Mountaineers stand at entrance to Big 12 schedule

The Mountaineers’ two games following the opening surge will be back at The Coliseum in Morgantown. Courtesy photo
SHEPHERDSTOWN — The grandeur of the Big 12 basketball schedule is just in front of West Virginia University.
Defending national champion Kansas corrals most of the attention among the league’s 10 teams, but most of the others aren’t far behind in finding media headlines and even national attention.
The Mountaineers find themselves just outside of the Top 25 in several of the polls, after all, but completing their nonconference schedule with a win over Stony Brook.
Kansas State in Manhattan is where the 10-2 Mountaineers begin conference play tomorrow.
The Wildcats have a first-year coach in 55-year-old Jerome Tang, who comes from being an assistant at Baylor so he should have knowledge of what he is getting into.
So far this season Kansas State has lost only to Butler on the road in Indiana. The most noteworthy wins came against LSU and Wichita State as the record was built to 11-1.
After a one day “rest,” Oklahoma State is next seen in Stillwater this coming Monday.
Of all the 10 conference teams, the Cowboys had the most losses against non-conference teams, now showing an 8-4 record.
Coach Mike Boynton is back after his team was only 15-15 a year ago.
The four Cowboy losses have been to Southern Illinois (in Stillwater) on the road to Connecticut, in a tournament in the Bahamas to Central Florida and to Virginia Tech on a neutral floor in Brooklyn.
West Virginia hasn’t been away from its home court at The Coliseum for very many nights. And it has not suffered any losses before the friendly crowds in Morgantown. The two losses were to No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Purdue in a tournament and to Xavier in Cincinnati.
Last season, the Mountaineers stood at the same entrance to the Big 12 schedule, with two losses.
What transpired once the conference teams rolled one-by-one onto the calendar was not a basketball pretty sight.
From what was once a 13-2 record became marred by a seven-game losing skid that was the primary reason the eventual record was dragged to the end showing 16 wins against 17 losses.
Seven players from the 2021-2022 team are now gone. The roster has been revamped and remolded.
The question is, “Has it been improved enough to do some season-long winning against the conference teams?”
This is a conference with players 6-feet-8 and taller, who can really influence games. Nearly every team has at least one inside player who can score well.
West Virginia’s most influential players in its first 12 games have consistently been its guards and small forwards. And its best player has been Emmitt Matthews, Jr., who has been hampered lately by a bruised bone in his leg.
Guards Erik Stevenson and Kedrian Johnson along with Tre Mitchell, Joe Toussaint, Jimmy Bell, Jr., Seth Wilson, Mohamad Wague and Kobe Johnson comprise what could be Coach Bob Huggins nine-man player rotation.
Has the inner core of players become cohesive enough, after playing together for only 12 games?
The Mountaineers have rebounded better as a team as the early season has moved along. But have the likes of Navy, Buffalo and Stony Brook been the sort of teams to really be compared with any of the Big 12 schools?
Beginning the season on the road for two games is about as far from ideal as possible.
At least the two games following the opening surge are back at The Coliseum.
Kansas has to be considered the conference favorite. Again.
Where do you find a team you can beat on the road if it isn’t Oklahoma State? Certainly Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas don’t have a corner on winning just by being at home. But neither does West Virginia.
This is college basketball at its fiercest. No team can have a game where it is bludgeoned on the boards, can’t make its free throws, has too many turnovers, gets into team-wide foul trouble or suffers a debilitating injury.
This is the Big 12. And its teams all believe they can qualify for the prestigious NCAA Tournament.