Full disclosure: This started in jest. It was a silly question that soon gained substance. This isn’t about tossing pies in the direction of WVU.

There are times you watch the Mountaineers and wonder if this is a team above its level, below it, at it or merely fluctuating like a bobber just off the shores of an open lake.

You can’t argue with the record and the ranking. You can’t. The Mountaineers are good, but they continue to run through a haunted house while being chased by paranormal problems. They’re sprinting through the dark and looking over their shoulder and sooner or later you figure they’re going to run into a wall and fall hard. For the time being, this is one of the 20 best teams in the country and can only get better … provided it stays upright.

What you can manipulate is how the Mountaineers arrived here.

They’ve won two games while committing four turnovers … and both were at home. They’ve caught good teams at bad times and bad teams at worse times. They’ve played a lot of this season without perhaps the two most valuable players on defense. They’ve watched opposing kickers go wide, short and off the upright. They’ve had bad moments and bad games, but five times out of six it’s been better than what the opponent offered.

Then again, injuries have been covered up by the depth chart. Some weaknesses have been addressed and others masked by developing strengths. In basketball, teams that can’t shoot generally learn to score off the dribble. In football, an offense that can’t seem to value the ball has been rescued lately by a defense that’s taking back possessions.

It goes on and on with these guys and eventually you have to stop and wonder why this has become an incomprehensible team.  There are times when it’s obvious WVU is one of the country’s best, but almost as many moments when it’s as clear they are one of the most fortunate.

And so it’s asked: Have the Mountaineers been good or have they been lucky?

… the fact remains the one loss came with 30 points on the board, five of the six wins have been decided by two scores and the exception Saturday against Connecticut still was an acceptable effort against a game opponent.

Make no mistake, though. WVU has been the beneficiary of considerable good fortune, which is something for which the Mountaineers neither will nor should apologize.

Sometimes you make your own luck. You always accept it, especially when you’re a team that already this season has three times lost a fumble during an interception return and once lost a fumble when the quarterback was victimized by sweaty hands on what should have been an easy touchdown.