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MORGANTOWN -- When West Virginia travels to Lubbock, Tex., Saturday to take on the Red Raiders in Big 12 football, it would appear to be on the surface to be a very difficult game to predict.
Both sides are 3-3 overall, 2-3 in the conference. Head-to-head since WVU joined the Big 12 they have split 10 games. In those 10 games, Texas Tech has scored 337 points, WVU 309 points.
And, as for home field advantage? Forget it. Each team is 3-2 on his opponent's field.
But if you think predicting a winner here is tough, it's nothing compared to predicting the weather.
In fact, the only certainty is that the wind will blow.
It's like that in west Texas, a lesson the Mountaineers learned in 1987 when they were invited to play against Oklahoma State in the Sun Bowl in El Paso. That was an Oklahoma State team with NFL Hall of Famer running back Thurman Thomas in his final year, backed up by the following year's Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders.
It also was a WVU team led by a young quarterback Major Harris, on the edge of leading WVU to an undefeated regular season the next year and a date with Notre Dame in the national championship game.
The game was rip-roaringly competitive, with the Cowboys winning, 35-33.
But when the game was over, everyone was talking about not Harris, Thurman or Sanders, not the game, but instead the weather.
Back in 2017, Cowboys Coach Mike Gundy was asked his recollection of the game before facing WVU.
"We practiced the day before in shorts, it was about 75 degrees and we finished the game in a snowstorm," Gundy said.
Lubbock is 350 miles east of El Paso, which is right around the corner in west Texas terms, but has the same kind of weather … unpredictable.
Except for the wind.
Right now, the weatherman is predicting a nice day, 82 degrees, 0% chance of rain … and 21 mile an hour winds at game time.
In a 2017 story in the Daily Toreador in Lubbock headlined 'Experts discuss Lubbock weather myths, stereotypes, it was written:
"Whether it be the dust storms, floods, cold winters or strong winds, Lubbock is known for its infamous weather across Texas.
According to Brian Ancell, associate professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas Tech, these are not really myths.
"The one I keep hearing is kind of a myth and kind of not," he said. "It's when people say, 'If you don't like the weather in Lubbock, then wait 10 minutes.' It's kind of true since we've got these weather changes, and the arctic cold fronts especially in the winter.
But changing weather also plagues the spring and autumn, the only constant being the wind.
Graham Harrell, WVU's offensive coordinator who is the most prolific passer in Texas Tech history, knows about the wind and the weather.
"There's no calm days but you get some beautiful sunsets," Harrell assured. "If you live there, you get used to it, but you get dust hitting in your face all day out there. There were a lot of crazy days.
"The crazy thing about west Texas, and I just love it, is the weather can change three times in a single day. That's the hard part, you can go from sunny, to snowing, to sunny again, to a thunderstorm. You go, 'Like wow, where did this come from?'
"The cold was brutal out there. I can remember going to class in the cold. I played in some cold places -- Canada and Green Bay -- and I don't know if I've ever been as cold as when that wind starts hitting you in the face.
"Those days when the weather changes three times in a day are tough, too. You prepare for one thing and it changes and you're going 'Well, I wasn't prepared for this.' You got shorts on and all of a sudden it's 20 degrees. There's no planning out there."
It seems odd that Texas Tech evolved into a school known for its passing game despite the wind.
"Since Coach (Mike) Leach has been there they've been throwing it quite a bit and had success," Harrell said. "Maybe the fans kind of fell in love with it with Leach because it was different -- and at times it was real different -- it's just the kind of football the fans want, the administration wants.
"That's my guess. You'd think, with the wind, they'd run the triple option and never throw in it."
Could it affect WVU's passing game?
Head coach Neal Brown, who was at Texas Tech for three years, doesn't think so … "as long the quarterbacks throw spirals," he said.