What the ESPN BPI Says About WVU's Chances vs Texas

The Mountaineers are big underdogs in the Big 12 Conference opener.

Big 12 Conference play is finally here which means things are about to get real for Bob Huggins' young Mountaineers. WVU will start their conference slate on the road Saturday afternoon against the Texas Longhorns (10-2).

The Longhorns are now under the direction of former Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard who took over the program from Shaka Smart, who is now at Marquette. Texas hasn't picked up any quality wins through the first 12 games of the season in what has been a fairly weak schedule. The two quality teams they did play, No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 23 Seton Hall, they lost to. It may have been a 12-point loss to the Zags but Beard's team showed a lot of fight after being down 20 at the half. 

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers do have a couple of quality wins in their back pocket by defeating No. 15 UConn and a solid UAB team on the road. This will be a good measuring stick game for both teams to what will be the start of a grueling 18-game conference schedule.

According to the ESPN BPI, West Virginia has just a 20.9% chance to win while Texas has a 79.1% chance to win.

West Virginia and Texas will tip-off at 12 p.m. EST on ESPNU.

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