MORGANTOWN — The spring is over and the preseason of college football is upon us, creating a bunch of new rankings, giving a potential preview of what the AP Poll could look like before the season starts in August.

West Virginia won’t be ranked in any preseason poll and is one of the teams that are favored to finish last in the Big 12. So don’t go searching for the Mountaineers in the polls.

However, the Big 12 was well represented in a couple of way-too-early or post spring polls this May before the summer and practices start up.

In ESPN’s Mark Schlabach’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings there were five Big 12 teams ranked in the top 20, which is the third most for a conference behind the Big Ten and the SEC.

The top ranked squad was No. 10 BYU, followed by the defending Big 12 Champions Arizona State at No. 12, No. 14 Iowa State, No. 16 Texas Tech and No. 18 Kansas State. There weren’t teams that received votes like in the AP Poll or College Football Playoff polls.

What does this mean for West Virginia?

Based on the rankings, the Mountaineers play three of these top 25 teams and all three of them come from the Big 12. West Virginia has three non-conference games, Ohio, Pitt and Robert Morris, and none of them are ranked.

West Virginia faces No. 10 BYU on Oct. 3, and play No. 12 Arizona State on Nov. 15 and then No. 16 Texas Tech on Nov. 29, there is a bye between those two potential ranked matchups. Before those games, West Virginia faces Colorado, who was ranked last season, too, so that’s going to be a tough stretch of games. The Mountaineers play BYU and Arizona State on the road, where they host the Red Raiders to close out the regular season.

Two of the three ranked matchups are the two highest ranked Big 12 teams, so it won’t be an easy year for Rich Rodriguez in Year 1.

However, strength of schedule has been a focal point for the College Football Playoff committee, so the more attempts at taking down ranked teams the better to boost the resume and potentially end the season in the top 25 or within reach throughout the season.

Last year, Neal Brown’s West Virginia faced three ranked teams and went 0-3, helping the case for firing Brown.

This year could be different and there are opportunities to make change based on these way-to-early rankings.