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Is West Virginia Too Low on Andy Katz's Power 36?

Bob Huggins and his squad looking to prove Andy Katz wrong again

The college basketball season is just around the corner and West Virginia looks to have the pieces to do something special during the 2020-21 season.

Bob Huggins has an abundance of key returners, including the dynamic duo underneath of Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe. Also returning in the frontcourt is Gabe Osabuohien who was a guy many viewed as West Virginia's defensive spark plug off the bench. Not to mention, the frontcourt will be even deeper with the addition of talented true freshman Isaiah Cottrell. The Mountaineers will certainly be one of the better rebounding teams in the country as they normally are, but improved guard play should help put this team over the top.

Despite all of the returning pieces for West Virginia, Andy Katz of FOX Sports put the Mountaineers at No. 23 in his Power 36. This seems a bit low to me considering the history of success Bob Huggins has had with more experienced teams. Not to disrespect the following schools, but Katz should have West Virginia ahead of Rutgers, Arizona State, UCLA, Texas, Houston, and a few others.

Katz did put West Virginia in dead last in his preseason Big 12 rankings a year ago, so this isn't all that surprising to see them so far down the list. I think saying they are a preseason top 15 team is respectable, but I wouldn't go as far as saying top ten, at least not yet.

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