Really and truly, one of the smartest and most written capably college football blogs available, Pre-Snap Read checks in today by ranking WV No. 12 in its all-encompassing preseason list of teams. Neutral, removed from the situation, yet well-informed, the Read says WVU can be great, but might instead be just very good.

Why I think West Virginia could win 11 games and the conference title is due to this offense, which stands out even in a league dominated by top-notch offensive attacks. Why I don’t think that the Mountaineers will sneak past Texas and Oklahoma is because of the question marks on defense, though this won’t come into play against a good portion of the teams on this schedule; in many games, the Mountaineers will simply score and score until time runs out.

The defense is a worry. The personnel is a concern; the coaching moves are a concern; the philosophical alternations are a concern. As highly as I think of Holgorsen, Smith and this offense – and I think the world of the entire group – I have a hard time getting behind West Virginia as anything more than a contender for an at-large B.C.S. bid when there are issues still unresolved on the defensive side of the ball. Address those, win the Big 12. Win the Big 12, play for a national title, perhaps. For now, based on the information at hand – I still need to actually see this defense play a down – West Virginia is a 10-win team that will end the year within one game of the Big 12 champion.

I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friends. Drop the tomatoes. Instead, take a bow. We made it! The one and only.

In case you were wondering

Where do West Virginia fans congregate? Message board chatter can be found at WVSports.com, Blue Gold News and The Mountaineer Nation. More coverage can be found at We Must Ignite This Couch, The Smoking Musket and the Web site of the Charleston Daily Mail.