The views from here:
When WVU's football team was on its four-game losing streak, howls were loud across the Mountain State for Dana Holgorsen's job. His signature Orange Bowl win of 2012 was fading and, to rub it in, Clemson's program has risen to No. 1.
These days, though, the howls for Holgorsen's job have been downgraded to whimpers. The cries over West Virginia's prior poor finishes have been stemmed by the play of this team - as well as the work of the schedule-makers. After whipping hapless Kansas, WVU will now face a Kansas State team that has the nation's No. 107 total offense and No. 100 total defense.
The Mountaineers are nearly a touchdown favorite and should win Saturday. And, if that happens, expect Holgorsen to be retained regardless of WVU's bowl outcome. A high-ranking official that preferred to speak off record said school president E. Gordon Gee and athletic director Shane Lyons have yet to meet on the topic. He said the consensus, though, is Holgorsen returns with the eighth win and a fifth-place Big 12 finish.
There are multiple reasons. First, the season-ending run should be enough to buoy season-ticket sales next spring. That's of the utmost importance. Sure WVU is losing a bunch of defensive leaders like Nick Kwiatkoski, K.J. Dillon, Terrell Chestnut, Karl Joseph, Jared Barber, Kyle Rose and Shaq Petteway. But almost the entire offense will return. If Holgorsen can find improved quarterback play, he should be in good shape there.
Second, the pool of quality coaching candidates is shallow with the numerous firings across the country. The official pointed out that Mark Richt was pushed out at Georgia with a 9-3 record. "Dreadful year for coaches," he said.
And, third, WVU's buyout of Holgorsen and his staff would drop significantly from the $8.725 million previously reported.
Oh, and, no, a contract extension offer is not forthcoming.
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If the heat is off Holgorsen, it certainly has found a new home on Marshall basketball coach Dan D'Antoni.
No one expected MU to challenge Kentucky, Maryland and Duke, but MU athletic director Mike Hamrick has to be sweating profusely. The Thundering Herd lost to Newberry by 101-89 in an exhibition? That's Division II Newberry College, folks. Two games before, the Wolves lost to Erskine. Since then they've lost to Queens.
Now, MU is 0-3 and an 8-point underdog to Ohio. The Herd lost by 24 at Morehead State. In the latest versions of Rating Percentage Index, the Herd is ranked from 307 to 328 out of 351 teams. On top of that, assistant Chris Duhon was suspended on Monday after a DUI.
That's not how you sell tickets, folks.
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Here's the thing about the above note: WVU coach Bob Huggins, who has feuded with D'Antoni, has to be rooting for the Herd. The reason is, the two teams play in Charleston on Dec. 17 and the No. 20 Mountaineers would like for that MU RPI to rise.
West Virginia, of course, is coming off a nice Thanksgiving tournament sweep in Las Vegas over Richmond and San Diego State.
"I thought we got two good wins," Huggins said Monday. "Richmond beat Wake Forest before the tournament and then beat Cal after losing to us. San Diego State is a good team. It's got athletes, man, big time."
Huggins was watching tape Monday.
"I thought we guarded," he said of the tournament. "We're second [nationally] in 3-point field goal percentage defense. That's pretty good when you consider we play full-court [pressure]. Our field goal percentage defense is way better [at 35.5]. And our field goal percentage is up [to 48.4]."
Of course, Huggins would not leave it at that.
"Our 3-point shooting has been abysmal," he said.
He's correct. Although opponents are hitting 3-point attempts only 22.5 percent of the time, WVU is only hitting 27.7 percent. The former is first in the Big 12. The latter is last.
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Finally, WVU's basketball RPI is only around No. 47 to 50, according to replica versions of the indicator. That's because the Mountaineers played Stetson and Bethune-Cookman as part of the Vegas event and Northern Kentucky as a favor.
Still, the Mountaineers probably racked up nice points for beating Richmond and San Diego State. Both should fare very well throughout the season and WVU gets secondary points for those teams' victories. Also, Huggins' team finally made the Associated Press Top 25 list, debuting at No. 20 on Monday. It is up to No. 15 within the coaches' poll.
"I think it'll mean a whole lot more," Huggins said, "in March."