Predicting the Final Nine Games of the WVU Basketball Season

West Virginia basketball has seen better days. Currently, the Mountaineers are on a seven-game losing streak and the road doesn't get any easier. WVU has four matchups vs ranked opponents in their final nine games of the year. However, three of them are at home for whatever it is worth.

Sitting at 13-9 (2-7) on the season, the Mountaineers have a lot, and I mean a lot, of work to do if they want to be dancing in March. With half of the Big 12 schedule down, I figured now would be a good time to lay out some predictions for how I see the season ending.

2/8 vs No. 20 Iowa State - Loss; 13-10 (2-8)

This is going to be a very low-scoring, ugly game. The status of Taz Sherman is still unclear at this moment and if I had to guess, he will miss this game too. It's hard to win games when you don't make shots and the only guy that can do it consistently is probably not going to be available.

2/12 at Oklahoma State - Win; 14-10 (3-8)

Finally. WVU puts an end to the eight-game losing skid and gets back in the win column for the first time in exactly one month and one day. Oklahoma State, believe it or not, is just as bad offensively as the Mountaineers. WVU's defense will win them the game as it did in the previous matchup when they forced 17 turnovers.

2/14 at Kansas State - Win; 15-10 (4-8)

K-State has multiple guys that can score the rock, most notably Nijel Pack. After getting back in the win column, WVU will be feeling a little better about themselves and go into this one knowing it is a very winnable game.

2/19 vs No. 10 Kansas - Loss; 15-11 (4-9)

The Mountaineers have had a ton of success against Kansas in the Coliseum over the years and this would be a great opportunity for them to pick up their first signature win for their NCAA Tournament resume. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. This Kansas team provides a lot of mismatches, especially on the interior. David McCormack is a problem inside on both ends of the floor. WVU will hang around, probably lead for a while, but ultimately fall short.

2/21 at TCU - Win; 16-11 (5-9)

TCU is 15-5 at the moment but haven't really got into the meat of the Big 12 schedule. They still have to play Texas Tech twice, Kansas twice, at Baylor, and at Texas. Seven of their final ten are against ranked opponents. We'll know how "good" TCU is here fairly soon. WVU could certainly lose this one but I'm going to say they grab this one considering TCU isn't really what their record says they are.

2/23 at No. 20 Iowa State - Loss; 16-12 (5-10)

Hilton Coliseum is one of the toughest venues to play at in the Big 12. They pack that place every game, the fans are extremely loud, and are in the game from start to finish. I don't know if this WVU team has the mental toughness to battle through adversity when it gets in this game, simply because of the environment. Look at what happened at Kansas, for example.

2/26 vs No. 23 Texas - Loss; 16-13 (5-11)

Chris Beard is known for his defense and this might be one of his best defensive teams yet. They really hassled WVU's guards in the previous matchup forcing 20 turnovers in the game. The Mountaineers haven't improved much in terms of entry passes, ball movement, etc. That spells disaster against the Longhorns.

3/1 at Oklahoma - Loss; 16-14 (5-12)

Another winnable game here but Oklahoma has WVU's number when the game is played in Norman. 8-3 all-time and have won each of the last three. This one is a coin flip but I'll take the Sooners in a one possession game.

3/5 vs TCU - Win; 17-14 (6-12)

As I mentioned earlier, I think TCU is about to completely collapse. WVU ends the year with a sweep of TCU and rides into the Big 12 tournament with a 17-14 record. Getting an at-large bid will now likely mean making it to the semifinals of the conference tournament.

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