K-State Wildcats vs. WVU Mountaineers: Score prediction, game time, betting line, TV

THE DETAILS

Kickoff: 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West Virginia

TV: ESPN+ (streaming service)

Radio: KCSP 610 AM in Kansas City and KKGQ 92.3 FM in Wichita

The line: K-State by 7 1/2

Over/Under: 54 1/2

Prediction

My predictions have been the kiss of death for just about every team I have picked to win in this space all season.

I haven’t correctly projected the winner of a K-State football game since the Wildcats downed Texas Tech at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in the second conference game of the season.

Yikes.

The good old days of me going 13-0 on my K-State football predictions, which happened in 2016, have never felt further away. A bettor could have made a fortune fading my picks over the past five weeks.

That being said, I have a new strategy to deploy this week: Trust my gut.

I say that because my preseason predictions for the Wildcats have mostly been dead on. I predicted K-State to finish 9-3 and contend for a spot in the Big 12 championship game. That is exactly what has transpired. If you went by my August game-by-game picks, you would have won money backing me instead of fading me.

Hopefully you took my advice and bet a few bucks on K-State to go over it’s season-long wins total of 6 ½. I never understood why that number was so low.

OK, enough reminiscing. Let’s turn out attention to Saturday’s game between K-State and West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium. I picked K-State to win several months ago, and I am going to stick with that prediction now.

The Wildcats should benefit from Adrian Martinez going down with an injury last week. Will Howard is the best quarterback on the roster and K-State has shredded Big 12 defenses with him at the controls of the offense.

He led K-State to a 28-10 lead at TCU, helped K-State demolish Oklahoma State 48-0 and looked great again last week during a 31-3 victory at Baylor.

This is the first time he has known well in advance that he was going to be the starter, so there could be some nerves on Saturday. But he also benefited from spending all week working with the first-string offense.

The Wildcats shouldn’t have much trouble moving the ball on the Mountaineers.

K-State suffered a hit on defense last week when it lost safety Kobe Savage to a season-ending injury. But Daniel Green is back healthy at linebacker. Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Nate Matlack also seem to be playing at 100% at defensive end. I think the Wildcats will be able to absorb the loss of Savage, especially against an opponent that likes to run the ball.

Now, there are a few reasons to like the Mountaineers to cover the spread. They are tough at home and have already defeated Baylor and Oklahoma there this season. K-State hasn’t won in Morgantown since 2014.

West Virginia will also make K-State prepare for two quarterbacks, which is never easy. The Mountaineers could play both JT Daniels and Garrett Greene.

The Mountaineers are still fighting to make a bowl game. But that might not be all that motivational for this team. West Virginia fired athletic director Shane Lyons earlier this week, which means Neal Brown is likely out as football coach at the end of the season even if his team wins out.

K-State has much more to play for in this game. With a trip to the Big 12 championship game in their sights, I think the Wildcats take care of business here and win by double digits … Just like I predicted months ago.

K-State 30, West Virginia 20.

Last game prediction: Baylor 33, K-State 27

2022 record on picks: 3-7

2022 record vs. spread: 3-7

2022 record vs. O/U points total: 6-4