The Miami Hurricanes usually arrive in Morgantown with a high national ranking and a team that is expected to win the Big East Conference. Miami enters this week’s game with a No. 12 ranking in the Associated Press Poll and was the preseason favorite to win the Big East.
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Keller’s Kreed:

With the spread on this week’s game dropping from 7 1/2 to 6 1/2 virtually overnight, West Virginia is pulling support both from fans and gambling junkies. FULL ARTICLE

For many runners on the West Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams, Friday’s Western Invitational at London, Ontario will seem more like a home meet than an away competition. Of the 18 athletes making the trip, eight are Canadian and several are from Ontario.
This will be the first meet in the 60-year history of the program that WVU cross country has traveled abroad to compete in. The coaching staff scheduled the meet to give the families and friends of the Canadian athletes a chance to see them compete.
“When we left Canada, we left our friends and families back home to come to the States,” commented senior Rebecca Stallwood. “It will be exciting to integrate the two different worlds.” Stallwood hails from Burlington, Ontario.
Fellow senior Karin Lockhart, from Mississauga, Ontario, is also looking forward to the trip. “Because it’s close to so many of our homes, we know a lot of people who can come watch us. Usually, at big meets, we get swallowed up because nobody is there to root for us,” said Lockhart.
Besides being a homecoming for the Canadian athletes, the meet will provide both teams with a chance to gain confidence before taking on the most difficult parts of their schedules. After this invitational, the remainder of the schedule includes Pre-Nationals, the Big East Championships, NCAA Regionals and possibly the NCAA Championships.
“I think it will be great to run against teams we don’t normally face,” commented junior James Lander. “It could be a major stepping stone for the remainder of the season.”
The men’s and women’s Mountaineer teams are expected to be among the most competitive of the nine teams competing in the meet. After finishing sixth at the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 16, the men’s team carries a record of 19-5.
The women’s team is currently ranked third in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region following an impressive second-place showing at the Spiked Shoe. It will be looking to improve upon its near-perfect record of 20-1.