Big 12 Title Race: It's "Take Care of Business Week" for West Virginia

It's been an incredible start to the 2024-25 season for the West Virginia Mountaineers, and quite honestly, one that most couldn't have dreamt to be possible in year one under Darian DeVries.

Shorthanded and down a couple of key guys due to injury, WVU has thrived in the underdog role all season long. In every game where they are deemed to not have a chance, they seem to play with an extra edge and are eager to prove that they are indeed one of the best teams in the Big 12 Conference.

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Overcoming the odds is a cool deal and all but to be a true contender in the nation's best conference, you can't afford to trip up against the bottom-tier teams, such as Arizona State and Kansas State, who West Virginia has on the docket this week.

The Sun Devils went 9-2 in non-conference play, with their losses coming to No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 9 Florida. However, none of those nine wins aren't much to brag about, considering they came against Idaho State, Santa Clara, Grand Canyon, St.Thomas-Minnesota, Cal Poly, New Mexico, Saint Mary's, San Diego, and UMass. Since dipping into Big 12 action, ASU has lost five of six contests with their only win coming against Colorado, who remains winless in league play.

As for Kansas State, well, they've had a tough time finding any solutions this year, entering the week with a 7-10 record. After racking up 45 wins in two seasons, Jerome Tang is experiencing his first wave of adversity as a head coach. The Wildcats lost to Liberty, St. John's, and Drake in non-con play and have lost five of their first six in the Big 12.

West Virginia guard Jonathan Powell | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The Mountaineers are two games back of Houston for the top spot in the standings and are currently in a three-way tie record-wise with Kansas and Texas Tech. They do, however, have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jayhawks and will have a chance of having that same luxury over Texas Tech later this season if they can win in Lubbock.

Most teams will have one slip-up every now and then, but the margin for error is relatively small if you're chasing after a regular season championship. Houston and Iowa State are going to be tough to catch up to and stubbing your toe against one of the supposed bottom feeders in the league just makes things all the more challenging.

I hate using the term "must-win" because they all are, but the Mountaineers have to take care of business this week and get to 15-4 (6-2).

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