Two Division I college teams serve as the backbone of college football in the Mountaineer State, which has no professional teams to root for on Sunday afternoons. The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Marshall Thundering Herd are those two schools, with each having had varied levels of success over the years.

West Virginia Mountaneers 2015 Football

Since arriving in the Big 12 Conference in 2012, West Virginia has been in a rut for most of that time, struggling to get past the mid-level teams. Given the challenges entering this season, it could be more of the same for head coach Dana Holgorsen and his team. Unfortunately, their high-powered offense from 2014 has to replace Kevin White at wide receiver, with only raw talent like Daikiel Shorts, Jordan Thompson, KJ Meyers and Shelton Gibson available to perform that task.

They also need to replace Clint Trickett at quarterback, with Skyler Howard the obvious choice, Howard knows the offense and threw for over 800 yards in three starts last season. An intriguing new option at running back has Rushel Shell, a transfer from Pittsburgh, teaming with Wendell Smallwood. Together, this group could chew up plenty of yardage, which could help in the early going of this transition.

Some shifts are likely on the offensive line, while the defensive side of that equation simply lacks the talent to take the next step up.

At linebacker, the duo of Nick Kwiatowski and Jared Barber are back. Kwiatowski led the team in tackles, while Barber sat out due to a knee injury. They’ll be joined by Edward Muldrow and Isaiah Bruce. Daryl Worley has plenty of talent at cornerback, but needs to stay healthy, while the three safeties are all back, led by sophomore Dravon Henry.

Marshall Thundering Herd 2015 Football

An explosive season that nearly ended with a perfect record helped make the 2014 college football season an exciting time for all Marshall fans. However, some important lineup changes are on tap in 2015. The most important is at quarterback, where 6-5, 240-pound transfer Michael Birdsong takes over at quarterback, with some huge shoes to fill. That’s because Rakeem Cato racked up 146 touchdowns and almost 15,000 yards in his glorious career.

Receivers like Davonte Allen, Deon-Tay McManus and Angelo Jean-Louis will be Birdsong’s options, while the Thundering Herd’s running backs will be Devon Johnson and Remi Watson. Allen and Jean-Louis are big play receivers, while Johnson rushed for 17 touchdowns and almost 1,800 yards in 2014. The Marshall offensive line will have some shifts, but has plenty of experience on it, with the exception of the left tackle slot. Meanwhile the defensive line has to establish some sort of pass rush from Gary Thompson and transfer Blake Keller to have any hope of making life difficult for opposing offenses.

The team’s linebackers are a mix of experienced players, with incoming transfer Shawn Petty arriving from Maryland. Evan McKelvey is a player to watch, since he’ll be making a comeback from an injury-plagued 2014. The secondary took some major hits and must find a way to replace cornerback Daryl Roberts. Keith Baxter and Taj Letman are the key personnel here. Another 2014-type season is possible if the Thundering Herd is able to avoid the pitfalls with all these changes, but even with them, a double-digit win season looks to be a distinct possibility.

NFL Football for West Virginia Fans

While four NFL teams are close in geography to West Virginia, the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have been so consistent for more than four decades puts them as arguably the most popular franchise in the state. The Cincinnati Bengals are the farthest away, but do have some supporters, but the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens are even closer to the eastern borders of the state.

Wondering if online sports betting is legal in West Virginia? Our homepage goes into detail about the legalities and answers some of the most common questions players from WV have about sports betting.