No. 5, Baby!
May 24, 2004 10:06 AM | General
May 24, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – At least one preseason college football publication believes West Virginia is headed for a Top 5 finish during the 2004 college football season.
 |
||
| Athlon Magazine predicts a No. 5 finish for the West Virginia University football team this season. (Athlon Sports) |
Athlon Sports, touted as one of America’s premier sports annuals, picked West Virginia to finish fifth in the country today.
Wrote the magazine on its web site: “Believe it, Mountaineers, the BCS will come calling after a double-digit win season. Behind quarterback Rasheed Marshall, West Virginia should roll through a schedule that offers just one Athlon preseason Top 25 team – No. 20 Maryland. The beast of the new Big East is West Virginia, and Coach Rich Rodriguez has his team poised for a Top 5 finish nationally.”
The publication pointed out that 68 percent of WVU’s 2003 roster was made up of freshmen and sophomores and singled out the return of Marshall, Kay-Jay Harris, Chris Henry, Miquelle Henderson, Jeff Berk and Tim Brown on offense, and Jahmile Addae, Pac-Man Jones, Adam Lehnortt and Scott Gyorko on defense.
ESPN’s Beano Cook predicted WVU to win the national championship before the 1988 season and some publications pegged WVU for a Top 10 finish prior to the 1998 season; Athlon’s No. 5 prediction this spring matches WVU's No. 5 preseason rating by Athlon prior to the 1998 season.
Also, according to Athlon's web site the West Virginia-Pitt college football magazine cover is currently the best selling issue, topping the second-place Auburn-Alabama cover.
Click HERE to read Athlon’s West Virginia preview.
Season tickets for the 2004 football season are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to the web site WVUGAME.com.
