MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia is climbing the rankings after a weekend of mild chaos in the Top 10.
The Mountaineers are ranked sixth nationally in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Top 25 after their 38-22 win over Kansas on Saturday. West Virginia moved up three spots in the AP poll and two spots in the coaches poll. It’s WVU’s highest ranking since peaking at No. 5 in Week 7 of the 2012 AP poll.
Beating Kansas, which hasn’t won a Big 12 road game since 2008, is not typically the formula for moving up the polls. But the Mountaineers benefited from the misfortunes suffered by several teams ranked ahead of them.
LSU, which was ranked fifth by the AP, tumbled out of the Top 10 following a 27-19 loss at Florida. Oklahoma, which was No. 7 in the AP, fell down to No. 11 in after a 48-45 loss to Texas in the Red River rivalry game. The Mountaineers and Longhorns are the only two Big 12 teams with unblemished conference records just three games into league play.
Auburn, which was ranked one spot in front of the Mountaineers in last week’s AP poll, dropped all the way down to 21st following a 23-9 loss at Mississippi State.
The five teams ahead of West Virginia are the same in both polls: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Clemson and No. 5 Notre Dame.
The Mountaineers (5-0, 3-0 Big 12) travel to Iowa State (2-3, 1-2) on Saturday night.