West Virginia has been undervalued all season (I'm 3-1 so far betting on them in every game) but it looks like the markets have finally caught up. In fact they have over corrected. I'm taking KANSAS +24.5 in this one. Kansas will be sky high and playing hard following the firing of much maligned head coach Charlie Weiss. Kansas has more talent than their record under Weiss indicates. West Virginia has had such a tough schedule so far this season that I think their guard will be down for this one and they may relax knowing they aren't facing a top team. The talent discrepancy between these two teams doesn't justify such a large spread, as evidenced by Kansas' 31-19 victory over West Virginia last season. I think we see game of the year type intensity from Kansas in their first game without Weiss so I am taking the points.
KANSAS +24.5
*Added analysis: West Virginia is coming off a bye but they are an offense that relies heavily on rhythm and timing. I'm not sure the time off helps them as much as it does other teams.
Update: OK I looked up Dana Holgorsen's career record at West Virginia coming off a bye week and he is 0-6 against the spread.
2011: Oct 21st off a bye 14 point favorites at Syracuse, Loss 23-49 DID NOT COVER
2011: November 25th off a bye 7 point favorites vs Pitt, Win 21-20 DID NOT COVER
2012: Sept 15th off a bye 35.5 point favorites vs James Madison, Win 42-12 DID NOT COVER
2012: November 3rd off a bye 4 point favorites vs TCU, Loss 39-38 DID NOT COVER
2013: October 19th off a bye 4.5 point dog vs Texas Tech, Loss 37-27 DID NOT COVER
2013: November 30th off a bye 7.5 point favorite vs Iowa St., Loss 44-52 DID NOT COVER
**UPDATE: I ran this trend by Pregame's Dave Malinksky who did some more digging and found that it was Holgorsen's defense that under performed more than the offense coming off bye weeks.
DubV's 2014 CFB Record: 19-8, 70.37%