WVU's Challenging Slate Presents Opportunity

Life in the Big 12 Conference is rough. 18 conference games and you play everyone twice (home and home). No other league does that.

What makes this league even more challenging is the fact that there are no "gimme's". You can't scan over the upcoming schedule and find a sure win. They don't exist. As West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins has stated for years, there is no bottom in this conference.

To further validate the strength of the Big 12 as a whole, all you have to do is gaze over the NCAA NET Rankings and tournament projections, which are provided below.

NET RANKINGS (Projected Tournament seed via ESPN)

6. Kansas (1 seed)

9. Iowa State (2 seed)

10. Texas (3 seed)

13. Kansas State (4 seed)

16. Baylor (4 seed)

24. West Virginia (11 seed)

25. TCU (5 seed)

45. Oklahoma State

57. Oklahoma (12 seed)

73. Texas Tech (next four out)

50% of the league, FIFTY PERCENT, is ranked in the top 16 of the NET.

60% of the league is a No. 5 seed or higher, according to ESPN.

70% of the league is in the top 25 of the NET.

80% of the league is the tournament field, according to ESPN.

90% of the league is in the tournament field, according to the NET.

After an 0-5 start to Big 12 play, West Virginia could have taken the glass-half-empty approach and thought, damn, it's going to be hard to get to the tournament now, especially with the remaining schedule. But they didn't. They viewed it as there are several opportunities left to not only make the big dance but earn a solid seed.

"They were never b*tching, they were never down," said Huggins following Wednesday's win over No. 14 TCU. "They were, hey, let's go get the next one. We can win. You know? We can make a run. And I got them together and said fellas, we're going to play three at home and certainly a winnable away game. I mean, let's go make a run. 4-5 sounds a lot better than 0-9 I'll tell you that."

Of the 13 games left, nine of them are against ranked teams. So with that said, this season is far from being over.

REMAINING SCHEDULE

vs No. 7 Texas

@ Texas Tech

vs No. 16 Auburn

@ No. 14 TCU

vs Oklahoma

vs No. 12 Iowa State

@ No. 7 Texas

@ No. 21 Baylor

vs Texas Tech

vs Oklahoma State

@ No. 2 Kansas

@ No. 12 Iowa State

vs No. 13 Kansas State

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