BPI Drops Surprising Prediction for West Virginia's Regular Season Finale vs. UCF

The final game of the regular season is already here. Friday night, West Virginia will cap things off at Hope Coliseum, looking to finish off a two-game sweep of the UCF Knights.

Will the Mountaineers be able to have the memory of a goldfish and pick up their 18th win of the year?

What the BPI says

According to the ESPN Basketball Power Index (BPI), West Virginia has a 69.2% chance to win and finish the season with a .500 mark in Big 12 Conference play. Meanwhile, UCF has a 30.8% chance to earn a season split with the Mountaineers, finishing the regular season with a 21-9 record.

Seeing WVU favored isn't all that surprising. Seeing them land a heavy percentage from the BPI? Yeah, that's a little shocking. As the Mountaineers just witnessed, it's hard to beat a team twice in the same season, even more so against one that has something to play for. I am curious to see how WVU responds following the disappointment in Manhattan and the fact that an at-large bid is out of the question now.

West Virginia's recent games

The last time these two met, the Mountaineers left Orlando with a win and entered a pivotal six-game stretch that would determine their postseason fate. They lost four of the first five games of this final stretch, including a pair of embarrassing losses to the two worst teams in the league in Utah and Kansas State. Surprisingly, effort was a major issue for WVU in the loss to K-State earlier this week, constantly getting beat to loose balls and not playing with urgency until the final eight minutes or so of the game.

UCF's recent games

After losing to WVU, the Knights won three straight games, one of which came against BYU on the road. Unfortunately for Johnny Dawkins, his squad was unable to ride the momentum, falling short by one to Baylor and losing to Oklahoma State in overtime — both games coming at home. A bunch of points were scored in that overtime game, but it was more or less a free-throw shooting competition. The two teams combined for 85 free throw attempts! Yikes! Fouling has been a troubling area for the Knights all year, putting opponents on the line an average of 20.8 times per game, ranking 205th nationally in that department.

WVU and UCF will tip things off at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.