Virginia Wesleyan | Monica: West Liberty
Cincinnati (4–1) at West Virginia (3–3)
WVU isn’t favored in any remaining game. Maybe the Mountaineers steal one somewhere, but this season has been a slog. And if they fired Rodriguez — which they won’t — it would mean yet another reset. The stumbling and bumbling continues this week.
Duane: Cincinnati | Bobbie: Cincinnati | Corrie: West Virginia | Brian: West Virginia | Katie: West Virginia | Monica: Cincinnati
The Final Four
Grafton (3-3) at Robert C. Byrd (5-2)
Duane: Robert C. Byrd Bobbie: Robert C. Byrd Corrie: Robert C. Byrd Brian: Robert C. Byrd Katie: Robert C. Byrd Monica: Robert C. Byrd
George Washington (6-0) at Huntington (5-1)
Duane: George Washington Bobbie: George Washington Corrie: George Washington Brian: George Washington Katie: George Washington Monica: Huntington
Florida (4-2) at Texas (4-1)
Duane: Texas Bobbie: Florida Corrie: Texas Brian: Texas Katie: Texas Monica: Texas
Notre Dame (6-0) at BYU (5-0)
Duane: Notre Dame Bobbie: Notre Dame Corrie: Notre Dame Brian: Notre Dame Katie: Notre Dame Monica: Notre Dame
