WVU Drops Out of ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 Rankings

The Mountaineers exit out of ESPN's rankings.

Thursday morning, ESPN updated their way-too-early top 25 rankings for the 2021-22 college basketball season. In the previous rankings, West Virginia was ranked at No. 25 but have dropped out in this latest update.

This shouldn't be much of a surprise considering Derek Culver's recent news to forgo his senior year and explore professional options. Not to mention, Miles McBride, Sean McNeil, and Taz Sherman have all entered the 2021 NBA Draft but have yet to make their final decision. 

So far this offseason, the Mountaineers added G Malik Curry (Old Dominion), F Pauly Paulicap (DePaul), and F Dimon Carrigan (Florida International). Curry led the Monarchs in scoring in each of the past two seasons and both Carrigan and Paulicap bring a much-needed defensive presence inside the paint. However, if any of the three that have declared for the draft decide to return, it could bump the Mountaineers back into the top 25. 

Below is the full rankings that were released on Thursday.

1. Gonzaga

2. Villanova

3. UCLA

4. Ohio State

5. Purdue

6. Baylor

7. Alabama

8. Kansas 

9. Arkansas

10. Maryland

11. Michigan

12. Duke

13. Virginia Tech

14. Texas

15. Houston

16. Tennessee

17. Florida State

18. North Carolina

19. Kentucky

20. St. Bonaventure

21. Oregon

22. Virginia

23. Michigan State

24. Colorado State

25. Belmont

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @WVUonSI

Twitter - @SI_WVU and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.