Updated Standings + This Weekend's Rooting Guide for WVU Fans as Big 12 Race Heats Up

The Mountaineers are gearing up for a pivotal three-game series in Lawrence.

West Virginia University reliever Reese Bassinger | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

It's going to be a massive weekend for the West Virginia baseball team as it heads out to Lawrence to take on first-place Kansas. A lot will be determined in the next six games (three vs. Kansas, three next week vs. TCU), and it goes beyond whether or not the Mountaineers repeat as Big 12 regular season champs.

If WVU does fall short of holding on to the regular season title belt, they would still love to be able to finish things out strong and earn a top-four seed in the Big 12 tournament, which would give them a first-round bye. Taking a series at Kansas and then protecting home field next weekend would also position West Virginia to host a regional.

So, before this week's action gets underway, let's take a look at the current standings and all of the things Mountaineer fans should be rooting for.

Big 12 standings

Kansas 20-4
West Virginia 16-8
Arizona State 16-8
UCF 15-9
Oklahoma State 14-10
Cincinnati 13-11
TCU 13-11
BYU 12-12
Utah 11-13
Baylor 11-13
Kansas State 9-15
Texas Tech 7-17
Arizona 7-17
Houston 4-20

This weekend's matchups (teams WVU wants to win in bold)

BYU at Texas Tech: Neither is a true threat to leapfrogging the Mountaineers in the standings, but BYU poses more of a threat, especially if they finish strong and WVU stubs its toe in these final six games.

Cincinnati at Kansas State: The Bearcats took two of three from WVU, so if they were to finish the season with the same conference record, they would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and sit one spot higher in the standings, getting a better seed for the Big 12 tournament.

Utah at TCU: You may think seeing Utah win would be better for West Virginia since the Frogs are only three games back of them in the standings. But since they host TCU for a three-game set next week, they control their own destiny with that series. TCU winning should help the resume a tad.

UCF at Baylor: Like Cincinnati, UCF took two of three from WVU, so they would hold the edge in the event of a tiebreaker. If Baylor can win this series, that will help give the Mountaineers a little wiggle room heading into next weekend, assuming they don't get swept in Lawrence.

Houston at Arizona: Want me to be honest? This one doesn't matter.

Oklahoma State at Arizona State: This one is dicey because while Arizona State is right on WVU's tail, a series win by Oklahoma State could put them in a tie with the Mountaineers if they are swept by Kansas. WVU holds the tiebreaker over ASU, but did not play the Cowboys this season. Oklahoma State has a rather easy series next weekend against Arizona, which could be three more Ws for them in the win column.