ESPN is already telling West Virginia fans to *WAIT UNTIL BASKETBALL SEASON?!* With the 2026 college football season right around the corner, ESPN placed *WVU Football in Tier 13 of 18* — a tier literally labeled *“Three months ’til basketball season.”* The disrespect doesn't stop there. West Virginia was placed BELOW several teams on its own schedule, including Virginia, Houston, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and Kansas — and ESPN barely even explained WHY the Mountaineers belong that low. Yes, WVU went 4–8 last season. Yes, there are still questions to answer. But this is Year 2 under *Rich Rodriguez**. The roster has been completely rebuilt. **Michael Hawkins Jr. and Scotty Fox* are battling at quarterback. *Cam Cook* leads a revamped backfield. The receiver room has been overhauled. The secondary was rebuilt specifically to address last year's biggest weaknesses, and RichRod himself says this team is *further along than it was a year ago.* Nobody is asking ESPN to crown West Virginia Big 12 champions in August. But *“WAIT UNTIL BASKETBALL SEASON?!”* Come on. On today's Locked On West Virginia, we're breaking down ESPN's ranking, comparing WVU to the teams they placed ahead of the Mountaineers, and asking one simple question: *WHAT EXACTLY MAKES WVU A TIER-13 FOOTBALL TEAM?!*