WVU Football And Basketball Preview: WV Sportsbooks Prepare For A Sports-Filled Thanksgiving Weekend

It’s an incredible time for the West Virginia sports betting market. The college football season is playing its most important games and NCAA basketball is back in full swing.

Both the WVU Mountaineers and Marshall Thundering Herd are busy on the football field and the hardwood in late November.

While families will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week, bettors in the Mountain State will be thankful for another week of great games. WV sportsbooks are sure to remain quite active during the holiday season.

Even though WVU and Marshall each had disappointing showings a week ago, there is a lot riding on the final game of the 2019 regular season.

The Mountaineers look to rebound after a seven-point home loss to Oklahoma State. For one of the few times all season, WVU held a halftime lead as well as a lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, a scoreless fourth led to another defeat and dropped WVU’s record to 4-7 on the year.

Marshall football had a difficult game, too. It lost to Charlotte by 11 despite being touchdown favorites entering the contest. The loss brings the Herd’s record to 7-4 overall. They’re now in second place in the Conference USA East Division behind Florida Atlantic.

Although the football season might have disappointed many who follow both schools, things are looking up in the early part of the hoops schedule. WVU took down Boston University by 25, while Marshall dismantled Howard by 28 last week.

In their following game, the Mountaineers beat Northern Iowa, 60-55, to improve their record to 5-0 to start the new season.

With the final week of the college football season here, expect for bettors to make it a memorable weekend at sportsbooks. Let’s examine last week’s games and preview this weekend’s action for WVU and Marshall.

WVU Football Predictions

The Mountaineers gave Oklahoma State everything it could handle on Saturday afternoon. After leading through three quarters, WVU fans and backers thought their side was going to beat its second straight ranked opponent.

OSU scored its go-ahead score with a little over 11 minutes remaining in the game. The 13-play drive covered 78 yards and gave the Cowboys a 4-point lead.

Quarterback Jarret Doege played well again, but the Mountaineers only managed just one touchdown. Doege was 28 of 38 passing for 307 yards and one score.

WVU’s running game was a disappointment yet again. As a team, it rushed 22 times for only 26 yards.

This week, coach Neal Brown and company will turn their attention to the final game of the season. Since WVU won’t be qualifying for a bowl game, this week is the last of 2019.

The Mountaineers will travel back to Texas to battle TCU on Friday. TCU’s had a tough year as well, sitting one game ahead of WVU at 5-6.

Even though they lost their last matchup with Oklahoma, the Horned Frogs played a good game a nearly escaped with a win. They lost by only four points on the road in Norman.

This is going to be another interesting test for WVU on the road in the Big 12. Surprisingly enough, both of WVU’s conference victories have come on the road this year.

Dual-threat quarterback Max Duggan leads TCU’s offense. He’s passed for nearly 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding over 500 yards and six scores on the ground.

In spite of the fact that the Mountaineers are around 13-point underdogs, they have a real chance to win this game. They’ve been playing significantly better of late and should want to end the season on a high note.

Marshall Football Preview

Marshall football has been much more successful in 2019. Even so, it just had one of its worst performances of the season. With a six-game win streak on the line, the Herd couldn’t hold and lost to Charlotte, 24-13.

After scoring the game’s first 10 points, it seemed that Marshall had control of another one. This didn’t last long though, as its offense sputtered all afternoon. The team only gained 230 yards and 13 first downs for the entire game.

Isaiah Green was ineffective at QB for Marshall. He passed for just 86 yards on 6 of 17 passing. Green also only averaged 2.6 yards per carry.

The letdown absolutely stings, however, Marshall still has meaningful football in its future. It needs to win its season finale to help its bowl resume and to have a chance at winning Conference USA.

The Herd will host Florida International in Huntington on Saturday at noon.

Marshall is almost a touchdown favorite, but FIU is feeling good after its latest victory. It beat Miami this past week as three-touchdown dogs.

What should help the Herd is FIU’s lack of consistency on the road. At home, the Panthers are 6-1, but when they travel, they’re 0-4. In its last two road contests, FIU lost by a combined score of 87-24.

Marshall is 2-1 following a loss this season and could be 3-1 after Saturday. Knowing that they will probably be playing in a bowl game in December, coach Doc Holliday will have his guys ready to bounce back.

Mountaineers Basketball Unbeaten

WVU basketball is off to a perfect start to 2019. It’s 5-0 thanks to its latest win over Northern Iowa at the Cancun Challenge.

The Mountaineers came back from a 15-point deficit on Tuesday night to take down the Panthers. After scoring just 20 points in the first half, WVU put up 40 in the second en route to a 60-55 win.

WVU’s Miles McBride recorded 18 points and five assists off the bench to spark the Mountaineers. Guard Jermaine Haley was the only other Mountaineer to reach double digits in scoring.

Four players average at least 10 points per game. They include Haley, Oscar Tshiebwe, Derek Culver and Emmitt Matthews Jr.

Coach Bob Huggins and his team will continue playing below the border in the Cancun Challenge. WVU takes the court again Wednesday night against the undefeated Wichita State Shockers in the championship game.

Forward Trey Wade leads the Shockers. They took care of business against South Carolina Tuesday, winning 70-47 before WVU took the court.

This meeting will be a good measuring stick to see how WVU is actually doing this year. Its record is quality, but the Mountaineers haven’t played any team worth noting so far.

A win against Wichita will be huge for WVU to gain a solid victory and to build momentum moving forward.

Thundering Herd Hoops

Following three consecutive losses, the Thundering Herd took out their frustrations against Howard. They won their second game of the year by scoring 91 points while coasting to a win.

Iran Bennett scored 17 points and added six rebounds in the blowout.

Marshall has leaned on its two talented guards often to start the season. Jarrod West and Taevion Kinsey each average over 15 points per game.

West averages the most points with 15.4, but Kinsey leads the Herd in rebounds and assists. They both are strong on the defensive end as well. Combined, the two average 3.8 steals per game.

Although Howard wasn’t much of a challenge, Marshall’s next opponent will be. The Herd travel to Florida to take on the ranked Gators on Friday night.

Florida enters this matchup ranked 24th in the nation, but that’s only because of a few slip-ups early on. Prior to the year starting, the Gators were ranked 6th in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

They’re a very talented team that has ambitions of a deep tournament run. Marshall should be a competitive team this year, but Florida is simply out of its class.

WV Football Betting Odds

Thanks to the return of online sports betting apps in WV, gamblers are able to place wagers on their mobile devices within seconds. Here are this week’s odds for both WVU and Marshall according to the two online sportsbooks available:

• DraftKings WV Sportsbook
• FanDuel Sportsbook