Football: Mountaineers No. 1 in Coaches' Poll
November 25, 2007 01:59 PM | General
November 25, 2007
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| Rich Rodriguez |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University’s football team has reached No. 1 in the polls for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers are No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll this week after beating No. 20 Connecticut, 66-21 at Milan Puskar Stadium yesterday.
West Virginia received 37 first-place votes while No. 2 Missouri earned 17 first-place votes. No. 3 Ohio State got the other six first-place votes.
“I think it’s a nice compliment to the program and it probably gets the fans excited," said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. "The most important poll is the one after the regular season is over and the one at the end. If we’re still one or two after this weekend then that will be a good thing.”
The Mountaineers (10-1) are ranked No. 2 in this week’s AP poll behind No. 1 Missouri, which claimed 45 first-place votes in the AP poll. The Mountaineers got the remaining 20 first-place votes.
Rodriguez has guided the Mountaineers to double-digit victories a school-record three straight seasons, amassing a 32-4 record since 2005. WVU has enjoyed 39 consecutive weeks in the polls, including spending 27 of the last 30 weeks in the Top 10.
It is the first time a Big East team has been ranked No. 1 since Miami was at the top of both polls on Dec. 8, 2002.
The BCS standings will be announced later today with West Virginia expected to be either No. 1 or No. 2 following LSU’s loss to Arkansas.
Besides the rifle team, the only other West Virginia program to reach No. 1 in the national rankings was men’s basketball, which finished the 1958 season No. 1 in the country before being upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
