Athlon Sports revealed Tuesday that the magazine has named West Virginia University No. 7 in its preseason Top 25 football rankings.
The publication continues to release its selections one at a time, starting with the 25th pick and counting backward. Those will be posted at www.athlonsports.com daily from now until June 4 when No. 1 will be announced.
That countdown leads up to the on-sale date of Athlon’s annuals.
This is the second magazine to announce its Top 25. Earlier, Lindy’s ranked WVU No. 10.
So far just two other Big East teams are ranked in Athlon: South Florida No. 20 and Rutgers No. 22. In addition, No. 8 Auburn is the only other West Virginia opponent among the 19 ranked teams up to now.
In addition to the four teams already mentioned, the others ranked are LSU No. 9, Clemson No. 10, Texas No. 11, Wisconsin No. 12, Kansas No. 13, BYU No. 14, Arizona State No. 15, Illinois No. 16, Tennessee No. 17, Texas Tech No. 18, Oregon No. 19, Virginia Tech No. 21, Penn State No. 23, Wake Forest No. 24 and Fresno State No. 25.
“West Virginia has the talent to once again be a factor in the national title chase,”
said Mitch Light, senior editor of Athlon Sports. “With Pat White, the Mountaineers have one of the most explosive playmakers in the country, and tailback Noel Devine is poised to emerge as an elite runner."
“The non-conference schedule has some hurdles (at Colorado and vs. Auburn at home), but West Virginia is good enough to beat anybody it plays.”
The Mountaineers are picked to win the Big East championship in Bill Stewart’s first year as the head coach.
Senior offensive lineman Ryan Stanchek, snubbed by Big East coaches two years ago in their all-conference balloting, is named to Athlon’s All-America first team and also to the All-Big East first team.
Devine is on the All-America second team and All-Big East first team. White and offensive lineman Greg Isdaner are named third-team All-America and first-team All-Big East, while senior linebacker Reed Williams and senior kicker Pat McAfee are named to the All-Big East first team.
In all, the magazine selected a total of 13 players for its three All-Big East teams.
Center Mike Dent and safety Quinton Andrews are on the all-league second team. Third-teamers include offensive linemen Jake Figner and Selvish Capers, defensive lineman Scooter Berry, linebackers Mortty Ivy and J.T. Thomas, punter McAfee and kick-returner Devine.
White will be featured on the front cover of Athlon’s Eastern regional edition.
