West Virginia and the Big 12 Title Race

The Mountaineers hold the keys to a Big 12 Championship, and with another series sweep and a little help, West Virginia could be Big 12 Champs on Sunday

With a 13-5 Big 12 Conference record, West Virginia is sitting in the driver's seat for the Big 12 Conference Championship and the No. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament and they could have the opportunity to bring their first ever Big 12 Conference regular season title home this weekend.

West Virginia has two conference series remaining in the last two weeks of the regular season, starting with a three-game home series this weekend against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

For West Virginia to claim the Big 12 title this weekend, the Mountaineers will have to sweep Texas Tech, which is no easy feat. The Red Raiders hold a 9-9 conference record and feature one of the best offenses in the country, leading the Big 12 in nearly every hitting statistical category and possess home run and RBI league leader and Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Gavin Kash, and are looking to better position themselves for the postseason.

In addition to West Virginia needing a sweep of Texas Tech, the Mountaineers will need both Kansas State and Oklahoma State to suffer a loss this weekend. Both programs sit with conference records of 11-7 and the two squads begin a three-game series on Friday. Oklahoma State and Kansas State are still alive for the regular season title but if either school is swept this weekend, it will be eliminated from contention. 

The Mountaineers will wrap up the regular season with a road three-game series at Texas next week. The Longhorns are 12-9 and are looking for help from the Red Raiders to keep their conference championship hopes alive as well while they wrap up their non-conference slate with a three-game series versus San Jose State. 

As it stands, West Virginia needs four wins to secure the Big 12 title. However, an Oklahoma State loss and Kansas State loss drops the win total to three in the next six games drops the win total to three.  

Additionally, the Mountaineers are two victories shy of breaking the program record of 14 Big 12 wins. 

Big 12 Conference Standings

1. West Virginia 13-5

2. Oklahoma State 11-7 (.611)

3. Kansas State 11-7 (.611)

4. Texas 12-9 (.571)

5. Texas Tech 9-9 (.500)

6. Oklahoma 10-11 (.476)

7. TCU 8-10 (.444)

8. Kansas 7-14 (.333)

9. Baylor 6-15 (.286)

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