October 2026 WVU Athletics Preview: What’s upcoming for 13 active programs

Another month of WVU athletics is upon us. This month, more sports join the schedule, bringing on more events for the Mountaineer faithful to support. Read more: October 2026 WVU Athletics Preview: What’s upcoming for 13 active programs.

Four programs start their seasons this month, bringing the total to 13 of 16 programs active by month’s end.

In total, 52 events will take place this month.

Here is what to look forward to in October.

Seasons that have already begun

Football

After the first month of the 2026 WVU Football season, the Mountaineers are 3-1.

WVU went a perfect 3-0 in its non-conference slate before losing its first Big 12 game of the season against Oklahoma State.

This month, WVU will have a game every Saturday except for Halloween. The games include its next four Big 12 opponents, two at Milan Puskar Stadium and two on the road.

WVU @ Iowa State – October 3 @ 12 p.m.
Arizona vs. WVU – October 10 @ 12 p.m.
Cincinnati vs. WVU – October 17 @ TBD (likely announced October 5)
WVU @ TCU – October 24 @ TBD (likely announced October 12)

The game theme for Arizona will be Coal Rush for WVU Sports HOF weekend, while the Cincinnati theme will be Stripe the Stadium for Homecoming.

This month is easily the lightest stretch of the season for the Mountaineers, as all four of its opponents are currently not ranked in the top 25. Cincinnati, however, is undefeated at the time of this article’s release.

Next month appears to be tougher, as three of the four opponents are currently ranked in the Top 25.

You can read the tale of each matchup courtesy of Editor-in-Chief Johnathan Edwards by heading to the search bar on our website.

Men’s Soccer

WVU Men’s Soccer was able to bounce back from its tough stretch in August and go unbeaten in the month of September. The Mountaineers are now 5-1-2 overall and 1-0-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.

Additionally, WVU reentered the Top 25 rankings in September after falling out towards the end of August. The Mountaineers are currently No. 16 in the country.

In October, WVU will play seven of its eight remaining matches in the 2026 regular season schedule, including one more non-conference match. Four of them will be at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium with the other three on the road.

No. 11 South Carolina vs. No. 16 WVU – October 3 @ 7 p.m.
No. 16 WVU @ No. 23 Old Dominion – October 9 @ 7 p.m.
No. 16 WVU @ American – October 12 @ 1 p.m.
Kentucky vs. No. 16 WVU – October 16 @ 7 p.m.
UCF vs. No. 16 WVU – October 21 @ 7 p.m.
No. 16 WVU @ Georgia Southern – October 25 @ 2 p.m.
Coastal Carolina vs. No. 16 WVU – October 29 @ 7 p.m.

Currently, the Mountaineers are in a five-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference. Two of its opponents this month, South Carolina and Georgia Southern, are among those five teams.

WVU is aiming to reclaim the Sun Belt Conference Championship after last winning it in 2024.

Women’s Soccer

After going unbeaten in its first seven matches of the season, WVU Women’s Soccer lost its first match in the last week of September to Colorado.

At one point in the season, the Mountaineers were ranked No. 7 in the country. After falling to Colorado, the Mountaineers now sit tied at No. 18 with Utah State.

This month, WVU will play seven matches, all of which are against Big 12 conference opponents. The Mountaineers will be home at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium for four and travel to play the other three.

No. 18 WVU @ Houston – October 2 @ 8 p.m.
BYU vs. No. 18 WVU – October 8 @ 7 p.m.
Utah vs. No. 18 WVU – October 11 @ 12 p.m.
UCF vs. No. 18 WVU – October 16 @ 3 p.m.
No. 18 WVU @ No. 14 Texas Tech – October 22 @ 8 p.m.
No. 18 WVU @ Oklahoma State – October 25 @ 2 p.m.
TCU vs. No. 18 WVU – October 30 @ 7 p.m.

The Mountaineers are currently in eighth place in the Big 12 Soccer standings. Only three of its opponents are currently ahead of them in the standings (Houston, BYU, and Texas Tech). It is 6-1-2 overall and 1-1-1 in conference play.

WVU is looking to win its sixth Big 12 Championship in program history and its first since 2022.

Volleyball

WVU Volleyball had a successful September, winning seven of its 10 matches.

One of WVU’s wins came against the reigning Big 12 champions. No. 9 Arizona State. It is 8-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

This month, the Mountaineers will play eight more conference matches. It will only play three of these matches at Hope Coliseum.

WVU @ Texas Tech – October 2 @ 7 p.m.
Houston vs. WVU – October 4 @ 1 p.m.
WVU @ No. 24 Utah – October 8 @ 9 p.m.
WVU @ No. 18 BYU – October 10 @ 3 p.m.
Cincinnati vs. WVU – October 16 @ 6 p.m.
WVU @ UCF – October 18 @ 1 p.m.
Arizona vs. WVU – October 23 @ 6 p.m.
WVU @ Iowa State – October 30 @ 7 p.m.

WVU is currently tied for sixth in the Big 12 volleyball standings with four other teams. Houston is the only team of those four it will face this month. It will face three opponents ahead of them and four opponents below them.

WVU had its first .500 season in several years in 2025, but only won two conference games. The win against the Sun Devils is certainly a confidence boost for the Mountaineers to have a better 2026.

Golf

WVU Golf moves forward in its 2026-27 season in October with two events.

One of the events will be its first host tournament of the season.

Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational (Farmington, Pennsylvania) – October 5-6 @ 8:30 a.m.
Big 12 Match Play Tournament (Salt Lake City, Utah) – October 12-14 @ TBD

WVU will be defending champions in the Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational after it finished the event in first place in 2025.

The Mountaineers played three events in September, but are still chasing its first championship of the season. Its best finish came at Island Resort Collegiate, where it finished as runner-up.

Cross Country

In October, WVU Cross Country is set to compete in two more events and finish the month with the Big 12 Championships.

The Mountaineers are currently ranked No. 9 in the Women’s Coaches Poll.

Nuttycombe Invitational (Madison, Wisconsin) – October 9 @ 11:30 a.m.
Carnegie Mellon Invitational (Clinton, Pennsylvania) – October 10 @ 10:45 a.m.
Big 12 Championship (Stillwater, Oklahoma) – October 31 @ 11:00 a.m.

WVU finished well in its two races in September. It finished first place at the RMU Invitational and as runner-up in the John McNicholas Invitational.

Sheila Chepkirui was the individual champion at the RMU Invitational.

The Mountaineers finished in third place at the Big 12 Championship this past season.

Tennis

After playing two events in September, WVU Tennis will play four more events in October.

One of these events will be in Morgantown.

Martha Thorn Invitational (Morgantown, West Virginia) – October 2-4 @ 9 a.m.
Wahoowa Invitational (Charlottesville, Virginia) – October 9-11 @ TBA
ITA Regionals (Lynchburg, Virginia) – October 15-19 @ TBA
D1 Invitational (Rome, Georgia) – October 30-November 1 @ TBA

The Mountaineers went 7-13 overall, and 1-12 in conference play this past season.

WVU Rifle

WVU Rifle continues its 2026-27 season this month with four events, including one at WVU Shell Building.

WVU @ Army – October 3 @ 8 a.m.
WVU vs Norwich vs John Jay (Neutral) – October 4 @ 8 a.m.
WVU and UAB @ Georgia Southern – October 17-18 @ 9 a.m.
Memphis vs WVU – October 24 @ 9 a.m.

The Mountaineers are currently 1-0 after defeating Mount Aloysius in September.

WVU won its 21^st national championship in program history this past season. It was also its second consecutive national championship.

Baseball

While the next baseball season does not begin until February, WVU Baseball is competing in three fall ball games and two Gold vs. Blue games in October.

All of them but one will be at Kendrick Family Ballpark at the Monongalia County Baseball Complex.

Akron vs. WVU – October 3 @ 1 p.m.
Gold vs. Blue – October 16 @ 6 p.m.
Wright State vs. WVU – October 17 @ TBD
Gold vs. Blue – October 23 @ 6 p.m.
WVU @ Wake Forest – October 25 @ 12 p.m.

WVU’s 2027 season begins February 26 in Orlando, Florida, at the Orlando Baseball Classic. It will face Indiana State, St. John’s, and Michigan.

Beginning its season in October

Women’s Swimming and Diving

WVU Women’s Swimming and Diving will begin its 2026 season this month. It will host three teams at The Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.

Marshall vs. WVU – October 2 @ 1 p.m.
Delaware and Cincinnati vs. WVU – October 23-24 @ 5 p.m./10 a.m.

The Mountaineers went 3-4 this past season. It finished in 10th place at the Big 12 Championships.

WVU is led by third-year head coach Brent MacDonald.

Men’s Swimming and Diving

WVU Men’s Swimming and Diving also begins competition this month against four teams. It will also serve as host alongside the women’s team this month for one meet.

WVU and Penn State @ Virginia Tech – October 2-3 @ 5 p.m.
Delaware and Cincinnati vs. WVU – October 23-24 @ 5 p.m./10 a.m.

The Mountaineers went 3-2 this past season. It finished in seventh place at the Big 12 Championships.

Brent MacDonald also coaches the men’s team.

Men’s and Women’s Basketball and more

To close out this month’s preview, both WVU Men’s Basketball and WVU Women’s Basketball return this month for exhibition competitions.

The men’s team will face Maryland (October 18 @ TBA) and Glenville State (October 23 @ 7 p.m.) on the road and Wheeling (October 28 @ TBA) at Hope Coliseum.

The women’s team will face Frostburg State at Hope Coliseum on October 29 at 7 p.m.

The men’s season officially begins November 2, while the women’s season begins on November 3.

Additionally, you can catch former Mountaineers in action across various professional sports leagues.

Former WVU quarterback Geno Smith returned to the New York Jets this season and is currently their starting quarterback. He leads the league with a 75.5% completion percentage.

The NBA season begins this month with former Mountaineer Deuce McBride returning to play for the 2026 NBA Champion New York Knicks. Jevon Carter (Orlando Magic), Javon Small (Memphis Grizzlies), and Oscar Tshiebwe (Houston Rockets) are also rostered. Former WVU player Joe Mazzulla returns for his fifth season as the head coach of the Boston Celtics.

2025 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Player of the Year Marcus Caldeira competes with Minnesota United FC in the MLS.

Stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for more WVU Athletics coverage by downloading the WV Sports Nation app.

Author

John Boggess, Staff Writer

John Boggess is a sports writer for WV Sports Nation. John earned his B.A. in sports journalism from Marshall University and his M.S. in journalism at WVU. John’s accomplishments include being named Best Metro Radio Sports Anchor in 2023 and Excellence in Public Service Through Radio Journalism in 2025 by the Virginia’s Associated Press Broadcasters Association. In addition to covering WVU sports, John does radio broadcasts for high school athletics.

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