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No. 18 Finish for Holgorsen's Mountaineers
January 10, 2017 10:50 AM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - A 2016 football season that included 10 regular season victories for the first time since 2011 also ended the same way that campaign did - ranked in the top 25.
West Virginia finished 18th in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, released after Clemson’s 35-31 victory over Alabama in last night’s national championship game.
It is the second top-20 finish for sixth-year coach Dana Holgorsen, who now owns a 46-31 record with the Mountaineers.
Holgorsen becomes one of just five coaches in 125 years of football at West Virginia University to have multiple top-25 finishes during his career. The others are Don Nehlen (six), Rich Rodriguez (four), Art Lewis (three) and Bill Stewart (two).
Jim Carlen and Bobby Bowden had one top 20 finish each to their credit.
It is the 19th time West Virginia has ended the season ranked by the writers, and the eighth time since 2002.
After a predicted seventh-place finish in this year’s Big 12 media poll, Holgorsen’s Mountaineers leap-frogged three teams to finish third with 7-2 conference record, including impressive victories over Kansas State and Baylor - two teams that won their bowl games this season.
It is the most league wins for West Virginia since joining the Big 12 in 2012.
West Virginia also counted a 35-32 non-conference victory over BYU at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland in late September. The Cougars finished the year strong with four straight wins, including a 24-21 triumph over Wyoming in the Poinsettia Bowl to end with a 9-4 record.
The Mountaineers’ lone regular season defeats were to No. 11 Oklahoma State, which routed Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, and to No. 5 Oklahoma, which defeated Auburn in the Sugar Bowl.
WVU’s other loss came against Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl played in Orlando, Florida. The Hurricanes finished the season ranked No. 20.
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